CH2356 Energy Engineering
www.msubbu.in
Ocean Energy
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Conversions
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Dr. M. Subramanian
Associate Professor
Department of Chemical Engineering
Sri Sivasubramaniya Nadar College of Engineering
Kalavakkam – 603 110, Kanchipuram (Dist)
Tamil Nadu, India
msubbu.in[AT]gmail.com
22-Feb-2011
Contents
• Tidal power
• Power from marrine currents
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• Wave power w.m
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• Ocean thermal energy
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Tidal
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Introduction
• Tidal energy is generated by the relative motion of the Earth,
Sun and the Moon, which interact via gravitational forces.
• Periodic changes of water levels, and associated tidal currents,
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are due to the gravitationalwattraction
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Tidal Energy Conversion
• Recovery can be made in its various potential forms, these
being variation in sea level and exploitation via a dam, and
kinetic forms, these being direct exploitation of currents by
turbines placed directly in the flow like submarine wind turbines,
also called hydraulic turbines.
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• One of the advantages of tides sis their great predictability, which
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facilitates planning and allows better bu insertion of such production
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systems into the grids.
• There are different kinds of tides, depending on the location. The
most energetic ones have about two cycles per day with a period
of about 12.5 hours and amplitude that varies appreciably in a
sinusoidal manner over a cycle.
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Power Generation through Tidal Barrages
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Tidal Power Station
• The working of a tidal power station is similar to that of
hydropower stations, since the height of the waterfall is not
great, but, unlike them, two choices are available: simple or
double acting.
• In the simple acting cycle, ww the sluices of the dike are open
w.m the basin to be filled. When the
during the rising tide and allow sb
level of the sea has gone down uenough
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to be sufficient, the sluices are opened. in so the water returning to
the sea drives a turbine.
• The double acting cycle makes it possible to use the available
power equally well during rising and falling tides. Therefore
reversible turbines are needed (that work in both directions of
current).
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Power fromwwMarine
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Currents
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Power from Marine Currents
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Power from Marine Currents
• These currents, as distinct from tidal currents, result from a
complex agitation of the ocean waters principally due to
temperature and salinity gradients.
• Bearing in mind the flow rate and the global volume, we can
calculate that it takes about 1,000 years for a complete mixing
of the ocean waters. ww
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• Only some currents are fast enough bu to be usable; this is the case
with the Gulf Stream, which gives .ian n average flow rate of 30
Mm3/s with speeds between 1.2 and 2.7 m/s, while the
equatorial currents have speeds more in the range of 0.2 to 0.3
m/s.
• The global resource is hard to estimate. The Gulf Stream alone
offers a kinetic power of more than 30 GW
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Wave
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Power
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Introduction
• Wave power is the transport of energy by ocean surface waves,
and the capture of that energy to do useful work
• Ocean waves are due to the action of wind on the surface of the
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• Wave power is distinct from the diurnal .in flux of tidal power
• The energy from waves represents, according to the World
Energy Council (WEC), a net available quantity of 140 to 700
TWh/year (Max power of ~80 GW), or 1 to 5% of the annual
world demand in electricity.
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Pelamis System
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Pelamis System
• These consists of a group of floating metallic cylinders linked
together, and resembling a snake 4.6 m in diameter and a with
total length of 123 m (700 tons, of which 380 tons are steel).
The behavior of the system makes it follow, more or less, the
distortion of the free surface, which in fact makes it a “profiler”.
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• This general shape allows the system
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varied sea states and to make good bu use of their energy. In each
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articulation there are four hydraulic jacks, two of which use and
absorb the heave (vertical) and the two others the sway
(transverse). These pumps accumulate energy in the form of oil
under pressure in a reservoir (100 to 350 bars). Two hydraulic
motors that turn regularly each drive an asynchronous generator
of 125 kW at 1,500 rpm (fixed speed).
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Armstrong et al., Energy beyond oil, Oxford University Press, 2007
Annual conversion efficiency of wave power to electric power is about 10%
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Ocean Thermal
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Energy
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Introduction
• Sufficient temperature gradients are found in equatorial and
tropical regions. The surface temperatures differences there can
reach values between 25 and 30ºC in a layer 100 to 200 m thick
and their seasonal variations are not markedly different.
• The raw solar energy resource
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is enormous, in the order of w400 15
.m x 10 kWh (i.e., ~ 45,000 TW).
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• Considering the global output of allinthe deep cold currents (30
Mm3/s) and the fact that conceivable thermodynamic machines
require a very high discharge of cold water (about 2 m3/s per
MW) and weak conversion efficiency in the order of 3%
(principally due to the small difference in temperature between
the hot and cold sources), we reach a maximum annual potential
of 80,000 TWh, which is renewable.
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Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion
• The thermodynamic converters may be of two types: open or
closed cycles.
• The open cycle machines use seawater directly and make it
possible to avoid exchangers that are very cumbersome and risk
being clogged from the effect of biofouling (growth of
microorganisms). The principle consists of having two turbines
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work in a belt of very low pressure (2 to 3 kPa or 20 to 30 mbar)
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created with vacuum pumps. The sub water from the hot source, at
such pressures, vaporizes and drives bu the turbine, then condenses
on contact with the cold source. The . in fresh water obtained by
condensation can then be used as a value added byproduct. The
major disadvantage of the open cycle resides in the large
dimensions of the low pressure turbine. To produce 1 MW, a
turbine diameter of 8 m is required.
• The closed cycle, for its part, at the price of using a fluid of
lower boilingpoint, such as ammonia, and exchangers with a
large surface, allows the use of a turbine of smaller dimension
(diameter 1 m for 1 MW).
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Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion
(contd.)
• The exchangers should have surfaces of the order of 10,000 m2
per MW and resist corrosion and biofouling. Materials used are
titanium and aluminum. The battle against biofouling requires, if
we want to avoid using chemical products (chlorine, for
example), almost continuous ww mechanical washing.
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• If these methods can be put to long .in term use, OTEC power
stations could first be used in islands in tropical and equatorial
regions, where basic electricity production from fossil sources is
increasingly expensive.
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Global distribution of ocean thermal
energy
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The temperature difference (oC) shown is that between the surface and a
depth of 1000 m [data from US National Renewable Energy Laboratory in
RIS99]
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References
• Sabonnadiere - Renewable Energy Technologies
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