Performance test of OTEC with ammonia/water as working fluid using shell and plate type heat exchangers (effects of heat source temperature and flow rate)

Abstract

Performance test for ocean thermal energy conversion system was carried out using ammonia/water mixture as working fluid. The system used a shell and plate type heat exchanger as evaporator and condenser. The effects of temperature difference between heat sources and mass flow rate on turbine power were confirmed. In the evaluation of the system, we adopted the ratio of net power since the pump powers for the heat resources play an essential role in collecting heat. The experimental results were compared with theoretical ones which were derived by maximal power output using ideal heat exchanger. The experimental result shows that the ratio of net power has the maximum value at an optimum condition due to a large amount of pump power consumption with an increase in mass flow rates. In the present test plant, the maximal net power reached about 1.2 kW and then the ratio of net power was around 5.6%.