Novel OTEC Cycle Using Efficiency Enhancer

The ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) plant is designed to improve the efficiency of the existing plants. Various researches are being conducted to increase the plant’s efficiency and output with the use of an enhancer, and studies for performance improvement are also in progress from the Kalina and Uehara cycles to ejector pump OTEC (EP-OTEC). Their performance can be improved by increasing the evaporation pressure using an unused heat source and reducing the heat consumption using a reheating system and a regenerator. In the case of EP-OTEC, an ejector is installed near the turbine-exit to reduce the pressure and therefore increase the power output. In simulations and experiments conducted in this study, EP-OTEC showed 38% efficiency improvement from the basic cycle, which is due to the power output volume increase. The optimum ratio was derived by adjusting the pressure ratio. The demonstration plant to be developed in the future is expected to be applied to the high-efficiency OTEC demonstration plant with improved performance, and new technologies will be continuously developed considering economics and commercial viability