Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion Systems
Posted Jul 06, 2007
Deep ocean water is a vast resource --- it makes up 90% of the global ocean mass, and our oceans take up 70% of our planet's surface. It is also a very flexible resource. Former US Naval engineer (and mega-genius) John Pina Craven is suggesting four uses for Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC): 
First, the water is pumped up from at least 2000 feet below sea level. (For this precise reason, OTEC won't be catching on in Vermont anytime soon. Or Iowa, for that matter.) Everything that happens from the point on is generated by the difference in temperature between the ocean water and the surface air. Because of the depth and pressure, deep ocean water is "perpetually just above freezing" --- seriously cold, with several unique properties that we'll perhaps get into later.Wired magazine did an excellent article on John Pina Craven and his plan --- in fact, it's where I stole these images from (thanks guys!!). However, they got a few things dead wrong. Dig:
Although the scientific concepts behind cold-water energy have been around for decades, Craven made them real when he founded the state-funded Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii in 1974 on Keahole Point, near Kona.
Actually, the first OTEC power plant was built in Cuba back in 1930. The engineer/designer for that project was Georges Claude, a rather obscure inventor who also gave mankind the neon light (yeah, thanks a bundle). Claude was a student of one of Nikola Tesla's contemporaries, Jacques d'Arsonval, who drafted working plans for such a power plant but sadly, didn't live to see it become a reality. Regardless, the plant was a success for at least a few years, producing 22 kilowatts of electricity from a single mega-turbine. If anyone knows what has happened since, or where the plant was actually located, I'd love to hear from you.
Getting the pipe down 2000 feet is the hardest part. Once you start pumping, of course, you're surfing along in the siphon zone --- familiar to our readers who have enacted revenge on teachers, police or federal judges by visiting their parking lots. The siphon maintains it's own suction pressure and basically runs itself --- leading to either an empty gas tank or, in this case, a vast supply of energy and water.
From the Wired article:
"Already, 39-degree-Fahrenheit water courses through the Natural Energy Lab's newest pipe - a 55-inch-diameter, 9,000-foot-long polyethylene behemoth - at the rate of 27,000 gallons a minute, 24 hours a day."
Not too shabby, huh? This tips the scales in a very advantageous way --- this is really one of the more amazing shortcuts humans have found in the past century. As Craven states repeatedly in his work and his interviews: "What the world doesn't understand is that what we don't have enough of is cold, not heat."
To me, the most fascinating aspect of Craven's research is the applications in agriculture. Craven claims that by running the ocean water along the roots of the plants, it vigorously stimulates their growth. I know from personal experience that when I'm feeling ill, the best thing to do is take a cold shower, which only sounds insane if you never thought about it.
More interesting still: Craven claims that by turning the water on and off, he can essentially trick the plants into speeding up their metabolism, and thus growing three to four times faster. Worth noting again that this is neither pseudo-science, nor theoretical claims. John Pina Craven runs a corporation --- the Common Heritage Corp --- which is already operating these plants. He has vineyards on volcanic rock in Kona, Hawaii ---- vineyards which are not only on volcanic rock, but get 3 growing seasons every year, thanks to his cold-water wizardry.
How is this relevant to water purification?
Ever seen pipes sweat?
Exactly.
According to Craven's numbers --- which are, remember, operational reality, not theoretical fantasy --- an OTEC plant that's generating 2 megawatts of power would also produce 1.1 million gallons of de-salinated, fresh water. That's every day. All you gotta do is make a tank big enough to collect it.
For deeper diggins, wiki has an unusually thorough and excellent page on OTEC you should check out.
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