Mass transport heat exchanger method and apparatus for use in ocean thermal energy exchange power plants
US4104883A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | May 27, 1977 |
| Grant date | Aug 8, 1978 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 27, 1997 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY02E60/14
- WIPO fieldEngines, pumps, turbines
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
Ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) uses a fluid, such as ammonia, hea by high-temperature surface water to provide a turbine-driving working gas. To condense the gas for re-use, a slurry of phase-transformation particles and cold ambient sea water is mixed in a deeply-submerged tank and delivered to a surface tank essentially at the cold sub-surface temperature. Condensing of the working gas is performed at the ocean surface level by exposure to the cold slurry temperature. Particle phase-transformation, which occurs at a temperature between that of the cold sub-surface water and the reject temperature of the heat-exchanger, maintains a surface tank temperature at about that of the sub-surface water.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.