Next Green Energy Game Changer? Sea Power
Next Green Energy Game Changer? Sea Power
Computer rendering of an OTEC System. Source: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL Review
Close up of graphite foam. Source: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
In addition, Klett is particularly emphatic about the availability of OTEC power. "With other renewables," he says, "when the wind stops, you don't have power. If it's a cloudy day, you don't have power. Even hydroelectric power is at the mercy of fluctuating water levels. OTEC can actually be used for base power."
Estimates suggest that, in tropical latitudes, OTEC has the potential to generate 3 to 5 terawatts of power without affecting the temperature of the ocean or the world's environment. "That's more than the electric generating capacity of this country," he says. "If we can supply a large fraction of our base power needs with green energy, we can revolutionize power generation."
The challenge of the technology right now is that a commercial-scale OTEC power plant would require at least 20 very large heat exchangers, says Klett. To address this, the ORNL research team has developed graphite-foam heat exchangers that combine a large amount of surface area with a high capacity for conducting heat. That means they can improve the performance of standard thermally conducting units while reducing their size and cost.
Graphite foam's large surface area and high capacity for conducting heat boost the performance of heat exchangers. Klett says studies have estimated that the heat exchangers for a 100 MW OTEC power plant would account for roughly 25 percent of the total capital costs, and the graphite-foam-based heat exchangers have the potential to reduce that figure by 50 percent.
Cannon says Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMC) work with the Open Innovation Program "represents a substantial investment by LMC over several years." OTEC is initially being developed to address the U.S. military's energy needs in parts of the world where long supply lines or distant power-generation facilities make generating power problematic. ORNL's other active projects in the program cover advanced materials and quantum computing.
Renee Robbins Bassett, rbassett@automationworld.com, is Managing Editor at AutomationWorld.
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