Intelligent computer aided optimization on specific power of an OTEC Rankine power plant

• Published in: Applied thermal engineering Vol. 18; no. 5; pp. 295 - 300
• Main Authors: Wu, C, Burke, T.J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 1998; Elsevier
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Energy; Energy of waters: ocean thermal energy, wave and tidal energy, etc; Exact sciences and technology; Intelligent computer, ocean thermal energy conversion, optimization, power; Natural energy; Intelligent computer, ocean thermal energy conversion, optimization, power; Design; Ocean thermal power plant; Energy of waters; Computer aid; Optimization; Rankine cycle
• ISSN: 1359-4311
• DOI: 10.1016/S1359-4311(97)00057-4

Specific power, power per unit total heat exchanger surface area, of a heat engine is chosen to be the objective function in the design of an OTEC (Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion) Rankine power plant. An ICAI (Intelligent Computer Aided Instruction) computer software, CyclePad, with Refrigerant-12 as the working fluid operating between a warm ocean water heat source and a cold ocean water heat sink is used in the design process. Through manipulation of the boiler pressure and condenser pressure, the specific power of the OTEC plant is calculated and an upper bound is determined. This bound can direct the design of current and future OTEC heat engines to provide beneficial applications in industry.