At the time of produce electricity with renewable sources The usual thing is that we think about the photovoltaic solar panels or panelsa technology that takes advantage of sunshine to power our equipment and appliances with a relatively high initial cost if we want great power.
However, there are other options that are gaining more and more strength, such as wind energy even in small domestic generators or that extracted directly from other renewable sources such as the sea.
And it is precisely with respect to this last case that the invention that we bring today deals with, a system that aims to achieve extract electrical energy thanks to sea wateror rather to the temperature difference, efficiently and cheaply.
Taking advantage of the thermal energy of the sea
A pan-European consortium called Plotec is building a prototype of a system in Spain for electric power generation clean and cheap based on the principle of Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC).
It is an electricity generator that, through a storm- and surge-proof floating platform, promises a continuous supply of electricityeven on remote tropical islands that typically rely on fossil fuels or solar panels for power.
The system is will be tested in the Canary Islands for a year, and promises unlimited electricity as long as it’s running. How do you get it? Well, its main core a turbine that generates electricity when movingsomething common in this type of systems.
But what is new is that OTEC use hot seawater on the surface by the sun’s rays, which is usually around 26ºC, to vaporize a fluid with a low boiling point that produces steam with which to move said turbine and produce energy. In the words of Dan Grech founder of Global OTEC:
We address a vision in which the future of tropical islands involves supply themselves with all the electricity, water and food they needand create new industries for export, such as alternative green fuels and critical minerals
This liquid in a gaseous state has to be subsequently cooled to be able to be used again, something that is achieved extracting cold water from the ocean floor which is at about 4ºC, thus favoring a continuous cycle of heat exchange that produces electricity and supplies it to the grid.
The invention works both day and nightthroughout the year and has already been tested in small-scale controlled environments, such as swimming pools and the like, although we still need to jump into the sea to see its real viability.
In fact, a scale test carried out in London last year helped its creators confirm the technical viability of the invention, something they now hope replicate at 1:5 scale in the Canary Islands.
Via | The Spanish
Cover image | Global OTEC
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