Sensitivity Analysis of OTEC-CC-MX-1 kWe Plant Prototype

Jessica Guadalupe Tobal-Cupul, Estela Cerezo-Acevedo, Yair Yosias Arriola-Gil, Hector Fernando Gomez-Garcia and Victor Manuel Romero-Medina
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Jessica Guadalupe Tobal-Cupul: Department of Basic Sciences and Engineering, Universidad del Caribe, SM 78, Mza. 1, Lote 1, Esq. Fraccionamiento Tabachines, Cancún 77528, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Estela Cerezo-Acevedo: Department of Basic Sciences and Engineering, Universidad del Caribe, SM 78, Mza. 1, Lote 1, Esq. Fraccionamiento Tabachines, Cancún 77528, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Yair Yosias Arriola-Gil: Department of Basic Sciences and Engineering, Universidad del Caribe, SM 78, Mza. 1, Lote 1, Esq. Fraccionamiento Tabachines, Cancún 77528, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Hector Fernando Gomez-Garcia: Department of Basic Sciences and Engineering, Universidad del Caribe, SM 78, Mza. 1, Lote 1, Esq. Fraccionamiento Tabachines, Cancún 77528, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Victor Manuel Romero-Medina: Department of Basic Sciences and Engineering, Universidad del Caribe, SM 78, Mza. 1, Lote 1, Esq. Fraccionamiento Tabachines, Cancún 77528, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 9, 1-17

Abstract: The Mexican Caribbean Sea has potential zones for Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) implementation. Universidad del Caribe and Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnologia, with the support of the Mexican Centre of Innovation in Ocean Energy, designed and constructed a prototype OTEC plant (OTEC-CC-MX-1 kWe), which is the first initiative in Mexico for exploitation of this type of renewable energy. This paper presents a sensitivity analysis whose objective was to know, before carrying out the experimental tests, the behavior of OTEC-CC-MX-1 kWe regarding temperature differences, as well as the non-possible operating conditions, which allows us to assess possible modifications in the prototype installation. An algorithm was developed to obtain the inlet and outlet temperatures of the water and working fluid in the heat exchangers using the monthly surface and deep-water temperature data from the Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model and Geographically Weighted Regression Temperature Model for the Mexican Caribbean Sea. With these temperatures, the following were analyzed: fluctuation of thermal efficiency, mass flows of R-152a and water and power production. By analyzing the results, we verified maximum and minimum mass flows of water and R-152a to produce 1 kWe during a typical year in the Mexican Caribbean Sea and the conditions when the production of electricity is not possible for OTEC-CC-MX-1 kWe.

Keywords: sensitivity analysis; power generation; close cycle OTEC; ocean renewable energy; Mexican Caribbean Sea; OTEC plant prototype (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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