OTEC heat exchanger test facility

摘要

Makai has completed construction of an OTEC heat exchanger test facility at the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii (NELHA) on the Big Island of Hawaii. The test facility is a 40-foot tall tower that supports evaporators, condensers, seawater piping, and an accurately instrumented ammonia working fluid piping system. NAVFAC and ONR sponsored the facility as a cost-effective means to test the performance of modular heat exchangers on land using NELHA's existing seawater pipe infrastructure. In general, OTEC will be most cost-effective when installed as large floating offshore platforms.