ECONOMIC EVALUATION OF MIXTURE AND PURE FLUID CYCLES IN OCEAN THERMAL ENERGY CONVERSION SYSTEMS

摘要

The sensitivity analysis performed in this research study showed that there are several economic trade-offs associated with the design, and performance of the heat exchangers. The trade-offs include such items as the cold water pipe length, the sea water temperature rise and velocity. It was observed that mixtures provide an increasing economic advantage over pure fluids as the temperature rise in the cold sea water is increased. It is postulated that significant economic savings can be experienced with the use of mixtures if the cost of the heat exchanger can be reduced by one-half their present cost.