The process flow diagram demonstrates the way in which electricity is generated through Ocen thermal energy conversion.
Overall, the Ocean thermal energy converter utilizes the temperature difference between surface water and deep ocean water to generate electricity through a traditional turbine mechanism with 3 main stages.
To begin, the system lets warm ocean surface water which is around 15 Celsius passes through the vaporizer mechanism. The vaporizer contains ammonia in liquid form in the first stage and with the heat energy absorption from the surface ocean water, ammonia turns into gas. Following that, expanded ammonia gas travels through the path and drives the turbine to generate electricity.
After the electricity generation process, the ammonia gas is again passed through a condenser mechanism which deep ocean water around 5 Celsius to convert ammonia gas into ammonia liquid. Subsequently, converted ammonia gas travels through a set of pipes connected to liquid pump. The pump compresses the ammonia liquid into the vaporizer mechanism to convert ammonia from liquid form to gas form. The circles continuous and generate electricity.