Discussion
Consider an Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) process operating between 30 °C and 5 °C. What would be the maximum possible efficiency for an electricity generator station operating with these temperatures ?
Answer: A
The maximum possible efficiency of any heat engine working between two temperatures is that of the Carnot engine, with the temperatures taken in kelvin. Here the hot reservoir is the warm surface water at 30 \(^{\circ}\)C, which is 303 K, and the cold reservoir is the deep water at 5 \(^{\circ}\)C, which is 278 K:
\[ \eta = 1 - \frac{T_{c}}{T_{h}} = 1 - \frac{278}{303} \]
\[ \eta = 0.0825 \approx 8\% \]
So the answer is (A). The values 15, 25 and 40 per cent are far above what such a small temperature difference allows, and a real OTEC plant does even worse than this limit.
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