Join 60,000+ competitive exam aspirants
or with email
Your Cart
Subtotal₹0
Total₹0
Examoogle • User • info@examoogle.com • EE-2024-8821
Chapter 1 of 12 • Page 1 of 248🔒 Protected PDF • Watermarked
Join 60,000+ competitive exam aspirants
Which is the type of energy where the energy is harnessed by the heat accumulated on the surface of water?
Wind energy
Wave energy
Ocean thermal energy conversion
Solar energy
Ocean thermal energy conversion
Quick Summary: Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) is a process that exploits the temperature difference between the warmer surface waters of the ocean and the colder deep ocean waters to generate electricity. It specifically leverages the heat energy stored in the surface layer of tropical oceans which act as vast solar collectors.
Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) is a process that exploits the temperature difference between the warmer surface waters of the ocean and the colder deep ocean waters to generate electricity. It specifically leverages the heat energy stored in the surface layer of tropical oceans which act as vast solar collectors.
ηmax=1−TwarmTcold — Carnot efficiency limit for OTEC systems
OTEC systems use the warm surface water to vaporize a low-boiling-point working fluid (like ammonia) in a heat exchanger (evaporator). The resulting high-pressure vapor drives a turbine to generate electricity. The vapor is then condensed back into a liquid using the cold water pumped from the deep ocean (the condenser), creating a continuous thermodynamic cycle.
Requires a temperature difference (ΔT) of at least 20°C to be economically viable.
Operates as a continuous base-load power source unlike wind or solar.
Can be configured as closed-cycle, open-cycle, or hybrid systems.
Provides reliable base-load electricity generation.
Produces desalinated water as a byproduct in open-cycle systems.
Environmentally clean with no fuel consumption.
High capital and maintenance costs for large-scale offshore structures.
Low overall thermal efficiency compared to traditional thermal plants.
Potential environmental impact from discharge of deep-sea water.
Remote island electricity supply.
Large-scale coastal desalination projects.
Aquaculture using nutrient-rich cold deep water.
The surface of the ocean acts as a giant solar collector, storing thermal energy.
Option A (Wind energy) depends on atmospheric pressure gradients.
Option B (Wave energy) depends on kinetic energy from surface water motion.
Option D (Solar energy) typically refers to PV conversion of photon energy into electricity.
C is correct — Ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) utilizes the temperature gradient between surface and deep ocean water to generate power.
In competitive exams, remember that OTEC is a specific application of the Second Law of Thermodynamics, where work is extracted from a temperature gradient.