An Offshore OTEC Facility Operates with a Warm Reservoir Temperature $22 ^ { \circ } \mathrm { C }$

question 14

Essay

An offshore OTEC facility operates with a warm reservoir temperature of $22 ^ { \circ } \mathrm { C }$ and a cold reservoir temperature of $5 ^ { \circ } \mathrm { C }$ .
(a) If $65 \%$ of the output power is required for operation of the facility (e.g., primarily water pumps), what is the net efficiency?
(b) In order to transport the electricity that has been generated to land, hydrogen is used as an energy storage mechanism. Hydrogen is produced by the electrolysis of water and is converted back to electricity using a fuel cell, with an overall efficiency of $40 \%$ (see Section 20.9). What is the net overall efficiency, and how does this compare with, for example, wind or solar photovoltaics?

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