Needed Research

To accelerate the development of OTEC systems, researchers need to:

• Obtain data on OTEC plant operation with appropriately sized demonstration plants
  
  
• Develop and characterize cold-water pipe technology and create a database of information on materials, design, deployment, and installation
  
  
• Conduct further research on the heat exchanger systems to improve heat transfer performance and decrease costs
  
  
• Conduct research in the areas of innovative turbine concepts for the large machines required for open-cycle systems
  
  
• Identify and evaluate advanced concepts for ocean thermal energy extraction

For more information on research needs, click on the items below:

• Cold-water pipe,
• direct contact condensers,
• evaporators,
• integration/systems,
• seawater deaeration,
• seawater systems,
• surface condensers,
• and turbines.

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