Thermal Energy Conversion Essay -- physics energy power renewable powe

The demand for an cost-efficient renewable nil source is a driving force in ongoing research. Thermal energy conversion is one such strength source that is under constant investigation and has endless avenues of possibility. The two requirements of energy drudgery are efficiency and renewability. Many possibilities exist for energy production including Fossil Fuels (natural gas, oil, coal, oilshale), nuclear, solar, wind, geo thermal, biomass and wastes, & hydroelectric. Efficiency of the use of these resource are directly associate to the location and the demand in that location. For example Hawaii is a rush candidate for the use of the oceans mechanical wave action, the thermal incline of the ocean, wind, and biomass from the blue levels of plant growth. The demand for another energy source comes from Hawaiis dependence on oil that has to be transported there. maritime Thermal Energy ConversionOcean Thermal Energy Conversion(OTEC) is the utilization of the energy stored in the worlds oceans by the thermal gradient created. The thermal gradient is the difference of the surface temperature of the ocean that is heated up via solar energy and the water at depths of significantly colder temperatures. This thermal gradient is the energy source that is converted to usable energy by OTEC plants. The melodic theme for using the oceans thermal energy is credited to several visionaries including Jacques DArsonval, a French Engineer, in 1881. The temperature difference needed for an OTEC plant is about 36 deg F (20 deg C). Temperature differences of this amount are readily available in many locations in the world. The areas depicted in red on the above map arrive at the best areas for OTEC sites due to the stablility of warm weather throughout t... ...ntially be used for one of the municipalities that stand beside the pipeline?Arctic northwest Slope Borough - 179.2 mi.Fairbanks North Star Borough - 89.1 mi.City of Delta Junction - 5.5 mi.City of Valdez - 20 .8 mi.Could the pipeline at least help to power one of the ten pump stations determined along its winding path?It is not likely that the heat flip-flop in either of the two above systems would produce a suitable fair to middling amount of energy to produce electricity. The temperature of the oil as it is extracted is virtually 160 F and the flow temperature approximately 140 F. These temperatures need to be maintained for the oil to remain in a viscous enough state to be transport with some amount of efficiency. This inquiry into the potence use of excess heat being produced as a by-product does however open the door to other possibilities.