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There has long been an interest in using the vast quantities of thermal energy in the oceans to run heat engines. A heat engine needs a temp
Question
There has long been an interest in using the vast quantities of thermal energy in the oceans to run heat engines. A heat engine needs a temperature difference, a hot side and a cold side. Conveniently, the ocean surface waters are warmer than the deep ocean waters. Suppose you build a floating power plant in the tropics where the surface water temperature is ~ 35.0 C. This would be the hot reservoir of the engine. For the cold reservoir, water would be pumped up from the ocean bottom where it is always ~ 5.00 C.
What is the maximum possible efficiency of such a power plant?
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Physics
4 years
2021-09-02T18:45:02+00:00
2021-09-02T18:45:02+00:00 1 Answers
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Answer:
Explanation:
The maximum efficient power plant will be the plant based on carnot cycle whose efficiency is given by the following formula
Efficiency = (T₁ – T₂) / T₁
T₁ is temperature of hot reservoir and T₂ is temperature of cold reservoir.
Putting the given values
efficiency of power plant = (35 – 5) / (273 + 35 )
= 30 / 308
= .097
= 9.7 %