Mitigation of environmental impact of power-plant discharge by use of Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion system

This study aims to evaluate the mitigation method of environmental impact of power-plant discharges by reducing the temperature difference between effluent and coastal water. To minimize excessive thermal pollution which could cause serious socio-economic problems, Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) system can be applied to control the resultant temperature of combined discharge as well as to produce electricity by reusing the warm discharge from power-plant as a heat source for OTEC. Adaptability analysis of closed cycle OTEC was examined to 350 MW fossil fuel power plant. The results show that combined system could mitigate the thermal discharge effectively if suitable size of OTEC is connected with the power-plant. Furthermore, this method gives us marine forest to absorb carbon dioxide which may be altered to green house gas emission credit as well as clean electric power.