IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/renene/v91y2016icp531-539.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Energy budget of the thermal gradient in the Southern Brazilian continental shelf

Author

Listed:
  • Valente de Souza, Roberto
  • Marques, Wiliam Correa

Abstract

Various forms of energy conversion have been examined over the years and the energy of thermal gradients currently operating in some regions of the world has been studied. The Southern Brazilian Continental Shelf has high spatial and temporal temperature variability, indicating the need for a climatological analysis to identify the regions with the largest energy budgets. This region was shown to have a large energy budget through the analysis of sea surface temperature modelling data over 14 years. Based on the seasonality, the most suitable area for using an OTEC facility was identified. A numerical module forced with the monthly averaged modelling data was developed in order to estimates the thermal energy conversion from the ocean. The results show that there is a low sensitivity of the thermocline and thermal gradient associated with the change of seasons and oceanic features observed in this region. The theoretical maximum power produced can reach up to 121.9 MW and the average over the studied period was approximately 94.3 MW considering a punctual extraction spot. A simulated conversion site placed where there was greatest viability revealed that the average standard thermal gradient is 0.17 °C/m along the vertical column (545 m) from the sea.

Suggested Citation

  • Valente de Souza, Roberto & Marques, Wiliam Correa, 2016. "Energy budget of the thermal gradient in the Southern Brazilian continental shelf," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 531-539.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:91:y:2016:i:c:p:531-539
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2015.12.068
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148115305735
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.renene.2015.12.068?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:91:y:2016:i:c:p:531-539. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/renewable-energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.