Design of an ocean thermal energy plant ship to produce ammonia via hydrogen

The 43°F (24°C) temperature difference that exists between surface water and deep water at selected sites in tropical oceans can be used to drive a heat engine to produce electric power, electrolyze water, and produce ammonia from the resulting hydrogen plus nitrogen from the air. A baseline design has been developed for a 100-MWe Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) plant-ship that would produce 313 tons per day of ammonia. The cost estimates for this design have been extrapolated to 500-MWe plant-ships to produce ammonia (for fertilizers and chemicals) or liquid hydrogen for shipment to the U.S. It is judged that ammonia will be producible at competitive cost ($96/short ton in 1975 dollars) by the sixth and subsequent plant-ships in the mid-1980s. This production by OTEC/ammonia plants would conserve supplies of natural gas or other fossil fuels now used to produce ammonia on shore. For the longer term (1990s), liquid hydrogen from OTEC plants should become competitive as demands for this clean fuel and efficient ways for employing it in larger markets (fuel cells, transportation, etc.) come to maturity.