The students who participated in the Fall 2000 “design class” offered by the Department of Ocean and Resource Engineering at the University of Hawaii performed a preliminary design of a cold seawater facility at Kekaha, Hawaii. The course imparted a great deal of design experience, but more importantly it introduced the classmates to cold seawater as a developing resource with high potential. As the two students who participated in the design class, we were particularly impressed with this resource and convinced that cold seawater can feasibly be developed as a valuable resource for island communities. We collaborated to combine, condense and generalize the reports in an effort to familiarize other ocean engineers and island planners to this technology and its potential. This paper discusses several uses for cold seawater in tropical island settings and the site characteristics required to feasibly develop a land-based cold seawater facility. The preliminary design of a cold seawater facility at Kekaha is presented along with an economic analysis of its capital and operating costs.
Interdisciplinarity as a Valuable Resource of Psycho-Economic Analysis of Pressing Problems of Modern Society
