Patent ID: 8893496

Claim:
A system comprising: a first sub-system to be disposed at or near a surface of an ocean, the first sub-system including an evaporation unit; a second sub-system to be disposed at an ocean depth of at least 500 meters; a turbine; a pump disposed between the turbine and the second sub-system; and a collection tank coupled to the second sub-system, wherein: the evaporation unit is configured to vaporize a working fluid comprising seawater by use of heat from fluid located at or near the surface of the ocean that is at a temperature sufficient to vaporize the working fluid, the turbine is configured to turn in response to receipt of the vaporized working fluid, the pump is configured to pump the vaporized working fluid from the turbine to the second sub-system at the ocean depth, the second sub-system is configured to condense the working fluid with seawater located adjacent to the second sub-system at the ocean depth to produce desalinated water, and the collection tank is configured to collect the desalinated water from the second sub-system.