| NIOT | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | November 1993 |
| Jurisdiction | Government of India |
| Headquarters |
Chennai, Tamil Nadu 12°56′48″N 80°12′40″E / 12.946656°N 80.211007°ECoordinates: 12°56′48″N 80°12′40″E / 12.946656°N 80.211007°E |
| Agency executive |
|
| Parent agency | Ministry of Earth Sciences |
| Website | www.niot.res.in |
The National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) was established in November 1993 as an autonomous society under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India. NIOT is managed by a Governing Council and the Director is the head of the Institute. The institute is based in Chennai.
The major aim of starting NIOT under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, is to develop reliable indigenous technology to solve the various engineering problems associated with harvesting of non-living and living resources in the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), which is about two-thirds of the land area of India.
The group functions with a mandate to develop application-oriented technology in ocean (Coastal & Environmental) related areas. The goals of the group are to promote programs consistent with the overall development perspective of the country in the infrastructure sector thereby contributing to the nation building exercise
The group's expertise and specialized facilities in scientific and technological fields cater to specific sponsored research and industrial sector projects by providing technical support and time-bound result-oriented research. Coastal and Environmental Engineering (CEE) program aims to bring the state of the art technology in coastal infrastructure development through field observation, numerical modeling and engineering application.
The main area of focus of the group is the utilization of the ocean resources to find alternative technologies for fresh water and renewable energy. Currently the group is working on three specific areas, fresh water production using low temperature thermal desalination (LTTD) process and energy production using two distinctly different processes, Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion and Wave Energy.
The Group is committed to develop technologies for producing high quality clean drinking water and energy from the ocean. Technologies like Low Temperature Thermal Desalination (LTTD) using coolant water discharge from thermal power plant, wave energy using floating devices such as Backward Bent Ducted Buoy (BBDB), ocean current turbine development, solar desalination, heat exchangers for LTTD and ocean thermal energy conversion are the focal areas of research. Apart from the aspect of technology development, the group has taken initiative in transferring the LTTD technology to the society through industrial partnership