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Environmental impacts of use of fossil fuels
Environmental impacts of use of fossil fuels
Environmental impacts of use of fossil fuels
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PETROLEUM – BUILD OR BURN CHEMICAL PRINCIPLES Petroleum is one of the three fossil fuels which consist of a mixture of hydrocarbons. Petroleum is used as an important source of energy worldwide. Approximately 90% of the petroleum which is extracted is used for energy. Petroleum is also important in the production of synthetic compounds such as plastics. Petroleum is not a renewable energy source like all fossil fuels so should not be used carelessly. So should we build or burn it. To make a valued opinion as to whether we should build or burn a few chemical concepts need to be understood which is discussed below. FRACTIONAL DISTILLATION: Petroleum originates from marines life which were buried in sediments of the ocean. This then goes through a series of changes by heat, pressure and bacteria action which turns it into petroleum. When petroleum is extracted from the ground it is a mixture, therefore it needs to be separated into fractions. These different fractions of petroleum are achieved by fractional distillations ‘oil refining.’ This process separated the fractions out based on their boiling points which can be seen in figure 1. Figure 1: Fractional Distillation (Hagley Elsie 2007) HYDROCARBON CRACKING: The larger the hydrocarbon molecule the higher its boiling point, less volatile, less viscous and less flammable. These fractions which contain compounds of a higher molecular mass can be ‘cracked’. Petroleum contains many long-chain hydrocarbons. This process is known as hydrocarbon cracking which is a process in which hydrocarbons are broken down and rearranged by a catalyst into more useful smaller molecules. These smaller molecules produce more useful short-chain components such as gasoline and... ... middle of paper ... ...rom what naturally occurs around us. Wind power is generated by large, slow moving wind turbines which rotate around with the wind. This is another way in which ew can avoid using fossil fuels and use a more renewable source which does not have the impact on the earth like that of petroleum. Hydroelectric power is yet another source of power. It is produced similar to wind power, consisting of very large turbines. These turbines are spun around by the pressure which is very intense when leaving the blockaded portion of the river The final alternative energy source is biofuels. Biofuels is a great alternative source of energy as it gets rid of waste and being able to convert this to energy. Biofuels are produced from essentially living organisms and from metabolic by products. For a fuel to be considered a bio if must be more than 80% renewable energy sources.
Its most known process of generating electricity would be movement of air through wind turbines. Wind power has two parts, mechanical and electrical systems. Mechanical systems are low speed and are used for mechanical tasks such as pumping water or grinding grain. Electrical systems are high speed and are used to generate electricity to power homes or schools. Many people feel that wind farms full of turbines, are aesthetically unpleasing, but wind power is a clean energy source and does not generate greenhouse gas emissions. It is a very abundant resource throughout the United States. Wind power is simple, relatively cheap, and low maintenance (Sambu). Wind power is again, free and very abundant so no matter how much we use now, we will still obtain enough in the
Once extracted from the earth, crude oil must be refined to become useful. Crude oil contains over 500 hundred hydrocarbons plus many other elements and additives that are all combined into one product. The refining process separates and groups these hydrocarbons together to make things that are of value to us such as gasoline and diesel fuel, waxes, asphalts, household fuel oil, industrial lubricating oils, greases and other petrochemicals.
After the oil/gas mixture is drawn from the ground, it is then stored into a storage tank and allowed to rest for a while. Then the gas is piped off to a set of distillation columns to clean up the ethane. In order to activate the chemical reaction necessary to separate the ethane, a thermal cracking unit (a sort of long heated tube) i.e. a plug flow reactor is used. After a series of distillations, ethylene exits the tube.
In everyday life, there are things that one needs to survive. And sustainability problems arise every day. One such problem is energy loss. The world is using up a lot of energy and new ideas need to be formed to help the rest of the world and the future of the generations that are to follow, to survive. With that the problem is that people use up energy and they do not use it efficiently. Therefore scientists are needed to find ways to deal with the sustainability problem that is arising. That is where wind turbines are used to generate this energy but the actual wind-turbines are very large, loud and they kill birds, thus new designs need to be found in order to help energy usage and to bring the size and structure of the wind turbines to a smaller scale to prevent injuries to nature and the species around it.
Just as long as wind continues to blow and the sun shines, then wind power can produce energy to send to many different areas. There aren’t many locations that have continuous wind. And because of that, the widespread development of wind power isn’t as great as it could be. Although there are more advantages than disadvantages when it comes to this energy source, the disadvantages should be taken just as seriously. Wind power can harm animals, there was a study that stated birds were coming in contact with turbines and dying.
Petroleum engineering is the development and exploitation of crude/oil and natural gas. The foundation was established during the 1890s in California. This career was developed to correlate oil- producing zones and water zones from well to prevent large amounts of water from entering oil- produced zones.
» Downstream: significant refineries incorporate unrefined petroleum preparing and transport of items to retail outlets.
There are three parts to a typical hydropower plant. The first part is an electric plant where electricity is produced. The second is a dam that open and closes to control the flow of water. Water behind the dam goes into an intake and is pushed against blades in a turbine which causes them to turn. Then the turbine rotates a generator to create electricity.
Next, hydro-electricity is electricity produced by moving water, flowing past a turbine connected to a generator (“Hydropower”). According to Nationalgeographic.c...
How exactly does hydropower work, though? As it turns out, dams are the main source of harvesting energy via hydropower. There are about 80,000 dams in the United States, although not all are active producers of power. There are four main types of hydropower facilities, which all require turbines: impoundment, diversion, run-of-river, and pumped storage. Also, there are two main types of hydro turbines: impulse turbines and reaction turbines ("Hydropower…”).
Wind turbines are a great source of energy around the world. Wind turbines produce wind energy that can be used to power our homes. Wind turbines convert kinetic energy into mechanical power. Then this mechanical power gets generated into electricity. Wind turbines make energy by the wind turning the large blades, which spin a shaft that is connected to the large blades, which then operates the generator making electricity.
The Wind Turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of the wind into kinetic energy of turbines. The turbines turn to generate electricity but they work only when there is wind. The efficiency is 30-40%. The environmental impacts are needs many large turbines to generate electricity which can be noisy and unsightly. Turbines may endanger birds and bats.
Hydroelectric power seizes the buoyancy released from descending water. Two thousand years ago, Ancient Greeks utilized wooden water wheels to convert kinetic energy into mechanical energy because that’s all they had back then. However, in 1882, the first hydroelectric power plant was constructed in the United States using a fast flowing river. During that time, humans began to build dams to reserve water at the most suitable places or areas in order to best apply the power capacity. Engineering and structural changes have been increased in designing a more efficient hydroelectric power plant, but in order for that to happen they had to go through a very difficult process which can cause much conflict. (http://www.ems.psu.edu/~elsworth/courses/cause2003/finalprojects/vikingpaper.pdf)
Wind is a form of solar energy. The term wind energy describes the process by which the wind is used to generate electricity or mechanical power. Wind turbines convert mechanical energy from the wind into electrical power. Wind turbines usually have three main parts. There are blades that connect to a central hub, a box behind the blades that contains the generator, and a long stem that connects to the ground. The way how it works is that the wind turns the blades, which spins a shaft that connects to a generator making electricity. After the electricity is produced it is sent through transmission lines to a substation that is sent to business and homes. For the sake of our planet, we must promote a renewable energy economy. Wind power can be a foundation of that sustainable energy future because it provides jobs in states that are building wind turbines, is a renewable energy source, and does not damage our environment. The environment will not be damaged by the pollution, the natural resources will not be used up, and there won’t be generating of hazardous wastes. Welcoming wind energy today will lay the foundation for a healthy tomorrow that will affect everyone in the United States. There are obstacles and challenges that will make it more difficult, but the environmental impact is well worth it to invest more money into wind energy.
The oil refinery converts crude oil into valuable products and supplies. These products are made and sent to many countries abroad, in which are transported on land or along rivers and canals. Crude oil is then arranged and categorized into segments by fractional distillation. Raw crude oil, or unprocessed crude oil, is not normally beneficial in most industrial applications. Low sulfur crude oil has been valuable as a burner fuel to construct steam for the force of seagoing vessels. The lighter elements have the ability to construct explosive and dangerous vapors in the gas tanks. There are extremely hazardous, and are often used in war ships. The remaining hydrocarbon molecules are filtered from crude oil and used towards lubricants, feedstock, plastics, and fuels.