CO2 is the most significant greenhouse gas, which mainly comes from the use of fossil fuels. Many people feel that content of CO2 in the atmosphere is the main reason for manmade global warming. The main sources of CO2 emissions involve electricity generation, industrial processes, fumes from transportation and commercial buildings and use. Emissions of greenhouse gases, such as CO2, to the atmosphere are expected to cause even more of a significant change in global climate (Davison, 2007). The main focus to try to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is to reduce the amount that is released from coal-fired power plants. Greenhouse gas emissions that involve the productions of electricity come from natural gas production and coal-fired power plant operations. Natural gas production accounts for twenty-four percent and coal-fired power plant operations accounts for seventy-five percent, while the other one percent is caused by other electricity generation operations. The main reason why coal-fired power plants have a higher percentage of emissions is because the sulfur content of coal is much higher than that of other fossil fuels (Jarmaillo et al., 2007). This proves that there is a great need to find an alternative fossil fuel to use instead of coal. Although coal is easy to mine, transport and process for the electricity generation process, it is also the
Clean coal technology usually addresses atmospheric problems resulting from burning coal. Historically, the primary focus was on sulfur dioxide and particulates, since it is the most important gas in the causation of acid rain. More recent focus has been on carbon dioxide (due to its impact on global warming) as well as other pollutants. Concerns exist regarding the economic viability of these technologies and the timeframe of delivery, potentially high hidden economic costs in terms of social and environmental damage, and the costs and viability of disposing of removed carbon and other toxic matter. More, the byproducts of coal power production range from fly ash sludge ponds full of mercury, arsenic, and sulfur in unlined ponds that can leak into the water supply.
Simplifying the schematics, a battery is comprised of at least one galvanic cell, which contains two or more half cells, a reduction cell and an oxidation cell. The electrode and electrolyte solution are contained in the half cells, and the chemical reactions in the two half cells provide the energy for the galvanic cell operations (Chieh). The two electrodes, or battery terminals, produce electricity through a series of electromagnetic reactions between the anode, cathode, and electrolyte (Marshall, Charles, & Clint, 2000). Two or more electrically charged atoms/molecules, known as ions, from the electrolyte bond with the anode (negative terminal) in the oxidation reaction. This produces a compound, where one or more electrons are then released. Simultaneously, the cathode substance (positive terminal), ions, and free electrons also combine into compounds during the reduction reaction with the cathode. Basically, the cathode or positive terminal of the battery is absorbing the electrons produced from the anode or negative terminal, creating electricity. Therefore, electrons flow from anode to cathode (AUS-e-TUTE, 2017), and electrical energy is
Looking further into batteries(most batteries) during the discharge of electricity, the chemical on the anode releases electrons to the negative terminal and ions into the electrolyte in a process called oxidation. The positive terminal accepts these electrons and thus completes the circuit making the flow of electrons. Between electrolyte solutions the ions move through the salt bridge to maintain electrical
When you burn coal or any other fossil fuels, the sulfur in the coal reacts with the oxygen in the air in a combustion reaction, this produces a chemical called sulfur dioxide (S + O2 → SO2). This chemical then rises up into the air and further reacts with the oxygen in the atmosphere. This produces sulfur trioxide in a chemical reaction that can be shown as 2SO2 + O2 → 2SO3. When the sulfur trioxide then comes in contact with water or water vapour in the air, it reacts to form sulphuric acid, a highly
A fuel cell is, in principle, a very simple electrochemical device. The chemical reaction that powers hydrogen fuel cells is the same as that which occurs when hydrogen burns. The chemical equation for this reaction is: 2H2 + O2 ( 2H2O + energy. "Normally hydrogen burns, reacting with oxygen from the air, producing water, heat and light. ... In the fuel cell the chemical reaction is exactly the same, but instead of producing light and heat energy, electrical energy is produced."2 All fuel cells consist of an electrolyte (a substance that allows only the passage of ions) sandwiched between two electrodes. When a fuel containing hydrogen is passed over the negative electrode, otherwise known as an anode, it is ionized. Ionization of the fuel, often accomplished with the assistance of a catalyst, removes electrons from the hydrogen creating positively charged hydrogen ions and negatively charged free electrons. Since only the ions can pass through the electrolyte situated between the electrodes, the electrons must find another route to the positive electrode or cathode, where they will be reunited with the hydrogen ions and combined with oxygen atoms to form water. The electrons passing around the electrolyte constitute an electric current, and thus can be used to provide power during their journey from anode to cathode.3
82. Oxidation occurs when there is a removal of electrons and/or hydrogen atoms from a
For this lab, lead (II) nitrate (Pb(NO3)2) and potassium chromate (K2CrO4) will be reacted together to demonstrate double replacement reaction between 2 ionic compounds. This was shown when chromate replaced the nitrate and formed lead (II) chromate, and when the nitrate replaced the chromate and formed potassium nitrate, which is shown in the
In order to power the industrial age, humans have burned gigantic amounts of coal to produce any form of power. Coal naturally contains high amounts of sulphur and burning of coal produces huge amounts of heat and the sulphur present in the coal combines with the atmospheric oxygen to produce Sulphur Dioxide. The smoke stacks of a power plant throw out all the waste gases into the atmosphere which contains huge amounts of Sulphur Dioxide. It is said that thermal power plants are the largest contributor of Sulphur Dioxide into the atmosphere. It is estimated that more than half of the total amount of Sulphur Dioxide generated in the atmosphere comes directly from thermal power plants that run on coal.
The United States uses fossil fuels for 67.5% of its energy consumption. Fossil fuels have more negative impacts than positive ones. The only positive that comes from fossil fuels is that it can create energy. Most of the negative effects have to deal with the environment, like the most popular, burning coal for electricity. “Coal is used for about 43% of electricity generation in the U.S” (Coal and the Environment - Energy Explained, Your Guide To Understanding Energy - Energy Information Administration, no date). Burning coal releases many different toxic and deadly emissions. Some of which include sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon dioxide, and particulates. Sulfur dioxide is the cause of acid rain. Nitrogen oxides contribute to smog. Carbon dioxide is the main greenhouse gas which is causing global warming. The particles also contribute to smog and can cause lung disease. From the emissions created from created electricity, 77% of it was from coal alone. For the next 50 years, the main goal of the United States should be to reduce the amount of energy created from coal. The most efficient and clean way to replace coal is to use solar panels at as many households as possible.
A study was done in South Durban using the health risk assessment model adopted from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the Health effects of the air pollution from Sulphur dioxide. Inhalation has been identified as the Sulphur Dioxide’s main route of exposure hence it affects the respiratory system. Prevalence range of respiratory diseases like asthma, chronic cough, chronic phlegm, blocked runny nose and sinusitis.
But there are also many detrimental factors as well, since the production of coal results in air pollution, sulfur dioxide emission, carbon dioxide emission, acid rain, and hazardous waste [4]. These environmental problems are due to both the mining of coal and coal production plants. Many issues arise with the mining of coal. Firstly, the safety of miners is put at risk as they descend hundreds of feet below the surface of the Earth. After many years in this field of work, many miners develop black lung because of inhaling the coal extensively. Secondly, the extraction of coal is very costly due to the machinery needed along with the transportation of the coal after it has been mined to the various factories that are able to extract the sulfur impurities in coal and burn the coal for energy [5]. New methods have been developed to help with some of the issues relating to coal production. To rid the surrounding environment of toxic pollution, emission-scrubbing
Given that the most common mineral in limestone is calcium carbonate, describe how limestone objects are corroded by the sulfuric acid in polluted air. What chemical reaction is involved here?
A lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery is a type of rechargeable battery which uses a lithium ion that moves from a positive electrode (cathode) to a negative electrode (anode) during charging and vice versa during discharge. Lithium-ion batteries are less environmentally damaging than batteries containing heavy metals such as cadmium and mercury, but recycling them is still far preferable to incinerating them or sending them to landfill. Lithium ion batteries are made up of one or more generating compartments called cells. Each cell is composed of three components: an anode, a cathode, and a chemical called an electrolyte in between them.
Today the Sudbury region is known for mining and production of nickel, as it is located just off the Canadian Shield region that holds a vast nickel reserves. Throughout the early 20th century, many mining and smelting venture such as Inco and Falconbridge were created to take advantage of the growing nickel industry. Both are these companies used a smelting process called heap roasting method to extract the nickel from the ore. However, Smelting process is the one main source of the sulphur fumes which caused acid rain (Buhr, 1998). This results from nickel production itself, where there is 8 more times of sulphur oxides particulate in the ore than actual nickel (Crawford, 1994). At the beginning of this century, the amount of SO2 released into the atmosphere weren’t much of a concern since the nickel output was considerably small. It later became a problem as the demand for nickel production was gradually increasing (Crawford, 1994). Up till the 1970’s, the Smelting industry in the Sudbury region was one of the largest metal producing complexes in the world, which meant that it also release a massive amount of Sulphur and metal particulates into the environment. By the 1960’s, the smelting site in Sudbury was one of the largest point source of SO2 emission releasing thousands of tons of metal particulates from the smelters as graph 1 displays. (Keller, Heneberry & Gunn, 1999). As more ground level of sulphur dioxide emission