...------------------------------------------------- Thermal pollution Thermal pollution is the degradation of water quality by any process that changes ambient water temperature. A common cause of thermal pollution is the use of water as a coolant by power plants and industrial manufacturers. When water used as a coolant is returned to the natural environment at a higher temperature, the change in temperature decreases oxygen supply, and affects ecosystem composition.Urban runoff–stormwater discharged to surface waters from roads and parking lots–can also be a source of elevated water temperatures. When a power plant first opens or shuts down for repair or other causes, fish and other organisms adapted to particular temperature range can be killed by the abrupt change in water temperature known as "thermal shock." ------------------------------------------------- Ecological effects Warm water Elevated temperature typically decreases the level of dissolved oxygen of water. This can harm aquatic animals such as fish, amphibians and other aquatic organisms. Thermal pollution may also increase the metabolic rate of aquatic animals, as enzyme activity, resulting in these organisms consuming more food in a shorter time than if their environment were not changed.[4]:179 An increased metabolic rate may result in fewer resources; the more adapted organisms moving in may have an advantage over organisms that are not used to the warmer temperature. As a result, food chains of the old...
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...Thermal pollution is a temperature change in natural bodies of water of that can and often does have negative impacts on the nearby ecosystem caused by human influence. The temperature change can be upwards or downwards. The major sources of thermal pollution are power plants and industrial factories. In most power plants, heat is produced when coal, oil, or natural gas is burned or nuclear fuels undergo fission to release huge amounts of energy. This heat turns water to steam, which spins turbines to produce electricity. After cooling the used steam must be cooled and condensed back into water. The use of water as a cooling agent, deforestation of shorelines, soil erosion, and the burning of fossil fuels.. The foremost cause being the use of water as a cooling agent in nuclear power plants and other industrial facilities. After the water has absorbed the excess heat of nuclear rods or other machinery it is returned to the environment (usually a river or lake) at 9 to 20 degrees warmer a temperature. More stringent regulations are imposed in the U.S., but this doesn't help much because most of the world's nuclear power plants are located in France and other European nations. Droughts in Africa might become more serious. Also, the rates of photosynthesis and plant growth are increased. They may not be able to afford large projects such as sea walls or aqueducts. Most of the rise in sea level would occur because water expands when it is heated. Finally, the single human activity...
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...becomes increasingly interesting both from a waste management perspective - to deal with increasing waste amounts while reducing the amount of waste deposited at landfills and from an energy system perspective to improve the flexibility of the energy system in order to increase the share of renewable energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The object of analysis is waste which is not reused or recycled, but can be used for energy production. Different Waste-to-Energy technologies are analyzed through energy system analysis of the current Danish energy system with 13-14% renewable energy, as well as possible future Danish energy systems with 43% (2025) and 100% renewable energy (2050), respectively. The technologies include combustion, thermal gasification, anaerobic digestion, fermentation, and transesterification technologies producing electricity, heat, or transport fuel. In the USA, according to the US energy recovery council, there are 87 WTE plants producing 2,700 megawatts that results into 17 million of kwh per year which is enough to meet the needs for power for 2 million households. In the EU incineration is more popular. According to the confederation of European Waste to energy plants (CEWEP) the plants in Europe can supply annually about 13 million inhabitants with electricity and 12 million inhabitants with heat. Waste to energy is produced mainly by biological material and thus the energy produced is mainly biomass energy along with all its pros and cons. In addition...
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...Benefits of Using Insulated Concrete Forms in Residential Constriction Abstract While technology has changed rapidly within the last decade for cell phones and computers, building construction remains the same as it was 100 years ago. Traditional wood frame structures have insulation problems that cause thermal bridging, through which precious energy is lost. These houses have a low thermal resistance resulting in a low insulation value. There is a more efficient way to build a house: using insulated concrete forms (ICF). Despite that technology had been present in the market for a long time, people are reluctant to use ICFs because of higher cost. An ICF structure is an amazing shelter in a natural disaster. The rebuilding cost of an ICF structure is far less than that of a typical structure. In an effort to become more environmentally friendly, we must explore alternative building techniques. This paper discusses how the significance of the long term energy savings, durability and fire resistance of ICFs offset the short term high cost of construction. Benefits of Using Insulated Concrete Forms in Residential Constriction Living in the 21st century makes people more aware of emerging technologies. The telephone is no longer just a communication device; it provides users with all kinds of information from changing global interests to the latest fashion trends. It has become near impossible to live without the assistance of computers, electronics, gadgets and appliances...
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...MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DETERMINATION OF THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY OF WASTE MATERIAL (PLASTICS) MECHANICAL ENGINEERING LABORATORY 2 ME 11L SUBMITTED BY: Alega, Ulysses Jr. H. Bicaldo, Mark Zedrick L. Engaño, Moises A. Sabida, Ricalyn B. SUBMITTED TO: Engr. Manuel E. Europeo March 10, 2014 INTRODUCTION Heat conduction (or thermal conduction) is the transfer of internal energy by microscopic diffusion and collisions of particles or quasi-particles within a body due to a temperature gradient. The microscopically diffusing and colliding objects include molecules, electrons, atoms, and phonons. They transfer disorganized microscopic kinetic and potential energy, which are jointly known as internal energy. Conduction can only take place within an object or material, or between two objects that are in direct or indirect contact with each other. Conduction takes place in all forms of ponderable, such as solids, liquids, gases and plasmas. Whether by conduction or by thermal radiation, heat spontaneously flows from a hotter to a colder body. In the absence of external drivers, temperature differences decay over time, and the bodies approach thermal equilibrium. In conduction, the heat flow is within and through the body itself. In contrast, in heat transfer by thermal radiation, the transfer is often between bodies, which can be spatially separate. Also possible is transfer of heat by a combination of conduction and thermal radiation. In convection, internal energy...
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...becoming a primary material of choice. The use of composites in the building industry is growing rapidly. Traditional benefits offered by composites are being recognized and utilized to address design limitations and can be used to reduce life cycle environmental and cost impacts. Learning Objectives • Define ‘Composite Materials’ and learn the history of composites in multiple industries and the factors that led the growth of composites in these industries. • Identify the design and performance attributes of composites used in other industries that are applicable to the building / construction market. • Review case studies that demonstrate how the inherent attributes of composites such as low weight, durability and low thermal conductivity, result in environmental and cost effective material options. • Explore web based education tools that offer case studies on the use of composites in construction and allow users to connect with composite fabricators that specialize in design, fabrication and installation of composite building materials. What is a Composite? Composite An engineered combination of materials that result in a finished material with better overall properties than the starting constituents. At a microscopic level, the constituent materials remain distinct within the finished structure. “Traditional” Composites Wood is a natural composite of cellulose fibers in a lignin matrix. Engineered wood is wood fibers, strands or veneers...
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...AEROGELS-THE MATERIAL SCIENCE OF CONSTRUCTION New buildings are rising everywhere, burning energy by the second and this demand for power pushes up greenhouse gases and pollution. 40% of the buildings energy consumption is used for heating and cooling. Being civil engineers it becomes imperative on our part to device some modern construction methodology to contribute our bit to prevent further worsening of the condition. Buildings alone waste 13% of the global energy production because of poor insulation. That’s equals to nearly four billion barrels of oil a year. Its an unbelievable waste just to heat up the sky. After years of research scientists have revealed the technology in the form of aerogels that could transform our cities and usher in better future. What is aerogel? Aerogel is made from a jelly like substance partly liquid partly solid. Solids are fine chain of silica surrounded by alcohol. It is then supercritically dried to transform it into aerogel.It is basically a form of nanotechnology.It is also known as frozen smoke or blue smoke because of its blue colour. History of aerogels: The first aerogels were produced in 1931 by Samuel Kistler, an undergraduate instructor at the College of the Pacific in Stockton, California. Accidently, Kistler found a way to remove the fluid from a wet silica gel, leaving behind its solid structure. The first commercial aerogels were produced in 1942 by the Mosanto corporation, under the trade name Santocel. The process involved...
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...Sources of pollution and mitigation measures Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the environment that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or that damage the environment. Pollution takes place because; we process, consume and throw away a high volume of material resources at a very high rate. Then the nature’s way of reabsorbing these resources back into its structure and effectively neutralizing them is much slower than our rates of production or consumption. Hence over production; also inefficient and dirty methods of production and consumptions; careless and thoughtless disposal of post consumption waste resources are the major causes of man-cause pollution. There are fundamental drivers of the pollution; these are the major forces behind the surge in levels of air, water and land pollution throughout the globe. These are Industrialization it set in the motion the widespread use of fossil fuels (oil, gas and coal) which are now the mail sources of pollution. Population growth with the exploding increase in the population around the world, the demand for goods and services goes up. This demand is met by expanded production and use of natural resources, which in turn lead to higher levels of pollution. Globalization. It has become an effective facilitator of environmental degradation. Developing countries tend to have loose regulations on pollution levels thus global bigger manufacturers tend to move to these areas rather than...
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...Technology has become so helpful to our lives in so many ways. Technology is convenient and efficient. It aids us to live life more conveniently by allowing us to do more in less effort. It, then, becomes rather difficult to undermine the importance in which technology plays within our lives. Many people have benefited from the invention of technology and would most often find it complicated to do without. Year after year, technologies become reinvented through new ideas and the betterment of equipment and tools. Thus, if an old technology does not suffice, a new one will easily come in favour shortly after. Because of the rather innovative current forms of technology, new and advanced technologies are forming at an impeccable pace. The expressions, “I would die without Internet” or “I could not ever live without my cell phone” imply that life would be hard to live from the lack of such technologies. However, such expressions become rather ironic because life is already in harm’s way due to technology itself. The relationship between technology within society and environmental grounds are problematic. Technology serves as an efficient function to our lives yet can become detrimental to our health which is demonstrated through Ronald Wright’s theory of the progress trap and theories of environmental degradation (Cameron, par. 5). However, the repair and reversal of a damaged environment depends largely on technology through means for better water, cleaner air and conserving energy;...
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...Land Pollution By Abhijit Naik Environmental pollution is a broad concept which includes pollution of various biological and physical components of the planet as a result of human activities. Going by this definition, it can be categorized into various types. When we talk about the different types, we usually refer to the pollution of air, water, and land. What we fail to understand, is the fact that this concept also includes noise pollution, thermal pollution, and radiation pollution. We cannot afford to turn a blind eye to this environmental issue any more, as the pollutants are being dumped in the environment at a rate which far exceeds the rate at which it can accommodate them. Causes The factors which contribute to environmental pollution exist in plenty. While air pollution is attributed to burning of fossil fuels, water pollution is associated with drainage of waste. Similarly, noise pollution is caused when the level of noise crosses certain decibels, and soil pollution or land pollution is caused as a result of contamination of soil due to the introduction of chemicals in the same. The use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides on agricultural land results in contamination of soil. These chemicals stay in the soil for a long time and eventually come in contact with our body through the food that we consume, which is grown in the polluted soil. While thermal pollution is attributed to its use as coolant by power plants and industries, radiation pollution is attributed...
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...Air Pollution, Water Pollution and Noise Pollution! The dictionary definition of pollution is to make air, water, soil, etc. dangerously dirty and not suitable for people to use. The main forms of pollution are air, water, soil, noise thermal and radioactive waves. It is a man-made problem mainly caused by human waste material, release of poisonous gases and other chemical pollutants from the industry, agricultural pollutants like pesticides, and chemical fertilizers, pollutants by automobiles and dumping of chemical and nuclear wastes, etc. It has led to a worldwide environmental crisis. In many ways, it has changed both the individual and social ways of life. Air Pollution: The main sources of air pollution in India and elsewhere are mineral dust and gases, automobiles, thermal power plants and industries. Any contamination in the air may not only cause many diseases and loss of vision but can also disturb the whole atmospheric system. Air pollution can also cause acid rain which damages soil, vegetation and aquatic life of the region. The heavy use of automobiles causes pollution and smog from automobile emissions. This has become a serious problem in almost all the countries—developed and developing. The bad urban air bums the eyes, damages lung tissues and increases the levels of lead and other poisons in the human body and agricultural products. It is not known how many deaths occur nationally because of air pollution. Air pollution caused massive smog...
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...SOIL ECOLOGY AND BIOREMIDIATION Faculty of Engineering and Architecture CIVE 652-Environmental biotechnology By: Contents INTRODUCTION 3 SOIL MICROORGANISMS 3 Bacteria and Actinomycetes 3 Protozoa 3 Algae 4 Fungi 4 Macrofauna and Mesofauna 4 SOIL UNDER OXIC AND ANOXIC CONDITIONS 4 SOIL CYCLES 5 Carbon Cycle 5 Nitrogen Cycle 6 Sulfur Cycle 7 SOIL POLLUTION 7 Main Causes of Soil Pollution: 7 Main Effects of Soil Pollution: 7 SOIL BIOREMEDIATION 8 EX SITU REMEDIATION TECHNIQUES 8 EX SITU NON-BIOLOGICAL REMEDIATION TECHNIQUES 9 1) Ex situ thermal processes 9 2) Ex situ chemical/physical remediation ( Soil scrubbing ) 9 EX SITU BIOLOGICAL REMEDIATION TECHNIQUES 9 1) Composting 10 2) Land farming 11 3)Biopiling ( Heap technique) 12 4) Bioslurry reactor 13 IN SITU REMEDIATION TECHNIQUES 13 IN SITU BIOLOGICAL REMEDIATION TECHNIQUES 14 1) Bioventing 14 2) Biosparging 15 3) Bioaugmentation: 15 4)Biostimulation 15 4) Bioslurping : 16 5) Phytoremediation 16 IN SITU NON-BIOLOGICAL REMEDIATION TECHNIQUES 16 1) In situ thermal processes 16 2) In situ chemical/physical process: Pump and treat processes 16 INFLUENCING FACTORS 16 CONCLUSION 17 Table of figures: Figure 1. Soil microorganisms pie chart 3 Figure 2. Acquisition of phosphate by Mycorrhizal roots………………………………...3 Figure 3. Mycorrhizal roots……………………………………………………………….4 Figure 4. Carbon Cycle 5 Figure 5. Nitrogen Cycle 6 Figure 6. Sulfur...
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...Essay on Environmental Pollution: Causes, Effects and Solution On February 5, 2014 By Ankita MitraCategory: Environmental pollution refers to the introduction of harmful pollutants into the environment. The major types of environmental pollution are air pollution, water pollution, noise pollution, thermal pollution, soil pollution and light pollution. Deforestation and hazardous gaseous emissions also leads to environmental pollution. During the last 10 years, the world has witnessed severe rise in environmental pollution. We all live on planet earth, which is the only planet known to have an environment, where air and water are two basic things that sustain life. Without air and water, the earth would be like the other planets – no man, no animals, no plants. The biosphere in which living beings have their sustenance has oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, argon and water vapour. All these are well balanced to ensure and help a healthy growth of life in the animal world. This balance does not only help the life-cycles of animals and plants, but it also creates the perennial sources of minerals and energies without which the human civilization of to-day could not be built. It is for this balance that the human life and other forms of existence have flourished on earth for so many thousands of years. Also read: Short paragraph on Pollution But man, as the most intelligent animal, never stopped being inquisitive, nor was he content with the bounties of nature. His quest for...
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...Introduction Environmental pollution is a multi-disciplinary science involving chemistry, physics, life science, agriculture, medical science, public health, sanitary engineering etc. In broader sense, it is the study of the sources, reactions, transport, effect and fate of chemical species in the air, water and soil and the effect of human activity upon these. Pollutant: A substance present in nature, in greater than natural abundance due to human activity, which ultimately has a detrimental effect on the environment and therefrom on living organisms and mankind. Examples are- lead, mercury, sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, etc. Contaminant: A material which does not occur in nature, but is introduced by human activity into the environment, affecting its composition. A contaminant is classified as a pollutant when it exerts a detrimental effect. Example- chlorine gas Types of Pollution Air Causes of air pollution: * motor vehicle exhaust * power stations * car manufacturing * fertilizer factories * demolishing buildings * solvent evaporation * volcanic eruption * building roads * forest fires Effect of air pollution: Global warming, acid rain, smog, ozone depletion are some effects of air pollution Water Causes of water pollution: * man-made chemicals used in farming * heavy metals * waste from factories * sediment from the river bed * air pollution * thermal (heat) pollution * soil pollution from rubbish dumps ...
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