Tag: occurrence of carbon compounds in nature

Nuclear fallout, or simply fallout, is the residual radioactive material propelled into the upper atmosphere following a nuclear blast or a nuclear reaction conducted in an unshielded facility, so called because it "falls out" of the sky after the explosion and the shock wave have passed. While deforestation, soil erosion and increasing deserts can be controlled, nuclear fallout causes genetic mutation in humans and destruction that cannot be controlled or cured.

People all across the globe use these energy sources to generate electricity for homes, business, factories and schools. We use this energy to light bulb, run computer, refrigerators, washing machines and air conditioners etc. We use energy to run our cars and trucks. Both the gasoline used in our cars, and the diesel fuel used in our trucks are made from oil. Since, renewable sources are not used on much wider scale and use of Non-renewable sources cause pollution to the environment and may extinct if used in a hazardous manner, so the need of the hour is to conserve these resources and use them in an efficient manner to minimize the wastage and making this planet a better place to live in.

Petroleum and natural gas are formed by the anaerobic decomposition of remains of organisms including phytoplankton and zooplankton that settled to the sea (or lake) bottom in large quantities under anoxic conditions, millions of years ago. Over geological time, this organic matter, mixed with mud, got buried under heavy layers of sediment. The resulting high levels of heat and pressure caused the organic matter to chemically alter, first into a waxy material known as kerogen which is found in oil shales, and then with more heat into liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons in a process known as catagenesis. Despite these heat driven transformations (which may increase the energy density compared to typical organic matter), the embedded energy is still photosynthetic in origin.

There is a wide range of organic, or hydrocarbon, compounds in any given fuel mixture. The specific mixture of hydrocarbons gives a fuel its characteristic properties, such as boiling point, melting point, density, viscosity, etc. Some fuels like natural gas, for instance, contain only very low boiling, gaseous components. Others such as gasoline or diesel contain much higher boiling components.

Otto cycle is the typical cycle for most of the cars internal combustion engines that work using gasoline as a fuel. To reduce pollution LPG is used as a source of clean fuel. Blast furnace gas may be combined with natural gas or coke oven gas before combustion. Hence all of the above are used for internal combustion of engines.

Compressed natural gas (CNG) can now be used as a fuel for gas-fueled captive power plants. Natural gas as fuel source has a significant number of benefits versus diesel including reduced emissions and reduced fuel costs.

Natural gas can be used to generate electricity in a variety of ways. The most basic natural gas-fired electric generation consists of a steam generation unit, where fossil fuels are burned in a boiler to heat water and produce steam that then turns a turbine to generate electricity. It is a non-renewable resource. Natural gas is found in deep underground rock formations or associated with other hydrocarbon reservoirs in coal beds and as methane clathrates. Petroleum is another resource and fossil fuel found in close proximity to and with natural gas.

Compressed Natural gas is the cleanest of all the fossil fuels, composed primarily of methane. The main products of the combustion of natural gas are carbon dioxide & water vapor, which are the same compounds we exhale when we breathe.  Coal & oil are composed of much more complex molecules, with a higher carbon ratio & higher nitrogen & sulfur contents. This means that when combusted, coal & oil release higher levels of harmful emissions, including a higher ratio of carbon emissions, nitrogen oxides & sulfur dioxide. Coal & fuel oil also release ash particles into the environment, substances that do not burn but instead are carried into the atmosphere & contribute to pollution.

The combustion of natural gas, on the other hand, releases very small amounts of sulfur dioxide & nitrogen oxides, virtually no ash or particulate matter & lower levels of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide & other reactive hydrocarbons

Compressed Natural Gas happens to be a very viable alternative to traditional fuels particularly for use in the automobile industry. Being low in pollutants, high in calorific value and heat yield, economical and available in abundance globally, CNG is the perfect alternative for most.

Secondly, CNG is environment friendly as it reduces vehicular exhaust emissions significantly. Carbon Monoxide emissions are reduced to a maximum of 90 per cent and Hydrocarbon emissions by 60 per cent as compared to vehicles that use Petrol. Carbon Dioxide emissions, a cause for global warming, are also reduced significantly by 10 per cent.

Non-luminous flames are the ones that burn blue. These flames have access to as much oxygen as they could possibly use, so they can burn very efficiently. All of the carbon that gets used can be turned into carbon dioxide, so there's actually no soot. Complete combustion of LPG takes place. Hence, it burns with a blue flame.

Liquefied Petroleum Gas is considered as cleanest fuel because of the following reasons:

1. LPG has a high calorific value. The calorific value of LPG is about 50 KJ/g.
2. It is very neat and clean domestic fuel. LPG burns with a blue smokeless flame and leaves no ash behind. So, it does not cause any pollution. Therefore, LPG is a clean fuel.
3. It does not produce any poisonous gases on combustion.
4. LPG is easy to handle and convenient to store.
5. LPG is easy to handle and can be ignited almost instantaneously.

CNG is stored in pressurized vessels or spheres. They are gaseous in nature at STP. For it to be transported and used it is liquefied and kept in pressurized tanks.