Coal and Petroleum

COAL AND PETROLEUM

Energy is the ability to do any work. We cannot do any work without energy or power. We can say that the capacity to do any work is called energy. There are different forms of energy and all forms of energy are stored in energy sources in different ways. This energy source is used in daily routine tasks. For example: Bulb. When we turn the bulb on, energy comes in the form of heat and light. That is the reason we are unable to touch the bulb from outside as it gets very hot. The electrical energy of the bulb gets converted into heat and light. Thus, we need a cloth to hold it. Energy is always conserved or constant.

We can say that energy can neither be created nor destroyed, but it can be conserved. Energy is converted from one form to another form. For example: Solar energy. We get energy from sun in the form of heat and light. It gets stored in different sources and can be used everyday.

Sources of Energy –  Renewable and non renewable

The different sources of energy are as follows:

Biomass: Any substance which is obtained from plants or animals or its refuse is known as biomass.

ydelpower:  It means dams.  Dams are used to store river water in a reservoir.

The water released from the reservoir flows through a turbine, spinning it, which in turn activates a generator to produce electricity.

Geothermal: Geothermal energy is obtained from earth. It is clean and sustainable. There are hot spots (have elements which continuously degrades) which are present beneath the earth and these spots degrade and its mass is automatically converted into energy.

Wind energy:The energy obtained from wind mills.

Solar energy: The energy obtained from sun.

The sun’s light is used as energy and due to this energy we can see things during the day.

Petrol: It is used in vehicles. It gives energy which helps in running of vehicles.

Nuclear energy: Nuclear energy is produced in nuclear power stations and this energy can be used for different processes.

Natural sources of energy

Nature provides us energy.  For example. The air we breathe, the water we drink, the food, sunlight, minerals, etc.

Man-made sources of energy

The resources which are made by man are known as man-made sources of energy.

For example: The natural wind is of no use until it is processed to get wind energy with the help of wind mills.

Natural resources of energy are further categorized into two types:

1. Renewable resources
2. Non Renewable resources

Renewable resources of energy

The substances which are easily renewed are renewable resources of energy. These substances will not finish easily and last for a long time.

For example: Sunlight, water, air.

These are non exhaustible like water.

Non Renewable resources of energy

The substances which cannot be easily renewed are called non renewable sources of energy. If these substances get exhausted, they will take a lot of time, or even years to form again.

For example: Fossils fuel.

Fossil fuels

Many years ago, plants and animals got buried down underneath the earth and turned into fossils fuels due to the act of high pressure and temperature.

There are three types of fossils as follows-

1. Coal
2. Petroleum
3. Natural gas

Coal

1. It a black colored hard substance. It is a sedimentary rock that burns.
2. It is composed of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and minor amounts of sulphur and nitrogen.
3. The major types of coal are Anthracite, bituminous, lignite.
4. Anthracite is the hardest coal with higher carbon concentration and energy.
5. Lignite is the softest coal. It has low carbon concentration but high oxygen and hydrogen concentrations.
6. Bituminous has moderate hardness and concentration of carbon.

Formation of Coal

1. Many years ago, the dense forests present in low lying areas of wetlands got buried down underneath the soil due to natural calamities like flooding, earthquakes, etc.
2. They got compressed with time, as more soil deposited on them.
3. They descended deeper and deeper and encountered high temperature and pressure.
4. These dead plants slowly got converted into coal under high temperature and pressure.
5. The main constituent of coal is carbon, therefore, this process of conversion of dead plants into coal is termed as carbonization

Destructive distillation

When any substance is heated in the absence of air and forms a number of products, the process is known as destructive distillation of coal. As we know that coal contains a number of elements such as carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and sulphur.

The products which are obtained by the process of destructive distillation are:

1. Coke
2. Ammoniacal liquor
3. Coal tar
4. Coal gas

Coke

Coke is a grey, hard, and porous fuel with a high carbon content and few impurities, made by heating coal or oil in the absence of air — a destructive distillation process. … The unqualified term “coke” usually refers to the product derived from low-ash and low-sulfur bituminous coal by a process called coking.

For example: ZnO (Zinc oxide) + C (carbon) → Zn + CO

Carbon is used a reducing agent as it helps in separation of Zinc oxide.

Ammoniacal liquor

Ammonium hydroxide, also known as ammonia water, ammonia solution, ammoniacal liquor, ammonia liquor, aqua ammonia, aqueous ammonia, or (inaccurately) ammonia, is a solution of ammonia in water. It can be denoted by the symbols NH₃(aq).It is an excellent fertilizer.

Coal tar (liquid)

It is a black, thick liquid with unpleasant smell obtained from the destructive distillation of coal. It is a mixture of about 200 substances. Coal tar is a mixture of different carbon compounds. It is obtained after heating powdered coal. It is a thick and black liquid with unpleasant smell. It is used for surfacing road and also as a source of different aromatic compounds. The fractional distillation of coal tar gives many chemical substances which are used in the preparation of dyes, explosives, paints, synthetics fibers, drugs, and pesticides. Examples of these chemical substances are benzene, toluene, phenol and aniline. Naphthalene balls used to repel moth and other insects are also obtained from coal tar.

These days, bitumen, a petroleum product is used in place of coal tar for metalling the roads.

Coal Gas

Coal gas is mainly a mixture of hydrogen, methane and carbon monoxide. The gases present in coal gas are combustible (produces heat on burning) and hence, it is an excellent fuel. It has high calorific value. It was used for lighting houses, factories and streets.

Natural gas

It is a mixture of alkanes, which contain 80% methane (CH4), 7% ethane(C2H6), 6% propane(C3H8), and 4% butane(C4H10). It is formed from dead organisms which buried under the earth thousands of years ago and these organisms decompose in the absence of air. For example: CNG.

CNG (Compressed Natural Gas)

CNG is used in the form of a natural gas. Its main constituent is methane.

CNG is very efficient. It produces less smoke and does not produce harmful gases. It can be easily burn. It can be easily handle. It is used as a fuel in vehicles because it is less polluting or cleaner fuel. It is used in manufacturing of chemicals and fertilizers.

LPG (Liquified Petroleum Gas)

The natural gas is also used in the form of Liquefied Petroleum Gas. Its main component is butane and propane.

It is used in filling cylinder and for cooking purpose. It is also used as an industrial fuel.

Petroleum

It is a dark, oily liquid with an unpleasant smell. The term ‘petroleum’ has been derived from the Latin words: ‘petra’- which means rock and ‘oleum’- which means oil.

Formation of Petroleum

Liquified Petroleum Gas(LPG)

It is used as a fuel in industry and home. It is used for cooking purpose.

Petrol

It is used in automobiles and as a solvent for dry cleaning.

Kerosene

It is used in stoves and lamps, etc.

Diesel

It is used as a fuel in vehicles and generators.

Lubricating Oil

It is used in lubrication or it is used to smoothen things like-

Paraffin Wax: It is use in ointment, candles, Vaseline etc.

Bitumen: It is used for making paints and surfacing roads.

Limitations of Natural Resources

Pollution is caused when fossil fuel is burned. These fuels are responsible for global warming.

Global warming is defined as an increase in carbon dioxide in the air. This carbon dioxide traps the infrared rays which come from sunlight. If carbon dioxide increases, thereby infrared rays increase and due to this, the temperature of the Earth increases and causes global warming. Due to global warming, polar ice caps can melt and cause floods or we can say that our ecological balance can get disturbed.

Therefore, it is important to use these natural resources wisely and carefully.

Preventive measures to save fuel

Some preventive measures to save fuels as given by Petroleum Conservation Research Association(PCRA) are as follows-

1. We should drive vehicles at a constant and moderate speed in order to use lesser fuel.
2. We should switch the engine off at traffic lights or at a place where we have to wait.
3. We should ensure that the pressure of tyres in our vehicle is accurate, in order to use lesser fuel.
4. We should ensure regular maintenance of our vehicles.

EXERCISES

1. The advantages of using CNG and LPG as fuels are as follows:

• They both are cleanest burning fuels of all fossil fuels.
• They are less polluting, non-corrosive.
• They can be sent through pipes easily.
• These are easily available and have affordable cost.
• LPGand CNG both are easy to store and transport.

2. Bitumen
3. Carbonization is a process in which a fuel is heated without air to leave solid porous carbon. Coke is produced commercially by carbonization of coal, either at high or low temperatures. … Carbonization is a process in which a fuel is heated without air to leave solid porous carbon.

4.a)coal,petroleum,natural gas

b)refining

c)cng

5a)false

b)false

c)true

d)true

e)false

6.Fossil fuels are exhaustible natural resources because fossil fuels require millions of years to form from the dead vegetation and animal that get buried deep inside the earth. They require high temperature and pressure for their formation, which cannot be provided in the laboratory.

7. Coke is a grey, hard, and porous fuel with a high carbon content and few impurities, made by heating coal or oil in the absence of air — a destructive distillation process. It is an important industrial product, usedmainly in iron ore smelting, but also as a fuel in stoves and forges when air pollution is a concern.
8. Petroleum was formed from dead organisms that got buried in the sea millions of years ago. … Lack of air, high temperature, and high pressure transformed these dead organisms into petroleum and natural gas.