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Example research essay topic: Clean Air Act H 2 O - 1,801 words

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Acid rain is exactly what it suggests- rain that is acidic. The definition of 'acid rain' is rain with a pH of below 5. 6. Rain becomes acidic because of gases that dissolve in the rain. Approximately 70 % of acid rain is a result of dissolved sulfur dioxide (SO 2) which forms Sulfuric Acid. The remaining 30 % or so comes from various Nitrogen Oxides (mostly NO 2 and NO 3 which has collectedly adopted the mane Nox). There is also a small percentage of hydrochloric acid that makes up hydrochloric acid as well.

The equation is as follows: Sulfuric acid when it joins with hydrogen atoms in the air: SO 3 (g) + H 2 O (l) = H 2 SO 4 (aq) In the air, the nitrogen ion becomes nitric or nitrous acid: NO 2 (g) + H 2 O (l) = HNO 3 (aq) + HNO 2 (aq) Sulfur dioxide is a colorless, prudent gas released as a by-product of combusted fossil fuels containing sulfur. What causes this is a variety of industrial processes, such as the production of iron and steel, utility factories, and crude oil processing. In iron and steel production, the smelting of metal sulfate ore produces pure metal. This causes the release of sulfur dioxide.

Sulfur dioxide can also be emitted into the atmosphere ny natural disasters or means. This ten percent of all sulfur dioxide emission comes from volcanoes, sea spray, plankton, and rotting vegetation. The oxides of nitrogen are by-products of firing processes of extreme high temperatures, for example: automobiles, and utility plants; and in chemical industries, for example: fertilizer production, etc. Also, natural processes such as bacterial action in soil, forest fires, volcanic action, and lightning make up five percent of nitrogen oxide emission. Transportation makes up 43 percent, and 32 percent belongs to industrial combustion. There are a number of things that acid rain effects in our environment.

Forests, soil, lakes, streams, rivers, materials, and essentially mankind. One of the most serious impacts that acid rain has on our environment is acid deposition on our trees and soil. When Sulfuric Acid falls on the earth in rain, nutrients in the soils are washed away. Some of the aluminum also present in the soil is released and can be absorbed by the roots of trees. This causes the trees to starve to death because they are deprived of their vital nutrients such as calcium and magnesium. Sometimes the sulfur dioxide doesn't get converted to sulfuric acid.

In fact, there is a large amount that can float into the atmosphere and return to earth unconverted. But when the gas returns to earth, it clogs up the stomata in the leaves which prevents photosynthesis. Also, nitrogen oxide and nitric oxide can force trees to grow into late autumn when it is time to get ready for the severe frost of the winter. One of the most direct effects that acid rain has on the earth is on our water systems, such as lakes, rivers, streams, etc.

Some of the chemicals can enter as dry particles in the air, or they will enter as rain, snow, sleet, hail, dew, or fog. When the acid rain enters into our waters, it washes off the nutrients out of the soil and carries toxic metals into our lakes and so on. Another way that acid rain can enter into our waters is through a process called 's pring acid shock. ' This is when all the rain melts in the spring, causing all the melted water to suddenly shoot into all the lakes and rivers, which in turn causes a drastic change in the pH. This can be a problem for all the aquatic ecosystems, such as amphibians, fish and insects. Many of these species lay their eggs in the water making them extremely vulnerable.

When it comes to materials, acid rain is a problem. For example, flags that aren't put away get eaten by the acid rain. Also books and old art are affected because the ventilation systems aren't designed to prevent acidic particles form entering the buildings of such places as libraries and museums, which eventually gets circulated throughout. Finally the effect on humans. The most serious problem that we have with this is when it comes to our respiratory problems. The sulfur oxide and nitric oxide emissions wreak havoc when it comes to asthma, dry coughs, headaches, eye, nose and throat irritations.

Also, an indirect effect is when the acid rain is absorbed by plants, such as fruits and vegetables. Toxic metals can be absorbed by animals and have had direct connections to severe brain damage among infants, nerve disorders, and even death. Also aluminum, which is present in the organs of animals, has been associated with kidney problems and recently, was suspected to be related to Alzheimer's disease. When it comes to solutions, there are only so many things that can take place. As far as damage goes, what's done is done and the only thing left to do is to cut down on the emissions that are released. In 1991, the United States and Canada signed an air quality agreement which and now both countries have taken action to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions.

The United States agree to reduce our annual sulfur dioxide emissions by about ten million tons by the year 2000. Reducing nitrogen oxide emission in a utility plant starts during the combustion phase. A procedure called Overfire Air is used to redirect a fraction of the total air in the combustion chamber. This requires the combustion process, which is redirected to an upper furnace. This causes the combustion to occur with less O 2 than required, thus slowing down the transformation of atmospheric nitrogen to nitrogen oxide. After combustion, a system of catalytic reductions are put into effect.

This system embraces the injection of ammonia gas upstream of the catalytic reaction chamber. Most nitrogen oxide emissions are from cars, so catalytic converters must be installed on cars to reduce the emissions. The catalytic converter is mounted on the exhaust pipe, forcing all the exhaust to pass through it. This converter looks like a dense honey comb, but it is coated with either platinum, palladium, or rhodium. This converts nitrogen oxides, carbon dioxides and unburned hydrocarbons into a cleaner state. To reduce sulfur dioxide emissions, utility plants are required to go through several steps by the Clean Air Act Amendment.

Before combustion, these utilities plants have to go through a process called coal cleaning. This process is performed gravitationally. It is a successful process in removing pyretic sulfur due to its high specific gravity, but it is unsuccessful in removing chemically bound organic sulfur. This cleaning process is only limited by the percent of pyretic sulfur in the coal. Coal with high amounts of pyretic sulfur is coal in higher demands. Another way to reduce sulfur dioxide before combustion is by burning coal with low sulfur content.

Low sulfur content coals are called su bituminous coal. This process in reducing sulfur dioxide is very expensive due to the high demand of su bituminous coal. During combustion, a process called Fluidized Bed Combustion (FBC), is used to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions into the atmosphere. This process contains limestone or a sandstone bed that are crushed and diluted into the fuel. It is important that a balance is established between the heat liberated within the bed from fuel combustion, and the heat removed by the flue gas as it leaves.

Flue gas is the mixture of gases resulting from combustion and other reactions in a chamber. This enables the limestone to react with sulfur dioxide and reduce emission by 90 percent. After combustion, a process known as wet flue gas desulfurization is taken into action. This process requires a web scrubber at the downward end of the boiler.

This process is very similar to FBC. This scrubber can be made of either limestone or sodium hydroxide. Limestone is more commonly used. As sulfur dioxide enters this area it reacts with the limestone in the following example ~~~~ CaCO 3 + S CaSO 3 + CaSO 4 + CO 2 + H 2 O After being scrubbed, which is the term used for the phase after coal has past the wet scrubber, the flue gas is re-edited and the waste solids are disposed. The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 set a goal of reducing Nox by 2 million tons from 1980 levels. The Acid Rain program focuses on one set of sources that emit NOx, coal -fired electric utility boilers.

As with the SO 2 emission reduction requirements, the NOx program is implemented in two phases, one began in 1996 and another will begin in 2000. The NOx program embodies many of the same principles of the SO 2 trading program its design: a results-orientation, flexibility in the method to achieve emission reductions, and program integrity through measurement of the emissions. But, it does not 'cap: NOx emissions as the SO 2 program does, nor does it utilize an allowance trading system. Under the Acid Rain Program, each unit must continuously measure and record its emissions of SO 2, NOx, and CO 2, as well as volumetric flow and opacity. In most cases, a continues emission monitoring (CEM) system must be used. There are provisions for initial equipment certification procedures, periodic purity assurance and quality control procedures, recordkeeping and reporting, and procedures for filling in missing data periods.

Units report hourly emissions data to EPA on a puarterly basis. This data is then recorded in the Emissions Tracking System, which serves as a repository of emissions data for the utility industry. The emissions monitoring nd reporting systems are critical tot he program. They instill confidence in allowance transactions by certifying thr existence and puanitiy of the commodity being traded and assure that NOx averaging plans are working. Monitoring also ensures, through accurate accounting, that the SO 2 and NOx emissions reduction goals are met. So it comes down to the two primary sources of acid rain being super dioxide and nitrogen oxide.

Tutomobiles are the main source of nitrogen oxide emissions, and utility factories are the main source for super dioxide emissions. These gases evaporate into the atmosphere and then oxidized in clouds to form notice or nitrous acid and sulfuric acid. When these acids fall back to the earth they don't cause damage to ust the environment but also the human health. Acid rain kills plant life and destroys like in lakes, rivers, streams, etc... the pollutants in acid rain causes problems in jan respiratory systems. There pollutants attack humans indirectly through the foods they consumer.

They effected human health directly when humans inhale the pollutants. If the acid rain destroys our environment, eventually it will destroy us as well.


Free research essays on topics related to: clean air act, sulfur dioxide, h 2 o, nitrogen oxide, iron and steel

Research essay sample on Clean Air Act H 2 O

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