6.3 Fuel Types and Uses

Question 1

Subsistence Fuels

Answer 1

Biomass fuel sources that are easily accessible(can. be found and gathered by hand) often used in developing countries as a home heating or cooking fuel

Question 2

Peat

Answer 2

is partially decomposed organic matter (often ferns or other plants) found in wet, acidic ecosystems like bogs and moors. Can be dried and used as a biomass fuel source

Question 3

Coal Formation

Answer 3

Pressure from overlying rock & sediment layers compacts peat into coal over time

Question 4

Order of energy density and quality of coal

Answer 4

Lignite–>bituminous–>anthracite

Question 5

What’s the most valuable coal

Answer 5

Higher energy density means more energy released when a fuel source is burned, anthracite is the most valuable form of coal(high quality) More dense coal=hotter/longer fire=more steam=more electricity

Question 6

Process of Coal–>Electricity

Answer 6

Coal is burned to heat water into steam, to turn a turbine that generates electricity

Question 7

What is Natural Gas

Answer 7

Decaying remains of plants & animals(mostly marine life, are buried under layers of rocks & converted by pressure into oil(petroleum) and natural gas over time. MOSTLY METHANE

Question 8

How is Natural Gas formed

Answer 8

Forms when oil is trapped in porous, sedimentary rock, underneath a harder, impermeable rock layer that doesn’t let the gas escape

Question 9

Is Natural Gas the “cleanest” Fossil Fuel

Answer 9

YES! produces the fewest air pollutants & least CO2 when burned. Produces about ½ as much CO2 as coal when burned to generate electricity
Produces virtually no PM (ash/soot)
Produces far less SOx, NOx than coal or oil, and NO MERCURY

Question 10

What is Crude Oil(petroleum)

Answer 10

Decaying organic matter trapped under rock layers is compressed into oil over time
Can also be recovered from tar sands (combination of clay, sand, water, and bitumen)

Question 11

What happens when Crude Oil is burned

Fractional Distillation
boiling points…low/high

Answer 11

Crude oil is burned in a furnace and vapor passes into a column where diff. hydrocarbons are separated based on their boiling points. Hydrocarbons w/LOWER boiling points, gather at top of the column. HIGH boiling points gather at the bottom

Question 12

Fossil Fuel Combustion

Answer 12

Reaction between Oxygen and fossil fuels(hydrocarbons) that releases energy as heat and produces Carbon Dioxide and Water as products

Question 13

Remember: Combustion is a step in the CARBON cycle:

Answer 13

hydroCARBONS(FFs) are burned to release energy & carbon stored in them reacts with Oxygen in the air to form Carbon Dioxide