Chap 14-15 Flashcards
BTU (British Thermal Unit)
is the amount of heat required to raise one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit
Natural gas
found in association with oil or during the search for oil.
Electrical power
is defined as the amount of work done by an electric current over a given time.
electric generator
is basically a coil of wire that rotates in a magnetic field or that remains stationary while a magnetic field is rotated around it.
turbogenerator.
Is The most common way to generate electrical power
A turbogenerator
is the combination of a turbine, a sophisticated paddle wheel, coupled to the generator.
Baseload:
the constant supply of power provided by large coal-burning and nuclear power plants
Brownouts:
result from a deficiency in available power and cause a reduction in voltage
Blackout:
a total loss of power
A self healing smart grid
can prevent major blackouts and brownouts.
conversion losses.
65%-70% of the energy is lost to heat, these
unavoidable energy losses are called
Second Law of Thermodynamics)
The heat generated is usually put into the environment through the air (cooling towers) or water.
thermal pollution
Waste heat energy discharged into natural waterways is referred to as
undiscovered resources
Estimated reserves, which are educated guesses as to where oil or natural gas may be located and how much may be found.
Proven reserves
a fairly accurate estimate can be made of how much oil can be economically obtained from the field
production
The withdrawal of oil or gas from the field is called
Primary recovery
is conventional pumping which can remove only 25% of the oil in an oil field.
Secondary recovery
is more costly because it involves manipulating pressure in the oil reservoir by injecting brine or steam that forces the oil into the wells. (can remove up to 50% of oil)
Enhanced recovery
is obtained by injecting carbon dioxide which breaks up oil droplets and enables them to flow again.
Hubbert’s peak
he predicted that U.S. production would peak between 1965 and 1970.
OPEC
the Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries
Oil sands (or tar sands)
are a sedimentary material containing bitumen, an extremely viscous, tar-like hydrocarbon.
Oil shale
is a fine sedimentary rock containing a mixture of solid, wax-like hydrocarbons called kerogen
Fracking (or hydraulic fracking)
is a technique used to drill for natural gas.
CWP
coal workers’ pneumoconiosis
Energy Independence and Security Act (EI)
raises the CAFE standards to meet a target of 35 mpg by 2020.
CAFE
Corporate Average Fuel Economy
Cogeneration (CHP): Combined heat and Power
refers to using a single energy source to produce both electrical and heat energy. (80% efficiency)
combined-cycle natural-gas unit
is a new technology used to generate electricity
Fission
a large atom of one element is split to produce two different smaller elements.
Fusion
two small atoms combine to form a larger atom of a different element
Isotopes
of a given element contain different numbers of neutrons but the same number of protons and electrons.
Mass number
is the sum of the number of neutrons and the number of protons in the nucleus of the atom.
Enrichment
is the process of separating 235U from 238U to produce a material containing a higher concentration of 235U.
Moderator
slows down the neutrons that produce fission so that they are traveling at the right speed to trigger another fission
Fuel rods or fuel elements
are long metal tubes that are loaded with pellets containing the enriched uranium dioxide.
Control rods
are rods of neutron-absorbing material inserted between the fuel elements.
Radioisotopes
become stable by spontaneously ejecting subatomic particles (alpha particles, beta particles, and neutrons), high-energy radiation (gamma rays and X-rays), or both.
The particles and radiation are collectively referred to as
radioactive emissions.
Radioactivity is measured in
Curies
Radioactive waste
are materials that become radioactive by absorbing neutrons from the fission process.
Radiation exposure is measured as
absorbed dose
