Energy Generation

Question 0

Explain oil refining

Answer 0

1. Oil refining is the process of separating the hundreds of different hydrocarbon molecules in crude oil into useful chemicals, including vehicle fuels and lubricating oil as well as ingredients for plastics and detergents.
2. Crude oil contains hydrocarbons with various molecular masses that are separated into “fractions” with different boiling points by distillation. The crude oil is heated and its vapor rises through a tall cooling tower, which is coolest at the top. Different fractions condense at different heights in the tower, depending on their mass, with relatively light distillates like petrol fuel condensing near the top and sticky bitumen for roads and roofs gathering at the bottom.
3. Oil refineries also “crack” some of the long-chain heavier distillates into lighter, shorter-chain hydrocarbons that are more in demand. For instance, heat and catalysts can break butane into hydrogen and alkenes, important chemicals for the manufacture of polymers.
4. Oil refineries can process up to several thousand barrels of crude oil a day.

Question 1

Explain fossil fuels

Answer 1

1. Fossil fuels, including oil, coal, and natural gas, are energy-rich fuels formed underground by the decomposition of dead organisms and plants.
2. They are nonrenewable resources because people are extracting and burning them much faster than new ones are forming. Dwindling oil reserves might make oil drilling economically unviable beyond about 2050.
3. Fossil fuels formed gradually over millions of years as drifting organisms like animals, plants, and algae in seas and lakes settled to the bottom and decomposed. This organic matter, mixed with mud, sank under ever deeper layers of sediment until pressure and heat chemically transformed them into liquid and gaseous hydrocarbon molecules. On land, the decomposition of plants tended to form coal and methane.
4. Fossil fuels are the world’s primary source of energy. Each year, fossil fuel burning releases billions of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. This greenhouse gas contributes to global warming, which could unleash devastating climate change in future.

Question 2

Explain nuclear power

Answer 2

1. Nuclear power is energy generated by controlled nuclear fission reactions.
2. Most nuclear reactors use uranium-235 as a fuel. Neutrons split the uranium atoms, releasing more neutrons and splitting more uranium in a chain reaction that produces heat. Flowing water carries the heat away to generate steam, which turns turbines to generate electricity.
3. About 14 percent of the world’s electricity comes from nuclear power, and small reactors power some submarines and icebreaking ships.
4. Several serious accidents have occurred at nuclear reactors, including the Chernobyl disaster in the Ukraine in 1986, when a reactor ruptured and caught fire, spewing radioactive fallout over a vast area.

These accidents are unlikely in modern reactor designs, but storing dangerous radioactive waste from fission reactors is an ongoing problem.

5. Reactors using nuclear fusion would produce much less hazardous waste but are still in the experimental phase. Commercial fusion reactors would have to operate at temperatures of about 180 million °F (100 million °C).

Question 3

What is renewable energy

Answer 3

1. Renewable energy is generated from natural resources that are endlessly replenished—as opposed to fossil fuels, which take millions of years to form.
2. Concerns about global warming from fossil fuels and high oil prices are driving up demand for renewable energy, which currently generates about one-fifth of the electricity used worldwide.
3. Renewable energy includes electricity from solar panels, often for individual buildings, as well as electricity from power stations that use wind or natural water flow to turn turbines.
4. Biofuels are fuels produced from organic matter including plants like corn or wheat as well as vegetable oils and animal fats, wood, and straw.

The United States plans an annual production of 36 billion gallons of biofuel—mainly ethanol and biodiesel—by 2022.

5. ICELAND GENERATES ALL OF ITS ELECTRICITY FROM RENEWABLE SOURCES, including geothermal power.

Hot magma is close to the surface under Iceland. Power stations pump cold water down into the ground where it heats and returns to the surface as steam, which drives turbines to generate electricity.

Question 4

Explain Hydropower

Answer 4

Hydro power is the generation of electricity by using the natural force of water. It is generated in 3 different ways: hydroelectric power, tidal power, and wave power. Hydel is an abbreviation of Hyd(ro)el(ectricity)

1. Hydroelectric Power:
   This is the most common form of hydro-power, making up the majority of all renewable energy produced. Electricity is produced in hydroelectric dams where the force of falling water drives massive turbines.
2. Tidal Power:
   The second most popular type of hydro power, tidal energy is produced by currents caused from the natural ebb and flow of the tide.
3. Wave Power:
   This is the youngest of the three hydropower solutions. The system harnesses the power from ocean surface wave motion, where air displaced by waves is driven through a generator than spins a turbine. The end result is electricity.

These generators can either be coupled to floating devices outta sea, or fixed along the shore where seas are rough.

Although this technology is relatively new, it has been estimated that there is enough energy in ocean waves to produce up to 2000 Megawatts of power.