Lecture 10 - Electricity Production Flashcards
Flare
Uncontrolled burn of natural gas via a aflame to prevent natural gas from being vented directly to the atmosphere
Don’t want uncontrolled gas release → explosive
Major source of CO2 emission, methane and black soot
Damaging to health
Proppant
Used to open fractures made in the ground
Mixed with fracking fluid to keep hydraulic feature open
Fracking Fluid
Chemical mixture in drilling operations to increase the quantity of hydrocarbons that can be extracted
Silica Sand
Most common type of proppant
Cheap and easy to get and separate
Exposure can cause a range of disease
Geothermal Power
Heat from the earth is used to provide thermal energy used in a thermoelectric power plant
EX: Iceland
Geothermal Power
Flash Steam Plants
Most common
Flash plants pump at high temperature fluid from below the ground
Convert into steam
Steam drives the turbines
Geothermal Power
Binary - Cycle Steam Plants
Pump hot fluid from ground
Heat exchange
Binary fluid (lower boiling point) (EX: ammonia or isobutane)
Geothermal fluids are never exposed to atmosphere
Nuclear Reactors
Most commonly used
Naturally occurring radioactive isotope of uranium
Uranium atoms → fission → chain reaction → heat → heat boils water → steam turns turbines
U^235 → cylindrical pallets 1.5 cm → stacked into metal rods → 100 rods → fuel assembly → 1000s fuels → reactor core (contains structural components) (controls reactions)
Neutron absorbing material are inserted into spaces between fuel assemblies to control reaction rate
Water or other coolant circulates between fuels rods to remove excess heat
Greatest danger is failure of system
Elephants foot
Pressurized Water Reactor
More secure and safe
Only steam circultated outside of reactor core
EX: Chernobyl
Boiling Water Reactor
Simple but more dangerous
Water from core boils to make steam, directly driving turbine generators
Highly radioactive
Radioactive Waste
Biggest obstacle of nuclear power
Yucca Mountain Waste Repository
Can be recycled
