Recall mistakes P1 Flashcards
What toxic chemicals can be found in smoke?
Fluorides, aluminiums, lead, acids and organic compounds such as phenol
What are the effects of smoke (non-living)?
Damage to buildings due to acids and organic solvents, cleaning buildings, depletion of ozone in the stratosphere and cold temperatures
What are the dangers of smog?
Smoke more easily inhaled
How is smoke controlled in transport sources?
DPF trap 80% of smoke, turbo chargers to improve efficiency of combustion
What metals are the catalysts in catalytic converters?
Platinum and palladium
How are hydrocarbons controlled?
Catalytic converters, vapour collection at filling station, activated carbon treatment of vapours causes adsorption
What acids are found within acid rain?
Sulphurous (SO2), sulphuric (SO3), nitrous and nitric
What are the direct effects of acid rain?
Reduced enzyme action, damaging cells inside stomata and root hair cells, fish eggs damaged, exoskeletons dissolve
What are the controls of oxides of sulphur?
Crude oil desulphurisation, coal desulphurisation, wet and dry FGD and natural gas desulphurisation
What are the effects of tropospheric ozone?
Breathing difficulties and asthma in humans, toxic and reduced growth rate in plants
What physiological changes can be caused by thermal pollution?
Increased metabolic rate so less energy for growth, increased rate of egg hatching, introduced species, mobilised toxins and disease resistance reduced
What are the toxic components of oil?
Benzene and xylene
How is waste lubricating oil recycled?
Removal of contaminants, chemical reforming and distillation
What are the different treatments of oil spills?
Booms, skimmers, absorbent materials, detergents, polymerising agents, steam washing and bioremediation
What are the properties of organophosphates?
Highly toxic to insects and mammals, low persistence and cannot bioaccumulate or biomagnify, causes ADHD
What are the properties of neonicotinoids?
High toxicity to insects, lower toxicity to mammals, neurotoxin, relatively persistent and water-soluble
What are the treatment methods for phosphate?
Addition of iron (III) sulphate from liquid effluents to form iron phosphate
Dredging lakes to add iron (III) sulphur to reduce solubility of phosphate
What are the effects of organic nutrient pollution?
Deoxygenation, pathogens and inorganic nutrient release
What do the comminutors do in pre-treatment of organic waste?
Chop up suspended faecal solids to increase the exposed surface area
What is the method of sludge treatment?
Anaerobic microbes digest the sludge in a warm tank for about 4 weeks to kill most pathogens and reduce odours
What happens to the organic matter after sludge treatment?
Landfill, dispersal in the sea, incineration or agricultural use (may contain heavy metals)
What are the processes in secondary treatment?
Aeration, sedimentation or trickling filter beds
What are the processes involved in tertiary treatment?
Removal of phosphates, micro-straining then chlorine
What are the factors of lead pollution that need to be controlled?
Water pipes and solder (Tin zinc copper), petrol additives, electrical solder, lead-based paint, fishing weights and shotgun pellets
What effect can chemical form have on the toxicity of mercury?
Liquid- not easily absorbed through skin or gut
Inorganic- absorbed moderately well in the gut
Organic- absorbed easily through skin and gut and harm placenta
How is iron pollution controlled?
Spoil heap drainage water is collected and passed over mesh screens where the iron becomes oxidised and deposited
What are the features of good landfill sites?
Separation of wastes types, collection of CH4, fences for litter, collection and treatment of leachate, polymer lining to prevent escape of leachate, soil covering to reduce pest problems, impermeable cap once complete, deodorising sprays and dispersal of flammables and separation of reactive chemicals
What are the effects of noise on other living organisms?
Livestock stress and panic injuries, disturbance of breeding birds, reduced feeding success, hearing damage/behavioural changes
How is aircraft engine design improved to reduce noise?
Chevron nozzles, engine hush kits, engine acoustic liners
What are the new technologies in oil recovery?
Directional drilling, subsea production wells, ROVs and AUVs, fracking, tar sands and oil shales
What are the proposed extraction methods for methane hydrate?
Depressurisation, CO2 injection and water heating
What are the extraction techniques for uranium?
Polymer adsorption, phosphate mining and coal ash
What are the advantages of thorium reactors?
Thorium 3x more abundant, less radioactive waste produced and shorter half life of waste
What are the disadvantages of thorium reactors?
Breeding rate slow, expensive, U-233 releases alpha radiation
What are the key features of toroidal reactors?
10x input energy releases, maintains fusion for longer, blanket of lithium for breeding
What are the new solar power technologies?
Multi-junction PV cells, anti-reflective surfaces, concentrating solar power (parabolic reflectors), thermal hybrid systems, transparent PV cells, heliostats and self cleaning panels
What are Kaplan turbines?
Axial flow turbines that rotate to allow for variations in water flow
What are the new wind power technologies?
Blade-tip fins, nacelle brushes, direct drive turbines, helical VAWT turbines and wind assisted ships
What are the new wave power technologies?
Point absorber, overtopping/terminator device, surface attenuator, oscillating wave surge converter and oscillating water column
What factors affect rechargeable battery viability?
Efficiency of storage cycle, number of cycles, energy density, recharging speed, safety issues, cost per unit of energy stored and self-discharge
What are some types of storage systems?
Vehicle to grid, power to gas, heat energy, high volume storage, molten salt, high thermal mass building materials, kinetic energy and electricity super-capacitors
What are some highly reactive pollutants?
NOx, HCs and O3
What are some teratogenic pollutants?
Mercury and 2,4,5-T herbicide
How is hydrogen sulphide removed from natural gas?
Dissolving it in amine solution or reacting with iron particles
How does crude oil desulphurisation occur?
Distillation using molybdenum catalysts
How is coal desuphurised?
Washing and steaming
How does wet flue gas desulphurisation occur?
Sodium sulphite scrubbing by bubbling through sodium sulphite solution to produce sodium hydrogen sulphite
What tin-based chemical was used in anti-fouling paints?
Tri-butyl tin