Posted on

References

 

Introduction

  • Total energy consumption 2019-2014. (2016, May 18). Retrieved March 29, 2017, from https://www.ema.gov.sg/cmsmedia/Publications_and_Statistics/Statistics/13RSU.pdf

Chemical Concept

  • U.S. Energy Information Administration – EIA – Independent Statistics and Analysis. (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2017, from https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=73&t=11
  • Hydrocarbon combustion. (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2017, from http://energyeducation.ca/encyclopedia/Hydrocarbon_combustion#cite_note-3
  • Reporter, S. (2016, February 11). World Energy Day 2014: How Much Oil is Left and How Long Will it Last? Retrieved March 29, 2017, from http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/world-energy-day-2014-how-much-oil-left-how-long-will-it-last-1471200
  • Fossil Fuels. (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2017, from http://www.chemistryexplained.com/Fe-Ge/Fossil-Fuels.html#ixzz4bNfGlCOA

Implications

  • Society, N. G. (2013, January 14). Petroleum. Retrieved March 29, 2017, from http://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/petroleum/
  • Nwf. “How You Can Help Wildlife Impacted by the BP Oil Spill – National Wildlife Federation.” N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2017.
  • Adebayo, Abdulrauf Rasheed, and Bassam Tawabini. “Hydrocarbon Exploration and Production- a Balance between Benefits to the Society and Impact on the Environment.” OMICS International. OMICS International, 27 Apr. 2012. Web. 29 Mar. 2017.

 

Posted on

Meeting Logs

9th March 2017

Location: Northspine Food court, 3-4 pm on 9th March 2017

Attendance:  Wind, Lemuel, Kathy, Anjana, Wan Rui, Kevin

Topics discussed: Blog layout, Content of video

Tasks to be done: Research for content of the chemical concept

Plan of action: Research for information and prepare script for video.

15th March 2017

Location: LT23, after class on 15th March 2017

Attendance:  Wind, Lemuel, Kathy, Anjana, Wan Rui, Kevin

Topics discussed: Discussed application exercises and assigned tasks regarding blog and video

Tasks to be done: Each person compiles information based on the assigned category – introduction, chemical concepts and implications. 

Plan of action: All the information should be updated on the Google doc by next week

22nd March 2017

Location: LT 23, after class on 22nd March 2017

Attendance:  Wind, Lemuel, Kathy, Anjana, Wan Rui, Kevin

Topics discussed: Discussed application exercises and blog

Tasks to be done: Create the basic layout for the blog

Plan of action: All the content should be updated on the blog and formatted

29th March 2017

Location: Northspine Food court, 1:30-4:30 pm on 29th March 2017

Attendance:  Wind, Lemuel, Kathy, Anjana, Wan Rui, Kevin

Topics discussed: LAMS, blog and videos

Tasks to be done: Complete blog and the first video 

Plan of action: Compile information for both blog an video and complete the tasks today. 

 

Posted on

Chemical Concept

Petroleum and natural gas

The use of petroleum and natural gas is very prevalent in our society today. However the use of petroleum and natural gas is not sustainable. On this blog we would explore the advantages and disadvantages of using petroleum and natural gas, their increasing demand and finding alternative sources of fuel.

Petroleum is an extremely complex mixture of hydrocarbons, which can be separated into liquid (oil) and gas fractions.

Different fossil fuels have different composition of hydrocarbons. Natural gas has a composition of over 90% hydrocarbons, of which they are mostly the smallest hydrocarbons. Oil tends to be made up of medium sized hydrocarbon molecules, however the composition varies depending on the grade.

Example of multi-stage steam turbine generator process works
Example of multi-stage steam turbine generator process works Image obtained:http://www.mpoweruk.com/images/steam_turbine.gif

Petroleum is used in the production of energy, plastics and many other petrochemicals. However we are mainly concerned with the use of petroleum for electricity generation.
There are 3 main technologies in which petroleum is used to generate electricity.

Conventional steam turbine where oil is burned to heat water to create steam to generate electricity.

Combustion turbine is another technology where oil is burned under pressure to produce hot exhaust gasses which then spin a giant turbine to generate electricity.

The third technology, combined cycle technology, is a combination of the first two, where the oil is burned under pressure to generate the exhaust gases to spin the first turbine. After that the exhaust gas is recovered and used to heat water in boiler, creating steam to drive the second turbine.
The combustion of hydrocarbons CxHy follows the general formula
CxHy + (x+y/4)O2  -> xCO2 +  (y/2)H2O

e.g CH4 + 2O2 -> CO2 + 2H20

 

Air pollution due to waste gasses from power plants Image obtained: http://theearthproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Fossil-fuels-burning-1024×680.jpg

The problem with burning fossil fuel for generating electricity is that it is not sustainable as the oil reserves is not infinite and will run out eventually. In June 2014, BP released estimates that global oil reserves will provide us 53.3 years of oil at current production rates.
The second issue with burning fossil fuels is that it produces a lot of pollutants.  The US Energy information administration estimates that to produce 293.1 kWh of electricity, 70 kg of CO2 is produced. CO2 is a greenhouse gas which contributes to global warming.

 

Posted on

Unit 4: Application Exercises

Today’s topic is about energy.

These are the application questions cool

State whether these processes are endothermic or exothermic. Give a reason for each.

Burning a charcoal briquette.

Burning a charcoal briquette is an exothermic process because heat is generated.

Water evaporating from your skin

This is an endothermic process as heat is absorbed from the skin and used to break the inter molecular bond between the water molecules so that water can evaporate.

Ice melting 

Ice melting is an endothermic process as energy is absorbed to break inter molecular bonds between water molecues.

Chemical explosions are very exothermic reactions. Describe the relative bond strengths in the reactants and products that would make for a good explosion.

An energy level diagram showing an exothermic reaction

From the figure above we can see that the energy level of the reactants are higher than that of the products. Bond breaking is an endothermic process while bond forming is a exothermic process. Since the overall reaction is exothermic the energy released by bond forming would be greater than energy absorbed by bond breaking. Hence the bond strength of the products would be stronger.

How might you explain the differences between temperature and heat to a friend? Use some practical, everyday examples

In scientific terms, heat is the total measure of the motion of molecules in a substance while temperature is the average energy of molecular motion in a substance. However this doesn’t really tell you the difference

Consider a small cup of hot water and a large tub of hot water. Both have the same temperature. However the large tub of water has more heat. The large tub of water contains the molecules with the same energy as the small cup but since the large tub has more molecules it has more energy and hence more heat.

In short temperature is not energy but a measure of it. Heat is energy.

A premium gasoline available at most stations has an octane rating of 98. What does that tell you about:

a) the knocking characteristics of this gasoline?

b) whether the fuel contains oxygenates

An octane rating of 98 means that that the fuel acts similarly to a fuel that is 98% resistant to knocking.

The octane rating does not tell us any information about whether the fuel contains oxygenates.