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Introduction to Mech Engg - Module 1

Mechanical Engineering is a historical field that encompasses the study, design, and testing of mechanical devices and systems, playing a crucial role in various industries such as energy, manufacturing, and automotive. It contributes to sustainable development by optimizing resource use and developing technologies for renewable energy. Emerging trends in mechanical engineering include advancements in renewable energy sources, manufacturing processes, and automotive technologies, reflecting the sector's adaptability to modern challenges.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
6 views

Introduction to Mech Engg - Module 1

Mechanical Engineering is a historical field that encompasses the study, design, and testing of mechanical devices and systems, playing a crucial role in various industries such as energy, manufacturing, and automotive. It contributes to sustainable development by optimizing resource use and developing technologies for renewable energy. Emerging trends in mechanical engineering include advancements in renewable energy sources, manufacturing processes, and automotive technologies, reflecting the sector's adaptability to modern challenges.

Uploaded by

Shreepannaga
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Introduction to Mechanical Engineering – BESCK104D 2024-25

INTRODUCTION TO MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Mechanical Engineering is one of the oldest engineering professions. Mechanical Engineering


can trace its roots back to the very beginning of the Industrial Revolution, from 1750 to 1800 in
Europe and 1800 to 1850 in the United States. The invention of the steam engine by James Watt
in 1802, propelled the growth in this field by leaps and bounds. After the invention of the
automobile, both the need for precisely machined metal and a more formalized method of
assembling the components.

Mechanical engineering is the study, design, development, construction, and testing of


mechanical and thermal sensors and devices, including tools, engines, and machines.
Mechanical engineering careers centre on creating technologies to meet a wide range of human
needs. Mechanical engineering subjects include automobile engineering, manufacturing
engineering, power plant engineering, thermal engineering, and mechatronics engineering, which
is a combination of electrical, computer, and mechanical engineering.

ROLE OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING IN INDUSTRIES AND


SOCIETY:

Mechanical Engineer will play a vital role in the sustainable development of the industry and
the society. Starting from the conceptualization of the product to the design, manufacturing,
sales and service to the end of life of a product i.e, recycling mechanical engineer will play his
role.

To start with, for a design a product mechanical engineer has to conceptualize the product,
draw the preform of the product, then apply the mechanical design and will build the product
for its strength. Mechanical engineer role as a manufacturing Engineering is a huge. Studying
the design, laying out the tooling for the production and optimize the raw material consumption
in the manufacturing a component requires huge skills as a mechanical Engineering.

Mechanical Engineer also place a vital role in the logistics. Procuring the materials for the
production, maintaining the adequate material in the stores, dispatching the finished products
to the Consumer is the role of a Logistic Engineer.

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Mechanical Engineer also works as a safety Engineer in an Industry. Taking care of the human
resources, machineries, equipment‟s and planning out the safer working conditions and
ensuring the safety of the operations is the responsibility of the safety engineer.

Mechanical Engineer plays a vital role in the overall growth of the economy as well as the
Society. Meeting the demand for a product to the optimum utilization of the resources taken
care by the mechanical Engineer. Designing a product for longer product life cycle and
reutilization/ recycling the product reduces the dependency of the materials by the industry.
Also, developing newer equipment‟s, devices for harnessing the renewable sources energy
reduces the dependencies on the fossil fuels. This in turn contribute the green energy, low or
no emission of carbon and its compounds.

Following are few of the areas where in Mechanical Engineer play his role in an industry:
Design Engineer, Production Manager, Safety Engineer, QA Engineer, Logistic Manager, Data
analyst, Drafts man, Sales Executive, Customer Service etc.,

EMERGING TRENDS AND TECHNOLOGIES IN MECHANICAL


ENGINEERING IN DIFFERENT SECTORS:

Energy:
The energy sector is a category that relate to producing or supplying energy. The energy
sector or industry includes companies involved in the exploration and development of oil or gas
reserves, oil and gas drilling, and refining. The energy industry also includes integrated power
utility companies such as renewable energy and coal.
Advent of technology and raising concern on the use of fossil fuels gives an opportunity
to think of the energy harnessing through renewable resources. Increased efficiency in the solar
PV cells, ease in the manufacturing of complicated shapes of a wind turbine blades through
various manufacturing process, newer innovations in the electric vehicles, newer materials
compositions to produce parts used in devises etc., creating the opportunity to extract
energy at low cost through renewable sources and avoiding the dependency on fossil fuels.

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Manufacturing: Manufacturing is the process of converting the raw material into a finished
product. The technology had taken a great leap in the manufacturing sector. Along with side of
conventional manufacturing methods other manufacturing methods are also practicing in the
industry. Lean manufacturing, just in time manufacturing (JIT), Flexible manufacturing system
(FMS), Computer Integrated manufacturing (CIM) are already in use. Along with this additive
manufacturing is getting its importance in the new product development which reduces the
material and time.

Figure: CNC machine tool in Turning Operation

Automotive Industry:

Figure: Concept of electric vehicle during docking

Indian Automobile market is the 3rd Largest automobile market in the world. The automobile
market seen a considerable changes in the advance of technology. Electric vehicles are the next
alternative to the conventional fossil fueled vehicles. Providing the better customer ride
experience electric vehicles are the future of automobile market. Also, Hybrid vehicles are
already in market uses dual fuel technology like electric and gasoline. Automation is another

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aspect in the automobile industry. Use of mechatronics, internet, AI automobile manufacturers


are striving for the better user interface and comfort in automobile experience.

Aerospace Industry: Invention of new materials like composites, shape memory alloys added
the strength to weight ratio among the material used in the production of Aerospace vehicles.
Also, use of sophisticated manufacturing techniques in the building of aircrafts make the cost
of the air craft vehicles much economical.

Marine Sector: Marine engineering is the discipline that deals with matters related to the design,
innovation, construction and maintenance of seagoing vessels and navigation equipment. Marine
engineers focus primary on the development and production of internal systems of boats, ships,
or submarines. They are engaged in designing propulsion systems, auxiliary power machinery
and operation equipment. Their technical responsibilities also include working on-board to
maintain these systems.

ENERGY: INTRODUCTION AND APPLICATIONS OF ENERGY


SOURCES LIKE FOSSIL FUELS

The various fuels which are commonly used for steam Generations in power plants are;
coal, oil and gas. A Coal is the oldest fuel and still used in large scale throughout the world for
power generation. Coal is a heterogeneous compound and its constituents are always carbon,
hydrogen, oxygen, sulphur, nitrogen and certain mineral non combustibles. The phenomenon by
which the buried vegetation consisting of wood, grass, shrubs etc., transformed in to coal is
known metamorphism. The nature of coal will depend upon the type of vegetation buried, and
nature and duration of metamorphism. The classification of coal is based on the physical and
chemical composition of the coal and therefore it is required to study the chemical composition
of the coal. The proximate and ultimate analysis is the common tests which are used to find the
commercial value of the coal. The proximate analysis gives characteristics of the coal such as
percentages of moisture, ash and volatile matter. Ultimate analysis of coal is used to find out
the chemical analysis of coal like carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulphur and ash. It also
gives an indication about fusion temperature and the heating value of the coal. Each constituent
in the coal plays a very important role in adopting type of coal for power plant.

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Carbon: Higher percentage of carbon in the coal is an indication of higher heating value and
thisreduces the size of combustion chamber required.

Hydrogen: In coal, hydrogen exists in combined form with oxygen known as inherent moisture
which comes as heat with flue gases without playing any role in the combustion. Higher
percentage of free hydrogen is always desirable, as it increases the heating value of the coal.

Oxygen: Coal contains oxygen in combined form with Hydrogen. Always lower percentage of
Oxygen is desirable as it reduces percentage of hydrogen available for heating.

Nitrogen: It has no heating value and does not play any role in combustion process.

Sulphur: It exists in coal as pyrites, sulphates, iron sulphides and organic sulphur compounds.
It is responsible for clinkering, slagging, corrosion and air pollution. It adds a little heating
value.

Ash: It is a residue from combustion. Melting of ash results in the formation of clinkers. Ash
contains sillica, alumina, ferric oxide, calcium oxide, magnesium oxide and alkalies. It also
contains 1-2% of sulphur.

Classification of coals
In the increasing order of heating value, coals are classified in to following types.

1. Peat: It is a low grade coal and first stage in the progress of transformation of buried
vegetation in to coal. It contains huge amount of moisture (90%) and small percentage of
volatile matter and carbon. Due to its moisture content, it is not suitable for use in power
plants. It is suitable for domestic and other purposes. It is to be dried for about 1 to 2 months in
sunlight to remove greater part of moisture before it is put to use.
2. Lignite and brown coals: It is the intermediate stage in the development of coal. It
also possesses high content of moisture (30 to 45%) and ash and can be dried just by exposing
to air. In comparison with peat, it has high heating value and carbon. It should be stored
properly to avoid spontaneous combustion. It can be used as fuel in pulverised form. Lignites
are brown in color and burns with a smoky flame. These are suitable for local use only due
to difficulty ofeasy breaking during the transportation.

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3. Bituminous coal: It is most popular form and has low moisture content and non-
disintegrating properties. It may possess low or high ash contents which vary from 6 to 12%. It
has high percentage of volatile matter and the average calorific value is about 31350 kJ / Kg. It
may be available in two forms, caking and non-caking. When the coal is heated, the volatile
matter is driven off, leaving behind pure carbon known as coke. The process is known as
caking.

Metallurgical industries uses low volatile matter and high caking coals and high volatile
matter and low caking coals are suitable for gas making purposes. Sub Bituminous coal is
similar to lignite and contains less moisture than lignite. It is used in bliquettes or pulverised.
Semi Bituminous coal is intermediate between Anthracite and Bituminous coals and is the
highest grade of Bituminous coals. It releases less smoke, and has high carbon content and
heating value. It possesses less moisture content, ash, sulphur and volatile matter. It has a
tendency of breaking to small sizes during storage or transportation.

4. Anthracite Coals: It is the last stage in the formation of coal and contains highest carbon
content and has the volatile matter of 8%. It has less heating value and ignites slowly unless
furnace temperature is high. It has high calorific value in the range of 35500KJ/Kg. It has low
ash content, zero caking power and it is difficult to pulverize the Anthracite coal.

Desirable Properties of good fuel


A good coal should posses

1. High calorific value and low ash content.

2. Less sulphur content (less than 1%)

3. Good burning characteristics to ensure complete combustion.

4. High grindability index (In ball mill grinding)

5. High weather ability.

Grading of coal can be done on the basis of i) Size ii) Ash content iii) Sulphur content iv) heating
value.

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Liquid Fuels:
The liquid fuels of power plant are always by product of petroleum. Crude petroleum oil
contains mainly carbon and hydrogen with small amounts of oxygen, nitrogen and sulphur. The
chemical composition of petroleum and its derivatives is; carbon 83-87%, hydrozen-10-14%
and various percentages of sulphur, nitrogen, oxygen etc., The hydrogen is present in the form
of hydrocarbon mixtures. The hydrogen and carbon are combined as hydrocarbons into
specialized products like gasoline, fuel oil etc. The liquid fuels have higher percentage of
hydrogen as compared to coal, resulting in increased moisture loss in the flue gases.

Gaseous fuels
The gaseous fuel may either be natural gas or a manufactured gas. The manufactured gas is
costly, therefore only natural gas is used in steam generation. Natural gas is found under near
the earth's surface and mainly contains methane and ethane. The calorific value is nearly
equal to 21000 KJ/m3and is colour less and odorless. The manufactured gases are coal gas,
coke-oven gas, blast furnace gas, producer gas and water or illuminating gas. First two are
produced by carbonizing high volatile bituminous coal. These gases are used in boilers and
sometimes used for commercial purposes. The blast furnace Gas is used in steel industry and is
the byproduct of blast furnace. The heating value of this gas is very low. Producer gas is
manufactured from the partial oxidation of coal, coke or peat when they are burnt with
insufficient quantity of air.

Advantages
1. Better control of combustion

2. Excess air required is less for complete combustion.

3. It is clean, no problem of storage and transportation, as it can be transported through pipe


lines

4. It has no ash content in it.

5. These are adaptable to automatic controls.

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SUMMARY: Fossil fuels are the fuels formed by natural processes such as decomposition of
dead and buried organisms. Fossil fuels are buried flammable geologic deposits of organic
substances such as dead plants and animals that got deposited under several thousand feet of silt.
These deposits decayed with the passage of time and got converted to natural gas, coal and
petroleum due to the extreme heat and pressure inside the earth’s crust. They are also known as
non-renewable sources of energy as it takes a very long time for it to replenish. Fossil fuels are
of the following types: Coal, Petroleum, Natural gas

Coal: It is a hard, black coloured substance made up of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen and
sulphur. The major types of coal are- anthracite, bituminous and lignite. Anthracite has a higher
carbon concentration and is the hardest type of coal. Lignite has a high concentration of oxygen
and hydrogen but a low concentration of carbon. Bituminous is a moderate form of coal. Coal is
processed industrially to obtain derivatives like coke, coal tar and coal gas.

Formation of Coal: The process of formation of coal is known as coalification. The dense forest
present in the low-lying wetland got buried in the earth, millions of years ago. Soil kept
depositing over them and they got compressed. As they went deeper and deeper, they faced high
temperature and pressure. As a result, the substances slowly got converted into coal.

Uses of Coal: Coal was used to produce steam in the railway engines initially. It is used to cook
food. It is used to generate electricity in thermal plants. It is used in industries as fuel.

Petroleum: It is a clear, oily liquid, usually green or black in colour. It has a very strange smell
and is a mixture of petroleum gas, diesel, paraffin wax, petrol, lubricating oil, etc. It is also
termed as “Black Gold” because of its wide range of uses in many industries.

Formation of Petroleum: The sea animals and plants died and their bodies settled at the bottom
of the sea. They got compressed by the layers of sand and clay. Their encounter with high
temperature and pressure converts them into petroleum. The petroleum is separated from the
crude oil by a series of processes in a refinery. This is known as petroleum refining.

Uses of Petroleum: It is used to power internal combustion engines in the form of petrol. It is
used in roofing, road pavements and as a water repellent. It is used in manufacturing detergents,
plastics, fibres, polyethene, etc.

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Natural gas: It is a clean and non-toxic fossil fuel. It is colourless and odourless and can be
easily transferred through pipelines. It is stored as compressed natural gas (CNG) under high
pressure. It is a less polluting and less expensive fossil fuel. Methane is the most important
natural gas.

Formation of Natural Gas: The phytoplankton and zooplankton sink to the bottom of the ocean
and mix with organic materials to form an organic-rich mud. The mud buried under more
sediments and lithifies to form an organic shale. This prevents its exposure to oxygen. This is
done to protect the organic materials from being decomposed by bacteria. The increasing
pressure and temperature transform the shale into a waxy material known as the kerogen. At
temperatures between 90-160°C kerogen is transformed into natural gas.

Uses of Natural gas: Compressed Natural Gas is used for generating power. It is used as fuels in
automobiles. It can be used at homes for cooking. It is used as a starting material in chemicals
and fertilizers.

Fossil fuels are a non-renewable source of energy. Most of the energy used by us is obtained by
the burning of fossil fuels. These fossil fuels are used up at a faster rate. They cannot be regrown
at a scale compared to their consumption. With the increased demand for the production of
various energies, fossil fuel energy is declining. It is difficult to replace them. That is why they
are known as a non-renewable source of energy.

NUCLEAR FUEL:-

 It is a material that can be 'burned' by nuclear fission or fusion to derive nuclear


energy.

 Nuclear fuel can refer to the fuel itself, or to physical objects (for example bundles
composed of fuel rods) composed of the fuel material, mixed with structural,
neutron-moderating, or neutron-reflecting materials.

 Most nuclear fuels contain heavy fissile elements that are capable of nuclear fission.

 When these fuels are struck by neutrons, they are in turn capable of emitting neutrons
when they break apart.

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 This makes possible a self-sustaining chain reaction that releases energy with a
controlled rate in a nuclear reactor or with a very rapid uncontrolled rate in a nuclear
weapon.

 The most common fissile nuclear fuels are uranium-235 (235U) and plutonium-239
(239Pu). The actions of mining, refining, purifying, using, and ultimately disposing of
nuclear fuel together make up the nuclear fuel cycle.

 Not all types of nuclear fuels create power from nuclear fission. Plutonium-238 and
some other elements are used to produce small amounts of nuclear power by
radioactive decay in radioisotope thermoelectric generators and other types of atomic
batteries. Also, light nuclides such as tritium can be used as fuel for nuclear fusion.

WATER POWER OR HYDRO POWER

Power derived from the energy of falling water & running water, which may be harnessed
for useful purposes. In ancient years hydro- power has been used for irrigation & the operation of
various mechanical devices such as water mills, saw mills, textile mills, domestic lifts, power
house & paint making.

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Introduction to Mechanical Engineering – BESCK104D 2024-25

Classification of hydro power

 Conventional hydro electric, referring hydroelectric dams


 Run of the river hydroelectricity, which captures the kinetic energy in rivers or streams
without use of dams.
 Small hydro projects are 10 MW or less & often have no artificial reservoirs.
 Micro hydro projects a few KW to a few hundred KW isolated homes, villages or small
industries.
The power available from falling water can be calculated from the flow rate & density of water, the
height of fall & the local acceleration due to gravity.

P=ƞ*ρ*Q*g*h

Where, P – Power in Watts, Ƞ- dimension less efficiency of the turbine, ρ – density of water in Kg/m3,
Q- Flow in m3/sec, g - Acceleration due to gravity and h- Height difference between inlet & outlet.

SOLAR ENERGY

Solar energy is a very large, inexhaustible source of energy. The power from the Sun intercepted by the
earth is approximately1.8×1011 MW which is many thousands of time larger than the present
consumption rate on the earth of all commercial energy sources. Thus, in principle solar energy could
supply all the present & future energy needs of the world on a continuing basis. This makes it one of the
most promising of the unconventional energy sources.

Solar energy is received in the form of radiation, can be converted directly or indirectly into other forms
of energy, such as heat & electricity. This energy is radiated by the Sun as electromagnetic waves of
which 99% have wave lengths in the range of 0.2 to 4 micro meters. Solar energy reaching the top of the
Earth‘s atmosphere consists about 8% U.V radiation, 46% of visible light, 46% Infrared radiation.

Classification of methods for solar energy utilization:

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Merits of solar energy:

 It is an environmental clean source of energy


 It is free & available in adequate quantities in all most all parts of world where people
live.

Demerits of solar energy:


 It is a dilute source of energy because even in hottest region the radiation flux is
available only 1 KW/m2 & total radiation over a day is 7 KW/m2.
 These are low values from the point of view of technological utilization.
 It is required large collecting areas are required in many applications & these results
increase of cost.

 Solar energy availability varies widely with time, it occurs because of the day-night cycle
& also seasonally because of the Earth‘s orbit around the Sun.

Solar applications

 Solar heating

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 Solar cooling
 Solar pumping

 Solar furnace

 Solar production of hydrogen


 Solar green houses
 Solar distillation
 Solar energy
 Solar cooking

Thermal Energy:

Thermal energy refers to the internal energy present in a system in a state of thermodynamic
equilibrium by virtue of its temperature. The average transitional kinetic energy possessed by free
particles in a system of free particles in thermodynamic equilibrium. This energy comes from the
temperature of matter.
Thermal energy is the total energy of all the molecules in an object.
The thermal energy of an object depends on the 3 things:

 The number of the molecules in the object


 The temperature of the object (average molecular motion)
 The arrangement of the object molecules (states of matter)
There are 3 modes of thermal energy

1. Conduction 2. Convection 3. Radiation


 Conduction: Heat is transferred from one molecule to another without the movement
of matter.
 Convection: Fluids (liquids & gases) transfer heat by convection, a process that causes
mixing of the warmer regions with the cooler regions of liquid or gas. The main
difference between convection & conduction is that convection involves the movement
of matter & conduction does not.
 Radiation: it is the transfer of energy by electromagnetic waves.

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Liquid flat plate collector:

 In operation cold water from the overhead tank is made to flow through water tubes.

 When solar radiation passes through transparent glass cover & falls on the absorber
plate it absorbsheat energy.
 This heat energy transferred to the cold water flowing through the tube and gets heated
up.

 Heated water being lighter in density than cold water hence it raises up and collects in the
solar water heater tank.

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Introduction to Mechanical Engineering – BESCK104D 2024-25

ADVANTAGES:
 It is eco friendly
 Renewable sources
 No/less pollution
 By using this produce electricity
 Its help full for oil refining in Industry & home heating

DISADVANTAGES:

 Producing greenhouse gas


 Collecting of energy is a big problem, it requires sophisticated technology hence cost is
more.

Applications:
 Steam engine
 Gasoline engine

Photovoltaic (PV) or Solar Cell:


It is a device that converts solar energy into electric current using the photoelectric effect.
Photovoltaic power generation employs solar panels, composed of number of solar cells containing
photovoltaic material. Photovoltaic are made up of semiconductors & it converts solar radiation into direct
current electricity.

Working Principle

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 Photo-voltaic cell is made up of semi-conductor materials like silicon one layer has n-
type silicon and another layer has P-type silicon and interface between n-type and p-type
silicon iscalled P-n junction.
 In a P-n junction semi-conductor material, electrons from n-side tend to move towards P-
siderapidly combine with large number of holes concentration.
 Similarly holes from P-side tend to move towards n-side rapidly combine with large
number of electron concentration, this charge distribution across the junction gives rise to
electrical field.
 When a P-n junction semi-conductor material exposed to the sunlight some of the solar
photons will have a tendency to dislodge free-electrons from its fixed position in the
material.
 Ejected free-electrons tend to move towards p-side and this flow negatively charged
electrons constitute an electric current.

Advantages

 Very little research money has been invested in the development of solar cells.

 It gives long duration period.

 Operating costs are extremely low compared to existing power technologies

Applications

 These solar cells are used to operate irrigation pumps

 Navigational signals, rail road crossing.

 To operate calculator & watches.

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WIND ENERGY

Energy of wind can be economically used for the generation of electricity. Winds are caused from 2 main
factors:
 Heating & cooling of the atmosphere which generates convection currents. Heating is
caused by the absorption of solar energy on the Earth‘s surface & in the atmosphere.
 The rotation of the Earth with respect to atmosphere & its motion aroundthe sun.
 The energy available in the wind over the Earth‘s surface is estimated to be 1.6×107
MW.
 Wind energy which is an indirect source of solar energy conversion can be utilized to run
wind mill, which in turn drives a generator to produce electricity.
 The combination of wind turbine & generator is sometimes referred as an AERO-
GENERATOR.

 A step up transmission is usually required to match the relatively slow speed of the wind
rotor to the higher speed of an electric generator.
 Data quoted by some scientists that for India wind speed value lies between 5 Km/hr to
15-20 Km/hr.
 Wind forms are operating successfully & have already fed over 150 lakh units of
electricity to the respective state grids.

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BIOFUELS
A biofuel is a fuel that uses energy from a carbon fixation. These fuels are produced
from living organisms. Examples of this carbon fixation are plants and microalgae. These fuels
are made from a biomass conversion. This biomass conversions can being solid, liquid, or gas
form. This new biomass can be used for bio fuels. Bio fuels have increased in popularity
because of the rising oil prices and need for energy security.

Bio ethanol is an alcohol made by fermentation, mostly from carbohydrates produced in


sugar or starch crops such as corn or sugarcane. Cellulosic, derived from non-food sources,
such as trees and grasses, is also being developed as a feedstock for ethanol production.
Ethanol can be used as a fuel for vehicles in its pure form, but it is usually used as a gasoline
additive to increase octane and improve vehicle emissions.

Biodiesel is made from vegetable oils and animal fats. Biodiesel can be used as a fuel
for vehicles in its pure form, but it is usually used as a diesel additive to reduce levels of
particulates, carbon monoxide, and hydrocarbons from diesel-powered vehicles. Biodiesel is
produced from oils or fats using trans esterification.

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES LIKE GLOBAL WARMING AND OZONE


DEPLETION
Ozone depletion does not cause global warming, but both of these environmental
problems have a common cause: human activities that release pollutants into the atmosphere
altering it. Global warming is caused primarily by putting too much carbon dioxide into the
atmosphere when coal, oil, and natural gas are burned to generate electricity or to run our cars.
Ozone depletion occurs when chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and halons—gases formerly found in
aerosol spray cans and refrigerants—are released into the atmosphere. Ozone sits in the upper
atmosphere and absorbs ultraviolet radiaton, another type of solar energy that's harmful to
humans, animals and plants. CFCs and halons cause chemical reactions that break down ozone
molecules, reducing ozone's ultraviolet radiation-absorbing capacity.

Ozone layer depletion is a major concern and is associated with a number of factors. The
main causes responsible for the depletion of the ozone layer are listed below:

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Chlorofluorocarbons: Chlorofluorocarbons or CFCs are the main cause of ozone layer depletion.
These are released by solvents, spray aerosols, refrigerators, air-conditioners, etc. The molecules
of chlorofluorocarbons in the stratosphere are broken down by ultraviolet radiations and release
chlorine atoms. These atoms react with ozone and destroy it.

Unregulated Rocket Launches: Researches say that the unregulated launching of rockets results
in much more depletion of the ozone layer than the CFCs do. If not controlled, this might result
in a huge loss of the ozone layer by the year 2050.

Nitrogenous Compounds: The nitrogenous compounds such as NO2, NO, N2O are highly
responsible for the depletion of the ozone layer.

Natural Causes :The ozone layer has been found to be depleted by certain natural processes such
as Sun-spots and stratospheric winds. But it does not cause more than 1-2% of the ozone layer
depletion. The volcanic eruptions are also responsible for the depletion of the ozone layer.

Effects of Ozone Layer Depletion: The depletion of the ozone layer has harmful effects on the
environment. Let us see the major effects of ozone layer depletion on man and environment.

Effects on Human Health: Humans will be directly exposed to the harmful ultraviolet radiation
of the sun due to the depletion of the ozone layer. This might result in serious health issues
among humans, such as skin diseases, cancer, sunburns, cataract, quick ageing and weak immune
system.

Effects on Animals: Direct exposure to ultraviolet radiations leads to skin and eye cancer in
animals.

Effects on the Environment: Strong ultraviolet rays may lead to minimal growth, flowering and
photosynthesis in plants. The forests also have to bear the harmful effects of the ultraviolet rays.

Effects on Marine Life: Planktons are greatly affected by the exposure to harmful ultraviolet
rays. These are higher in the aquatic food chain. If the planktons are destroyed, the organisms
present in the food chain are also affected.

Dr. Mohamed Saleem, Assoc. Prof, Dept of Mech Engg, BTI, Bangalore Page 19

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