Explain the various pollution and methods to control pollution in thermal and nuclear plants.
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How are Thermal Power Plants Polluting the Environment?
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Liam Critchley, M.Sc.
By Liam Critchley, M.Sc.Mar 12 2019
Image Credit:Shutterstock/lightrain
As society advances, we are discovering more pollutants that are contributing to negative climate change effects and global warming. Many of these pollutants come from our manufacturing and power generating industries, and no matter how much they are minimized, there are always going to some pollutants that will enter our atmosphere. Thermal power plants are known for producing a wide range of pollutants that are released into our atmosphere, and in this article, we look at these different types of pollutants.
A thermal power plant is a power station that converts heat energy into electric power. These power plants do this by primarily heating fossil fuels, which heats up water into steam. The steam moves through a turbine, which generates the electricity, and then it is condensed and recycled back to its pre-heated starting point. Whilst thermal power plants give out a lot of gases that are harmful to the environment, they also give out what is known as thermal pollution. Thermal pollution is the degradation of the local environment, in particular the localized waterways, that are changed by the discharge of waste water from the power plant.
Impact on the Atmosphere
Thermal power plants are known to pump out a lot of greenhouse gases and ash, which are by-products of burning the fossil fuels. Whilst some thermal power plants do use solar or nuclear energy, they are heavily reliant on fossil fuels.
Carbon dioxide is one of the main gases that is released from the burning of the fossil fuels and is known to be a greenhouse gas and a contributor of global warming. Out of all the gases released from a thermal power plant, carbon dioxide is the main one, and thermal power plants are one of the main contributors to the increased carbon dioxide levels throughout the world.
Sulfur dioxide is another gas that is released from power plants. Whilst it is technically not a greenhouse gas, it is known to have indirect effects to the atmosphere because it can affect the scattering of incoming sunlight, the formation of clouds and precipitation patterns. So, in many cases, it is considered an indirect greenhouse gas. Sulfur dioxide forms sulphuric acid in the atmosphere.This can then return to Earth as acid rain and impact various ecosystems. The level of sulfur dioxide released from thermal power plants depends on the amount of sulfur in the coal that is used—where the coal used has on average between 0.1 and 3.5% sulphur depending on which type is used. Thermal power plants are also the largest emitters of sulfur dioxide worldwide.
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