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Fossil Fuel

Fossil Fuel. Kelly Shields, Leslie Zolnik, Matt Weinrieb, Katharine A. Connelly, Ian Irwin. Natural Gas. What is natural gas? It's a mixture of hydrocarbons. As with oil, natural gas is formed from decayed organic material. Two different kinds of gas:

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Fossil Fuel

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  1. Fossil Fuel Kelly Shields, Leslie Zolnik, Matt Weinrieb, Katharine A. Connelly, Ian Irwin

  2. Natural Gas • What is natural gas? It's a mixture of hydrocarbons. As with oil, natural gas is formed from decayed organic material. • Two different kinds of gas: Nonassociated gas- gas that is found alone in the reservoir. Associated gas- gas found in the same reservoir as oil.

  3. History of Natural Gases • The first well dug in 1821 near Lake Erie • In 1891 a 120 mile gas line is built from central Indiana to Chicago. • In 1920's gas in first used for heating fuel for manufactured gas. • From end of WWII to 1960's, natural gas was used as secondary source of energy • By 1960's gas introduced to the market. Instead coal fires and stoves, make way for electric heating and gas-fired boilers. Primary fuel for lighting, cooking, and heating. • In 1970's Oil crisis leads to an increase demand for natural gas. • Today, natural gas still has a large market and continuous to be a vital source of energy.

  4. Benefits vs. Costs • Benefits of Natural Gas: inexpensive, clean burning, available, good substitute for oil (reduces dependence for oil), easy to distribute and store, cleanest fossil fuel to use, 80% efficient. • Disadvantages of using gas: • Environmental problems due to the release of CO2 (Greenhouse effect) • Difficult to obtain • Health risk • Unhealthy burning process

  5. The supply and demand of natural. • Since 50% of gas is used for space heating, the demand for gas follows the seasons. For example, in the winter, sharp decrease in temperature causes an increase in gas demand. For the supply side, it's pretty easy to figure out how much to supply for the demand. It is pretty much setup to adjust to the demand. Seasonal records help determine how much gas to supply. • How important is natural gas? • Natural gases account for more than 50% of the direct fossil-fuel inputs to the residential, commercial, and industrial sectors. Natural gases have many important uses like space heating, water heating, as fuel for boilers, transportation, and as chemical feedstock.

  6. How Much Natural Gas is there? • There is an abundance of natural gas in North America, but it is a non-renewable resource, the formation of which takes thousands and possibly millions of years Natural Gas Technically Recoverable Resources Natural Gas Resource Category (Trillion Cubic Feet) As of January 1, 2000 Nonassociated Gas Undiscovered247.71 Onshore 121.61 Offshore 126.1 Deep 81.56 Shallow 44.52 Inferred Reserves232.7 Onshore 183.03 Offshore 47.68 Deep 7.72 Shallow 39.96 Unconventional Gas Recovery369.59 Tight Gas 253.83 Shale Gas 55.42 Coalbed Methane 60.35 Associated-Dissolved Gas 140.89Total Lower 48 Unproved 990.89Alaska 32.32Total U.S. Unproved 1023.21Proved Reserves 167.41Total Natural Gas 1190.62

  7. How is gas obtained? Most natural gas is trapped within coal beds inside the reservoir. The problem with gathering natural gas is that there is no direct channel for the gas to flow. The natural gas is usually located low-permeable area. So when obtaining it can be done by using explosives or water injections. A large force is needed to stimulate gas flow.

  8. COAL • America’s most abundant fuel • U.S. has ¼ of total coal reserves: 80% of the recoverable US fossil fuel reserves is Coal • 23% of our energy needs is supplied by Coal • 90% of the coal produced today is burned for utilities

  9. How Coal is formed • -Accumulated plant material • -Vegetation decomposed into peat • -Peat was covered by mud and sand • -Peat was compacted by pressure- gradual change to coal • -20 ft of plant material = 1 ft of coal

  10. Types of Coal • -Based on the amount of carbon the coal contains • -Heat, pressure and time • -Lignite- youngest type. High water content, low heating values • -Subbituminous- low sulfur content, low mining cost • -Bituminous- most plentiful, high sulfur content • -Anthracite- high heating value, limited supplies

  11. Coal Consumption Patterns • -Constant use for 30 years after WW II- approx. 600 million tons/yr in US • -Percent contribution to total energy consumption declined from 40% to 18% • WHY?? • -Market changes- Railroads were beginning to use diesel and electric. • Industrial and residential use decreased. • Coal use increased only in utilities.

  12. Production • -Coal production shifted to the Western United States, from underground to surface mines. • -Clean Air Acts place limits on sulfur emissions.

  13. Strip Mining • -Earth and rock above coal seam (the overburden) is removed • -The exposed coal is broken up, hauled away • -(Ideally) the overburden is replaced

  14. Problems associated with Strip mining • -Land is left useless • -Erosion • -Upsets water supply and drainage systems • -Acid Mine Drainage- S + O2 + Water Vapor = H2SO4 • -Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977

  15. Constraints • Environmental Problems need to be resolved • -Social Issues- “Boom towns” • -Underground mining- most dangerous occupation • -Difficulty in transport • -Carbon Dioxide emissions

  16. The Future of Coal

  17. Three primary phases of oil reservoir production • Primary • Secondary • Tertiary or Enhanced Oil Recovery

  18. Primary • When natural pressure of the reservoir or gravity drives the oil into the wellbore and artificial lift techniques such as pumping produce the oil to the surface. However, this only produces roughly 10% of the reservoir’s original oil.

  19. Secondary • After WWII, producers employed such techniques to increase the recovery of oil to more than 20%. Such techniques include water injection to displace the oil and drive it to the wellbore, or re-injection of natural gas to maintain reservoir pressure.

  20. Tertiary, or Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOC) Includes: • Thermal recovery, which involves injection of steam to thin heavy oil 2. Chemical injection, which involves the use of long-chained molecules (polymers) to increase the effectiveness of waterfloods or detergent-like surfactants to help lower the surface tension that often prevents oil droplets from moving through a reservoir 3. Gas injection, which uses gases such as natural gas, nitrogen, or combustion flume gases that expand in a reservoir to push additional oil to the wellbore, or other gases that dissolve in the oil to lower its viscosity and increases its flow rate

  21. 10 major Oil Producing Countries • Saudi Arabia – 446* • USA – 355 * • Russian Federation – 303 * • Iran – 176 * • Mexico – 163 * • Venezuela – 162 * • China – 161 * • Norway – 149 * • Great Britain – 139 * • Iraq – 125 * (*million tonnes)

  22. Crude Oil Production (1954-2000)

  23. Oil Well Productivity (1954-2000)

  24. Future supply of Oil

  25. Effects of Oil • Releases CO2, sulfur dioxides, nitrogen oxides, and heavy metals • CO2 leads to the “greenhouse effect” • Emissions have increased roughly 2% in past several decades • Contains harmful substances like toluene, benzene, ethylic benzene, and polycyclic aromatic carbohydrates, some of which cause cancer. • There are also constructive problems, such as electrical cables, pipelines through natural areas, roads, and other infrastructures • Oil pollution around rigs and from spills, etc are harmful to the surrounding environment, for both human and animal habitats. • Oil transportation poses threats and environmental risks as well. • Example: Exxon Valdez (photos next slide)

  26. Solutions to Oil • Reduction of consumption of oil and other non-renewable energy sources • Energy-saving measures and developing alternative sources of energy, such as wind, hydro, and solar • Responsibility lies within the individual, states, multilateral organizations, and corporations

  27. Environmental impacts of fossil fuel power • Coal • Coal produces 15 times more pollutants than nuclear energy and 100 times more than hydropower. • Major emissions from burning coal • Sulfur dioxide (SO2)- major cause of acid rain. • Nitrous Oxide (NO) – green house gas • Carbon Dioxide (CO2)- green house gas • Coal is usually processed into two different types. • 1% sulfur content • 10% sulfur content • Though the initial costs of processing 1% sulfur coal is slightly higher, the over all cost including environmental degradation is less than have that of 10%. • New coal power generation technologies • Low emissions boiler (traditional boiler with scrubbers and other emissions filters.) • Atmospheric Fluidized-Bed Combustion • Keeps the reaction below the temperature that NO and SO2 will be emitted and collects it in the water. • Pressurized Atmospheric Fluidized-Bed Combustion • Integrated Gasification Cycle

  28. Other Environmental Impacts of Coal • High levels of erosion from strip mines • Depletion of usable land for agriculture or other natural purposes • Leaching of acids and other harmful chemical from both extraction and purification • Emissions from large equipment used in extraction and transportation • Human casualties- mine cave in, black lung

  29. Environmental Impact of Oil (Extraction) • 135 Billion Gallons of toxic waste mud from drilling • Leaching of harmful chemical used to maintain drilling and pumping equipment • Much of the water extracted or used to extract is contaminated with heavy metal and other toxins • The water is often leached into ground water and aquifers through giant percolation pool. • Often natural gas escapes and is either burned or released • Just from extraction alone • 94,549 tons of Volatile Organic Compounds are released. • 366820 tons of greenhouse gases • 3766 tons of hazardous pollutants • In off shore drilling much of this waste is released into the ocean

  30. A lot of contaminated water is produced in the separation of the crude oil A tremendous amount of energy is used to heat the crude Acids can be used in extraction and processing Environmental Impact of Oil (Production)

  31. Environmental Impact of Oil (Consumption) • Oil burns cleaner than coal • It still releases large quantities of • Nitrous oxide • Sulfur dioxide • Carbon monoxide • Carbon dioxide • Methane • Heavy oil burning power plants alone account for 6000 tons of SO2 and 600000 tons of CO2 per year • Natural gas is much cleaner

  32. Oil Shale • Extraction and processing of oil shale takes tremendous amounts of energy to do • Often toxic acids are used to extract the fuel • Large mines devastate the landscape and promote erosion • Large amounts of highly alkaline minerals are a byproduct and they leach into watersheds • There is a lot of emissions from the equipment used to mine and process the shale as well as from the burning of the oil

  33. Thank You For Viewing

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