1 / 10

Acid Rain

Acid Rain. Pure rain is naturally acidic with pH of 5.6 due to dissolved carbon dioxide in water vapor reacting to form carbonic acid( a very weak acid) The environmental pollution called acid rain is any rain with pH less than 5.6.

neila
Download Presentation

Acid Rain

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Acid Rain

  2. Pure rain is naturally acidic with pH of 5.6 due to dissolved carbon dioxide in water vapor reacting to form carbonic acid( a very weak acid) • The environmental pollution called acid rain is any rain with pH less than 5.6. • Research shows that acid rain is associated with parts of a country where heavy industries are situated and also down-wind from such sites. • Analysis of acid rain indicates that especially sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides are mostly responsible for the rain acidity.

  3. The environmental effects of Acid Rain

  4. Effects of Acid Rain on humans • Breathing air containing fine droplets of acid irritates the whole respiratory tract from mucous membranes in the nose and throat to the lung tissues. • It can cause severe eye irritation. • Adverse effects on asthmatics at the elderly and the young

  5. Effects on aquatic life • Acidification of lakes and rivers. • One major effect on fish is the increased concentration of Al ion resulting from the leaching of soil by acid rain. Al ion affects the function of the gills.

  6. Effects on materials • Corrosion of basic materials such as marble or limestone and dolomite as insoluble carbonates are converted to more soluble sulfates. • So the sulfate can dissolve in water leading to considerable damage to structural and artists’ stone and this is called ‘stone leprosy’ • Corrosion of iron and steel is promoted by acid rain, a problem which is increased by high humidity, high temperatures and the presence of particulates. • Acid rain pollution causes bleaching and weakening of fabrics and leather discoloration and embitterment of paper. • Acid rain can finally leach heavy toxic metals such as lead, cadmium and mercury into the water system.

  7. Effect on soil and vegetation • Acute injurydue to short term exposure to high acid concentrations leads to attacks on cells producing dead areas of leaves which dry out and usually become bleached. • Chronic injury due to long term exposure to even low acid concentrations disrupts chlorophyll synthesis, characterized by yellowing of leaves. • Acid rain also leaches or removes important nutrients such as magnesium ion from soil.

  8. Effect on visibility • The mist of sulfuric acid and sulfate aerosols in the atmosphere can cause great loss of visibility and can curtail air flights.

  9. Controlling Acid Rain • Most efforts at reducing acid rain are directed at the important sources of the pollutants, namely the burning of coal and the fuelling of automobile engines.

  10. Reduction in SO2 emissions include: • Use low-sulfur, cleaner-burning coal such as anthracite coal which has high heat content. • Converting dirty high sulfur coal to clean burning SNG, synthetic natural gas. The conversion process allows for the removal of SO2 and thus reduces the acid rain. • Cleaning coal before combustion • Post-combustion methods.

More Related