CHAPTER 14

SPECIAL UNITS OF MECHANICAL ENGNEERING

REFRACTORIES:

Introduction:
The ceramic products, which line the nation’s industrial furnaces, are called refractories. These
materials must be numbered among the most critically important of the industries depend heavily
on high temperature processes.
Definition:
Refractories are defined as nonmetallic materials suitable for the constructions or lining of
furnaces operated at high temperatures. Stability at high temperatures both physical and
chemical is the primary requirement for refractory materials. They may be called upon to
withstand pressures from the weight of furnace parts, other stresses induced by temperature
change, mechanical wear resulting from movement of furnace contents, and chemical attack by
heated solids, liquids, gases, or fumes.
Because of the severe operating conditions to which they are exposed, the life of refractory lining
may be brief. In extreme cases a refractory lining may have to be replaced weekly.
The range of refractories employed in industry is literally enormous. We may first divide all
refractories in to three types.

Types of refractories
1. Firebrick:
These are modular burned refractory shapes, laid in an over lapping half bond with each other,
and usually, but not always, bonding with thin refractory mortar.
2. Refractory castables:
These are refractory concrete poured in place.
3.Plastic refractories:
These are unburned blocks of refractory in a plastic state. The soft slabs of plastic are piled up
and pounded with a hammer into a monolithic wall, being burned in place when the furnace is lit.
Certain types are referred to as ramming mixes, and these are installed with an air rammer.

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Other types of refractories and uses:
1.Fireclay Brick:
Except when special conditions dictate the use of special materials, fireclay brick are employed.
There are however many applications that call for special materials. Fireclay brick are generally
not suitable for metal melting, slag and fume attack. Not suitable for conditions of severe
abrasion. Burned fireclay shapes are available in several grades of refractoriness as; super duty,
high heat duty, medium duty and low duty. Such fireclay brick contains about 40 percent alumina
and 60 percent silica. Both the stiff mud and dry press processes are used in their production.

2.High Alumina Brick:

For more severe conditions such as in the manufacture of cement, high alumina brick is used in
grades of 50 percent, 60 percent, 70 percent up to 99 percent alumina, or mulite brick of 72
percent alumina. Alumina is resistant to the attack of the many slags and fumes and has higher
strength than fireclay.

3.Silica:
It has been noted that silica is an unusual material, which maintains its strength at high
temperature. Silica brick therefore is used in applications where great strength is necessary, such
as in the arched roofs of metal melting furnaces. It is an acid brick and therefore must be used in
contact with acid slag in metal melting. Silica bricks are rarely cooled below 1200°F. Below this
temperature spalling is almost certain due to a high coefficient of expansion. Silica therefore
cannot be used in intermittently operated furnaces.

4.Graphite:
Because graphite oxidizes readily in the presence of air, graphite brick is used below the hearth
line of metal melting furnaces such as blast furnaces. Graphite is an excellent refractory since it
cannot be spalled (because of high thermal conductivity) and its strength increases with
temperature. If protected from oxidation it may be used in 6000°F. Few refractories are usable
above 3000°F.

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5.Sillicon Carbide:
This versatile material, familiar as an abrasive is also a remarkable refractory, like graphite, it has
a high thermal conductivity and great spall resistance. The thermal conductivity of firebrick is
about 10Btu/in. While that of silicon carbide is about 100Btu/in. Silicon carbide is highly
refractory, with a high strength and a high cost and an outstanding performer under conditions of
abrasion.

6.Zircon and Zirconia:

Zircon is zirconium silicate, zirconia is zirconium oxide. The latter is probably the most photogenic
of the refractories, being a beautiful yellow colour. Zircon is resistant to alkaline fluxes, which are
generally ruinous to refractories, finds its chief applications in glass melting. Both zircon and
zirconia are suitable for the vacuum melting of metals.

Magnesite and chrome ore:

Magnesite brick is magnesium oxide, the brick being a dark brown color. Chrome refractories,
which are of rich green colour and surprisingly heavy, are largely chromium oxide with liberal
amounts of ammonia and iron oxide. Large tonnages of magensite refractories are made from
the magnesium chloride in sea water. The principle products of the sea are fish and firebrick.

These are basic refractories and must be used to resist the attack of basic slags in metal melting.
Actually most slags are basic, especially for steel, copper and nickel; therefore the linings of
melting furnaces are largely magnesite brick (this is not true of aluminum melting). Chrome is
usually employed as a plastic refractory, being then referred to as “chrome ore”. Both materials
have poor hot strength and poor resistance to spalling.

The mortar for magnesite brick is a strange one indeed. For mortar a thin steel plate is used, and
surprisingly, it makes the strongest of all mortars. The magnesite brick are laid with thin steel
plates between them, then the furnace is heated, and the steel oxidizes to ferric oxide, which
combines chemically with the magnesia. After this chemical reaction it is hardly possible to break
the brick joint with anything less than a pneumatic hammer or explosives.

Insulating firebrick:
These are lightweight porous refractories. While an ordinary firebrick may weigh from 6 to 10
pounds, an insulating firebrick may weight 2.5 to 3lb. Most insulating brick is made of fireclay. To
obtain decreased density, fine coke or saw dust is added to the raw mix. The combustible

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additive burns out, producing a large amount of gases, which develops the required porosity in
the firebrick.
Insulating firebrick offers little resistance to abrasion or slag attack. However, they are commonly
employed in “reheat furnaces”, which includes forge furnaces, heat- treating and brazing furnaces
etc. this brick is used simply to save on fuel costs.

A large amount of heat is required to bring an industrial furnace up to temperature, if the furnace
is lined with hard firebrick. Insulating brick has the same specific heat, but weighs only a third as
much, so that only one- third the heat is required for warm-up.

The applications to which materials may be put are best illustrated by refractories. The use of
steel plates with basic firebrick is one such example. Another is the use of ladle brick to line the
holding ladles for molten steel. The molten steel may have a temperature of 2900 ° F or higher
and it would be expected that a highly refractory brick would be used for the ladle lining. On the
contrary, the softening point of the ladle brick may be lower than the temperature of the steel.
The reason for this is, it is impossible to make a liquid – tight brick lining. Even if this were
possible, the brick would probably crack. The molten steel will run into any small openings in the
brick lining and may then melt through the steel ladle. The worst possible accident in a steel mill
is using a low heat duty ladle brick. The skin of such a brick softens and runs, thus forming a
closed glassy surface over the ladle to prevent a breakout. As an extra safeguard, ladle brick are
formulated for a high coefficient of expansion.

ABRASIVES:
An abrasive is a substance that is used for grinding and polishing operations. It should be pure
and have uniform physical properties of hardness, toughness and resistance to be useful in
manufacturing grinding wheels.
Abrasives may be classified in two principle groups: (a) natural and (b) artificial or manufactured.

Natural:
The natural abrasives include sand stone or solid quartz, emery, corundum and diamond.
Sandstone or solid quartz is one of the natural abrasives stones from which grindstones are
shaped. The quartz or cutting agent is relatively soft so that materials harder than quartz cannot
be ground rapidly.

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Emery is a natural aluminum oxide. It contains from 55 to 65 percent alumina, the remainder
consists of iron oxide and other impurities.
Corundum is a natural aluminum oxide also. It contains from 75 to 95 percent aluminum oxide,
the remainder consists of impurities.
Both emery and corundum have a greater hardness and better abrasive action than quartz.
Diamonds of less than gem quality are crushed to produce abrasive grains for making grinding
wheels to grind cemented carbide tools and to make lapping compound.
As a result of the impurities in and lack of uniformity of these natural abrasives, only a very small
percentage of grinding wheels are produced from natural abrasives.

Artificial:
Artificial or manufactured abrasives include chiefly (a) silicon carbide and (b) aluminum oxide.
Silicon carbide (SiC) abrasive is manufactured from 56 parts of silica sand, 34 parts of powdered
coke, 2 parts of salt and 12 parts of saw dust, in a long, rectangular electric furnace of the
resistance type that is built up of loose brick work. Sand furnishes silicon, coke furnishes carbon,
saw dust makes the charge porous, salt helps to fuse it, and gases may escape through the open
joints in the brick work.

There are two types of silicon carbide abrasives: green grit which contains at least 97 percent
silicon carbide, and black grit which contains at least 95 percent silicon carbide. This form is
harder but weaker than the latter.

Silicon carbide follows the diamond in order of hardness, but it is not as tough as aluminum
oxide. It is used for grinding materials of low tensile strength such as cemented carbides, stone
and ceramic materials, grey cast iron, brass, bronze, copper, aluminium vulcanized rubber etc.
this is manufactured under the trade names of carborundum, crystolon, carbolon, electrolon etc.,
and denoted by the letter “S”

Aluminium oxide (Al203) is manufactured by heating mineral bauxite, a hydrated aluminium oxide
clay containing silica, iron oxide, titanium oxide etc.

Aluminium oxide is tough and not easily fractured, so it is better adopted to grinding materials of
high tensile strength, such as most steels, carbon steels, high speed steels, annealed malleable

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iron, wrought iron and tough bronzes. This is manufactured under the trade names of Aloxite.
Alumdum, Borolon, Electrite, Abrasite etc., and denoted by the letter “A”.

Significance of grain size & mesh number Grits:

The grain or girt number indicates in a general way the size of the abrasive grains used in making
a wheel, or the size of the cutting teeth, since grinding is a true cutting operation. Grain size is
denoted by a number indicating the number of meshes per linear inch (25.4mm) of the screen
through which the grains pass when they are graded after crushing.

The following list ranging from very coarse to very fine, includes all the ordinary grain sizes
commonly used in the manufacture of grinding wheels. In case grinding wheels are manufactured
from special grain combinations, the grinding wheel manufacturer may use an additional symbol
appended to the standard grain size number.
Example: 36 – normal standard
36.5 – special grain combination
The size of the abrasive grain required in a grinding wheel depends on the amount of material to
be removed, the finish desired, and the hardness of the material being ground. In general, coarse
wheels are used for fast removal of materials. Fine-grained wheels are used where finish is an
important consideration. Coarse wheels may be used for soft, ductile materials but generally a
fine grain should be used to grind hard, brittle materials.

INERT GASES:
In 1894, the English chemist William Ramsay identified a new element, Argon, as the unreactive
gas remaining after all the nitrogen, oxygen, and other substances in a sample of air were
removed by chemical reactions. Four years later he prepared another unreactive gas by heating
the mineral cleveite. The spectrum of this new gas was similar to certain lines in the spectrum of
the sun. In 1868 these lines had been attributed to an element named helium by astronomers
(Greek Helios, sun).
After his discovery of helium on earth, and finding that it was unreative like argon Ramsay
pursued the idea that a group of elements in the periodic table must be located between the
halogens and the alkali metals. By the fractional distillation of liquid argon prepared form liquid
air, Ramsay separated and identified three more members of the family, neon, krypton and
xenon. Later he also studied the properties of the radioactive member of the family, radon.

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PHYSICAL PROPERTIES:
Some of the important physical properties of the noble gases:
As the VII elements any given property changes in a regular way from one element to the next.
The elements are liquids over very narrow temperature ranges, less than 4°C, for all except
radon. Helium has the lowest melting and boiling point of any element.

CHEMICAL PROPERTIES:
For many years the group VII A elements were referred to as the inert gases, because each
seemed to be completely unreactive chemically. It was a shock and a thrill to the chemical world
when, in 1962, the Canadian chemist Neil Bartlett prepared a stable compound thought to have
the formula XePtF6. The spell of the inert elements was broken. Very shortly other researchers
showed that xenon could react directly with fluorine to form simply binary compounds such as
XeF2, XeF4 and XeF6. The term inert was no longer appropriate; most chemists began to refer to
the family as the noble gases, just as the rather unreactive and chemically loose elements such
as gold and platinum are referred to as the noble metals.

No compounds of the three lightest noble gases are known. However, the three heaviest
elements do combine directly with fluorine. Radon reacts spontaneously with fluorine at room
temperature, whereas xenon requires heating or photochemical initiation. Krypton reacts with
fluorine only when both are subjected to radiation or an electric discharge.

Reasons for inactivity of inert gases.

Electronic configuration of Noble gases

ELEMENT ATOMIC ELECTRONIC CONFIGURATION

He 2 1s2
Ne 10 1s2 2s22p6
Ar 18 1s22s22p63s23p6
Kr 36 1s22s22p63s23p6 3d10 4s2 4p6
Xe 54 1s22s22p6 3s23p6 3d10 4s2 4p6 4d 105s25p6
Rn 86 1s22s22p63s23p6 3d10 4s2 4p6 4d105s25p65d10 5f15 6s26p66

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 As its clear from above, all of them except helium (which has a stable 1s 2 configuration) have on
octet of electrons in their outer shell (ns2 np6 ). The stable electronic configurations of the noble
gases probably restricted the attempts to prepare chemical compounds of these elements. Every
attempt to prepare noble gas compounds of the usual types by the treatment with oxidizing or
reducing agents has met with failure. The following points suggest the inactivity of the noble
gases.

1) Complete pairing of all electrons present.

2) Absence of any bonding orbital.
3) Existence of these atoms in the stable energy states.
4) Very high ionization potential.
5) Negligible electron affinities.

Since they did not seem to enter into chemical reaction. Therefore, these gases are commonly
known as noble gases, which indicate that they react with a few elements. The noble gases form
compounds.

COMPOUNDS OF THE NOBLE GASES

Xenon compounds:
About 200 xenon compounds are known including halides (mostly fluorides), oxides, and oxy
fluorides, fluorosulfates, xenate perxenate salts and addition compounds with Lewis acids and
bases.

The fluorides Xef2, Xef4 and Xef6 are obtained by reacting xenon with increasing amounts of
fluorine. In these compound, xenon has the even oxidation number +2, +4 and +6,which are
typical of most xenon compounds. These fluorides are the starting materials for the synthesis of
the other xenon compounds. The compounds in which an oxygen atom replace two fluorine
atoms in the hexafluorides are known: XeOF4, XeO2F2 and XeO3. The trioxide XeO3 insoluble in
water solution, but the dry white solid is explosive and dangerously sensitive to detonation, as
many accidental laboratory explosions have demonstrated.

Although xenon oxyfluorides aren’t known xenon can have a + 8 oxidation state. Two
oxyfluorides derivates, XeO3F4 and XeO3F2 as well as the tetroxide XeO4 are known. Important

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salts are sodium xenate, NaH+4 XeO4, and sodium perxenate, Na4 XeO6. The perxenate are
among the most powerful oxidizing agents known.
Two of the most interesting xenon compounds are the fluroxenates CsXeF 7 and CsXeF8. These
compounds have eight and nine electron pairs respectively, in the valence shell of xenon. The
octafluoroxenates CS2XeF8 and Rb2XeF8 are most stable xenon compounds known. They can be
heated to 400 deg. cen. without decomposition.

KRYPTON AND RADON COMPOUNDS:

The only product obtained when krypton reacts with fluorine is the difluoride KrF2. No
oxidation states other than +2 are known of about a dozen known krypton compounds, all are
complex salts derived from KrF2.
One example of formation of such a salt is
KrF3 + SbF5………………KrF+ +SbF6 --
Because radon is radioactive and has short half-life of four days, its chemistry is difficult to study.
However, the existence of both volatile and non-volatile radon fluorides has been demonstrated.

USES OF THE NOBLE GASES:

The forgoing discussion of the chemical reactions of the noble gases should not blind us to the
fact that the most important property of these elements is their extreme resistance to any
chemical combination. Most of the present uses of gases are related to their chemical inactivity.

Helium is found in fairly high concentrations in natural gases, largely from wells in Kansas and
Texas. Large amounts of helium are used in the fuel pressure systems for rockets, in unreactive
atmospheres for welding, and in heat transfer atmosphere research. With evaporation liquid
helium as a coolant, temperature as low as a few micro degrees Kelvin have been reported.
Helium the least dense of all elements except hydrogen is preferred for filling metrological
balloons or dirigibles because, unlike hydrogen, it is not combustible. It is also used as a gas for
supersonic wind tunnels.

Another interesting use of helium is in 80 percent helium, 20 percent oxygen mixture that is
substituted for air for breathing by divers and others who work under high pressures. Too long an
exposure to compressed air produces nitrogen narcosis, one effect of which is hallucinations
known to divers as “rapture of the depths”. Helium was originally proposed as a substitute for
nitrogen because it is less soluble in blood than in nitrogen. As divers return to atmospheric

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pressure, the dissolution of nitrogen gas forms tiny bubbles of gas in the blood, which causes the
painful and dangerous “bends”.

Argon, which makes up about 1 percent of the atmosphere, has been steadily increasing in
industrial importance. It can be used interchangeably with helium in many processes. Welding of
titanium and other exotic metals in aircraft and rocket construction requires inert atmosphere, and
argon serves this purpose. It is also used in filling incandescent light bulbs because it does not
react with the white – hot tungsten wire as oxygen or nitrogen does.

Neon is used to make high – voltage indicators, lightening arresters and television tubes. It is
also used in making gas lasers. Liquid neon is an economical low temperature refrigerant. It is
most commonly used in neon advertising signs.

Krypton is used along with argons a low – pressure filler for fluorescent lights. It is also used in
photographic flash lamps for high – speed photography. One of its sharp spectral lines is used as
the standard length for the meter.

Xenon is used in the manufacture of electron tubes, stroboscopic lamps, and bactericidal lamps.
It is used in the atomic energy field in bubble chambers and probes. One of xenon’s synthetically
produced isotopes, xenon – 133, has useful applications as a radioisotope.

THERMOCHEMISTRY:
When the heat change associated with a chemical reaction is indicated with an equation,
the complete statement is referred to as a thermo chemical equation. Because the physical state
is important when energy changes are measured and letters in parenthesis, s, l and g, specify the
solid, liquid and gaseous state respectively.

C(s) + O2 (g) -------- CO2 (g) 393.52 KJ evolved (1)

N2 (g) + 2 O2 (g) -------- 2N O2 (g) 66.4 KJ absorbed (2)
N2 (g) + 1/2O2 (g) -------- HO2 (l) 285.63 KJ evolved (3)

Such equations are interpreted in terms of molar quantities.

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Equation (1) shows that when 1 mole (12.0g) of solid carbon units with 1 mole (32.0g) of gaseous
oxygen to form 1 mole (44.0g) of gaseous carbon – di – oxide, 393.52 KJ of heat is liberated to
the surroundings.

In equation (2), when 1 mole (28.0g) of gaseous nitrogen reacts with 2 moles (64.0g) of gaseous
oxygen to produce 2 moles (92.0g) of gaseous. Nitrogen – di – oxide, 66.4 KJ of heat is absorbed
from the surroundings.

Equation (3) illustrates the use of fractional coefficients, which are often used in equations that
are to be interpreted in terms of moles rather than molecules: 1 mole (2.0g) of gaseous hydrogen
units with 1/2 mole (16.0g) of gaseous oxygen to form 1 mole (18.0g) of liquid water and to
liberate 285.83 kJ

Recall that a reaction that evolves heat is an exothermic reaction, and a reaction that absorbs
heat is endothermic reaction. In discussing energy changes during chemical reaction, the chemist
finds it convenient to think enthalpy, H (Greek enthalpy in to warm in). The heat change in a
chemical reaction is called the enthalpy change H.

Strictly, the term enthalpy change refers to the heat change energy is to be precisely specified,
the initial and final conditions of pressure and temperature must be known.

Reaction (1) is analyzed. Because heat is given off in this reaction, it is evident that the product,
CO2 (g), has a smaller heat content, or enthalpy, than the reactants, C(s) plus O 2 (g). Assigning a
minus sign to the value of H shows the decrease in enthalpy:
C(s) + O2 (g) -------- CO2 H = -393.52 KJ
Consider also reaction (3), the formation of water by reaction of hydrogen and Oxygen:
H2 (g) + ½ O2(g) -------- H2O (l) H = -285.83 KJ
OR
2H2(g) + O2(g) -------- 2H2O(l) H = -571.66 KJ
If we assume that each of the three substances H 2 (g), H2O(l) has its own characteristic heat
content, or enthalpy, H, then for this exothermic reaction the sum of the enthalpy of water.

Utilizing the sign meaning “the sum of all” or “the summation of” chemists have arbitrarily defined
the change in enthalpy, H, of a reaction as

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 H = H products - H reactants

When the enthalpy of the reactants is greater than that of the products, a reaction is exothermic.
Conversely, if the enthalpy of the products is greater than that of the reactants, of nitrogen di
oxide by the reaction of nitrogen with oxygen the enthalpy of 2 moles of O2. Therefore there is an
overall increase in enthalpy and H is positive:

N2 + 2 O2 (g) ------ 2 NO2 (g) H= +66.4 KJ

The decomposition of water in to Hydrogen and oxygen is also endothermic:

H2O (l) ------ H2 (g) + ½ O2 (g) H = +285.83 kJ

Comparing this endothermic reaction with the corresponding reverse reaction, reaction (3), we
can make the following general statements. If a reaction is exothermic, the reverse reaction is
endothermic. The heat liberated in an exothermic reaction equals the heat absorbed in the
reverse, endothermic reaction.

STANDARD ENTHALPIES:
Standard states the enthalpy changes for chemical reactions depend upon the states of the
substances involved in the formation of carbon dioxide by the combustion of carbon, the ∆H
value given is for the reactant solid carbon in the form of graphite. A different ∆H value is
obtained if the solid carbon is in the form of diamond. In the formation of water, the ∆H of reaction
of –285.83 kJ is for the product water in the liquid state. The ∆H value is -241.82 kJ, if the water
produced is in the gaseous state.

F.D.Rossini, an outstanding thermo chemist who has worked at the National Bureau of
standards, has said that “. The aim of thermo chemistry is to provide the experimental data for
compiling a table of values from may be calculated the heat of every possible chemical. “In the
tabulation of values of H for achieving this goal, it is the accepted practice to specify that the
heats of reactions refer to reactions with the elements and compounds in certain standard states.
For a solid or liquid, the standard state is the pure substance at 1 atm pressure; for a gas, it is the
hypothetical ideal gas at 1 atm partial pressure.

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The symbol Hr deg. Refers to the H for a reaction in which each reactant and product is in its
standard state at a specified reference temperature. Although Hr deg. may be determined at any
temperature, unless specified otherwise, the common reference temperature of 25 deg.cen. is
assumed in this text. The values of Hr deg. are for the balanced equation as written, assuming
molar quantities are involved. For example in the following reaction (at 25 deg.cen).

H2(g) +1/2 02 (g)---------------H2O (l) Hr deg.= 285.83KJ.

The Hr deg value is per 1 mole of H2 (g) or ½ mole of O2 (g) reactants, or per 1 mole of H 2O (l)
product.
Hess ‘s laws in 1840 the Swiss Russian chemist G.H Hess states on the most useful
generalization of thermo chemistry. A modern version of Hess’s law is for a given overall
reaction, the change in enthalpy always the same, whether the reaction is performed directly or
whether it takes place indirectly and in different steps.

As an example of Hess’s law consider the exothermic reaction between sulphur and oxygen to
produce sulphur dioxide, followed by the exothermic reaction between sulphur dioxide and more
oxygen to produce sulphur trioxide.
S (s) + O2 (g) ------ SO2 (g) Hr deg.= -296.83KJ ------------1
SO2 (g) +1/2 O2 (g) ---- SO3 (g) Hr deg.= -98.9 KJ -----------2

If these two steps are considered to take place as a simple one step overall reaction that heat
evolved is the sum of the two steps
S (s) + ½ O2 (g) --------> SO3 (g) Hr deg.= -393.73KJ -------3

One useful consequence of Hess’s law is that thermo chemical equation can be added or
subtracted to produce data that are difficult to determine experimentally. For example carbon and
carbon monoxide are important commercial fuels; therefore it is of interest to compare the
amount of heat liberated when carbon is burned to carbon dioxide with the amount of heat
liberated when carbon is burned to carbon monoxide. The latter enthalpy change or heat of
reaction is difficult to determine, because carbon monoxide is burned more readily than carbon.
Consequently when we burn carbon in the theoretical amount of oxygen needed to form carbon
monoxide we actually get a mixture of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and unburned carbon
However we can calculate the enthalpy changes for the two reactions that are easily carried out.
These are the combustion of carbon to carbon dioxide and of carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide

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 C(s) + O2 (g) -------- CO2 (g) ------------4
CO (g)+1/2O2 (g)-----CO2 (g) ----------5

PETROLEUM AND PETROLEUM PRODUCTS:

The organic natural resources deposited in the earth’s crusts may be solid, liquid or gas –
coal, petroleum, or natural gas. Each of these three materials is a mixture of large numbers of
hydrocarbons. Many specific hydrocarbons, such as the gas methane, may be found in all
three types of deposits

In particular, some petroleum hydrocarbons are always found in natural gas deposits, and
natural gas is always found in petroleum. The basic difference between natural gas and
petroleum is simply that petroleum has a greater content of liquid hydrocarbons.

The word petroleum means rock oil, signifying oil found in sedimentary rock deposits. Rock
oil became an industrial material in the 1860’s the decade that gave us cheap steel, paper
from wood, and the decimation of the whale and as it became less available due to scarcity of
whales, the less popular coal oil had to be substituted. Coal oil was kerosene made from
coal. Kerosene is a constituent of petroleum, and speculation about the potential use of rock
oil for illumination produced the first oil industry north of Pittsburgh and in southern Ontario
about 1860. The kerosene fraction was distilled from petroleum and sold, while the gasoline,
asphalt, and natural gas fractions, having no market, were discarded. A truly gigantic market
for gasoline and asphalt was born. This was an ideal market configuration for petroleum for
the “Light ends” or light constituents of the crude petroleum could be used in & gasoline, and
the heavy ends in asphalt.

PETROLEUM DEPOSITS:
Petroleum and natural gas are products of the organic remains of plant and animal life,
generally deposited in marine sediments. It is believed that the geological formation of
petroleum is not dependent on high pressure or temperature. Vanadium and nickel occur in
limited amounts in crude oil in compounds called porphyries, which are the geological
remains of plant chlorophyll, sulphur is always present in sedimentary oils and natural gas. It
reacts slowly with the oil constituents to form hydrogen sulphide. If sulphur compounds are
present in considerable amounts, the deposits are referred to as “sour crude’s” “sour gas”.
Much sulphur production is derived from these deposits. Finally, most petroleum deposits
also contain both salt and water.

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The analysis of all crude oils appears to correspond approximately with the following:
Carbon 83.9-86.8%
Hydrogen 11.4-15.0%
Sulphur 0.06-2.0%
Nitrogen 0.11-1.70%

However the mixture of chemical compounds may vary greatly form one well to another.
Some deposits contain much gas and light oil compounds, others are heavy asphalted. The
lighter crudes are preferred because of the higher content of light gasoline fractions. Most of
the nitrogen and sulphur is found in the heavier constituents of the crude, which are therefore
more likely to be sour.
The weight of crude oils in this table is expressed as specific gravity referred to water as 1.0.
The oil industry uses also the API (American Petroleum Institute) is related to specific gravity
by the following formula.
API gravity, degrees = 151.5/sp.gr =131.5
Thus water has an API gravity of 10. Gasoline has an API gravity of 52 to 70, SAE#10 lube oil
22 to 33. Crude oil API gravities may range from 4 (unpumpable at 70 deg. F) to 85

TYPICAL CRUDES FROM VARIOUS OIL FIELDS:

Area Specific Gravity Asphalt Gasoline Kerosene Sulfur
Pennsylvania 0.80-0.90 30-40% 15% 0.1% 4%
Gulf coast 0.86 5 8 0.15 4
California 0.96 11 10 3.8 50
Leduc, Alberta 0.82 35 10 0.4 7
Venezuela 0.95 7 19 2.2 55
Russia (Urals) 0.95 25 0 5.0 55
Kuwait 0.87 27 17 2.5 25

Whether the well is an oil well or a gas well, the mixture that reaches the wellhead consists
of gas, oil, and water. These components must be separated. The line from the Christmas
tree (i.e., the group of wellhead valves, which doesn’t resemble a Christmas tree) runs to a

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gas and oil separator. The separator is a vertical cylinder, which allows the gas to rise out of
the oil for collection.

The top line out of the separator removes the gas; the bottom line removes the oil. If water
also present, it is also present, it is allowed to separate out in a field storage tank by gravity.
Raw natural gas is collected in a gas conservation plant for processing. Hydrogen sulfide is
removed by contact with ethanolamine and the useful gas constituents separated by
distillation process in three parts. One part is dry gas, methane with some ethane, nitrogen
and carbon dioxide, which is sold as natural gas for heating. Liquefied petroleum gas or LPG
is the second part, consisting or propane or butane and is sold as bottled fuel. Natural
gasoline or casing head gasoline is removed as the third part and converted to motor
gasoline at an oil refinery.
Almost all oil and gas is transported, either by tanker or “big – inch” pipelines from the
producing field to the market areas.

THE REFINING OF PETROLEUM:

Crude petroleum may sometimes be burned as bunker fuel in ship boilers, but in general it
cannot be used as commercial product. It is therefore pumped by pipeline to oil refineries for
conversion into fuels, lube oil, asphalts, petroleum coke, and chemical intermediates, the
latter being further converted in chemical plants.

Crude petroleum represents a mixture of a wide range of oil and gas components, which
differ from well to well. These must be converted into products of fixed characteristics and
standard quality, regardless of variation in characteristics of the crude oil delivered from the
pipeline. The petroleum product is in greatest demand and of greatest profit is gasoline,
though the gasoline fractions in the crude may be small and the heavy asphalted fractions are
large.

PETROLEUM PRODUCTS
FRACTION BOILING RANGE, F ULTIMATE USE
Methane -259.5 Natural gas

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Ethane -128 Ethylene
Propane -44 Liq.petroleum gas
Butane +11 to 31 Motor
Gasoline, rubber etc. 30-300 Motor gasoline
Light naphtha 300-400 Motor & gas turbine
Heavy naphtha
Fuels 400-500 Gas turbine fuel
Kerosene, C- C 400-550 Gas turbine fuel
Stove oil
Fuel 400-600 Furnace and diesel
Light gas oil, C - 600-800 Gasoline& fuel oil
Heavy gas oil, C- 800-1100 Gasoline & fuel oil
Vaccum gas oil, C –oil
Pitch 1100+ Asphalt

The first refinery operation is the separation of the crude into various ‘cuts’, using distillation
methods. For flexibility of operation, two other basic refinery processes are needed. First, there
must be a processor for “cracking” or breaking up the large molecules. The first process is called
cracking, and the second polymerization. These processes will provides the basic operational
flexibility to meet changes in market demand for petroleum products and variations in the type of
crude oil received from the pipeline. Other refinery processor will be incorporated with these
either to improve product quality or to produce special products such as greases, coke, or
chemical intermediates

DISTILLATION

Distillation is the first step in reducing the multitude of hydrocarbons in petroleum to usable
products. After the crude oil is separated into distilled fractions, these fractions can be refined or
converted.
The separation of liquid mixtures by fractional distillation is possible because of differences in
boiling points, a difference put to use by Allied soldiers in Italy in 1943, who did not like Chianti
wine and therefore fractionally distilled it into alcohol and water. The several fractions into which
petroleum is usually converted and their boiling ranges are given below.

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The fractions include heavy gas oil are separated by distillation at atmospheric pressure. The
heavier fractions must be distilled under vacuum conditions, using a pressure of about 50-100
torr (1 torr=1mm mercury pressure). At atmospheric pressure distillation temperatures would be
so high that there would be damage to the product, including hydrocarbon chemicals may be
separated from one another by distillation only if they are very light ends from C 1 to C4. In the
heavier fractions there are too many compounds with identical boiling points.
Petrochemicals are manufactured from light ends such as ethane and butane, while gasoline is
make from both the lighter fractions and the heavier gas oils.

Catalytic cracking:
Cracking is the process by which fraction boiling in the gasoline or light naphtha ranges are
produced from heavier fractions. The larger molecules are divided into fragments of lower
molecular weight basically by means of heat, but with the assistances of pressure and catalysts.

A catalyst is a material that promotes a chemical reaction without being consumed in the
reaction. Without the catalyst, excessive amount of methane and ethane are produced by
cracking, that is, the cracking occurs too close to the ends of the chain of carbon atoms.

Petroleum hydrocarbons are cracked at temperatures above 650 deg. F. Higher temperature is
required to crack larger molecules. The resulting cracked product is a mixture with much the
same boiling range as the crude from which it is made, containing fractions from gases to tar and
coke. But the cracked material will contain perhaps twice as much material boiling in the gasoline
range, that is pentane, C5H10 heavier.

The cracked material is not suitable for kerosene, lubricating oils, waxes, or asphalts. These
products therefore are not cracked; gasoline, diesel fuel and furnace oil are cracked. The cracked
hydrocarbons are more olefinic than the original crude hydrocarbons. If a C 12 (dodecane) paraffin
is cracked into two parts. One part will probably be hexane paraffin and the other a hexane olefin.
Besides olefins, the cracked material will contain aromatics.

All these non- paraffin components improve the octane rating of the cracked product. Straight-run
distillate gasoline made of the pentane, hexane, heptane, octane, etc. of crude oil cannot be
burned in the modern automobile though they were in the past.

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A special type of cracking process used to upgrade the quality of gasoline is called reforming.
Reforming produces greater amounts of naphthencis and aromatics, converting hexane, for
example into benzene. The products of the reforming process may also be converted into
petrochemicals.

POLYMERIZATION:
Cracking and reforming process produce large amounts of gaseous hydrocarbons. The light ends
may be put through a poly unit to produce polymer gasoline. This operation is coursing the
reverse of cracking.

SPECIAL REFINERY PRODUCTS:

Lubricating oils must meet a wide range of service conditions and consequently a wide variety of
these oils must be produced. Vegetable oils and synthetic oils fill certain special needs, but by
and large petroleum oils are the only materials with the necessary properties and low cost for
lubrication applications.

The primary requirements for lube oil are lubricity and resistance to oxidation. Special
requirements also apply however. In particular, the viscosity must match the application. A low
viscosity is necessary for the more severe demands of a worm gear speed reducer. In the case
of a fluid power hydraulic system, a low-pressure system will be filled with a low viscosity oil,
perhaps SAE#10, to reduce the horsepower requirements of the pump. But a high-pressure
hydraulic system will require a higher viscosity to reduce leakage through the valves of the
system. Refrigeration equipment requires oil suited to low temperature operation and wax free,
while a steam turbine requires high temperature oil, which contains antioxidants.

Cutting and drawing lubricants are formulated for thread cutting. Two severe requirements are
imposed on such lubricants:
1.The maintenance of lubricating film between the tool or die and the work, under pressures that
may often exceed 100000 psi.
2.Dissipation of the heat of machining or forming.
Many of these forming lubricants are water-soluble oils or water emulsions.

Greases:
These are lubricating oils thickened by fatty acid soaps. The soap holds the oil to the surface
requiring lubrication and is dispersed in the oil in the form of fibers too small to be distinguished

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under an optical microscope. Soaps are produced by chemical combination of a metal hydroxide
with a fat or a fatty acid. The chief hydroxides used in grease manufacture are those of calcium,
sodium, lithium and barium. The type of fat will influence the properties of the grease. Calcium
grease is limited to temperatures. Barium and lithium greases are suitable for both high and low
temperatures and are usually designated as multi purpose greases.

Waxes:
Petroleum waxes are used in the packaging industry for waxed paper and waxed containers. A
heavily waxed paper may contain as much as 35 percent waxes by weight.

Asphalts:
Petroleum asphalts are used in asphalt concretes for paying and for roofing, paints, varnishes
and insulating compositions.

Insulating oils serve for insulation purposes in transformers, X-ray tubes, and oil-filled cables,
such oils must have a high flash point and low vapour pressure with high di-electric strength.

Petroleum coke is the residue from the destructive distillation of petroleum and may be found in
car engines that “carbon up”. Petroleum coke is not pure carbon, but contains up to 16% of
volatile petroleum compounds, and is only in appearance. It is sometimes used as fuel in the
eastern states and Minnesota, though it requires special furnace designs and has a very high
ignition temperature of over 1000 deg. F. Its chief use however is in the manufacture of carbon
electrodes for aluminum refining and other such metallurgical processes.

For blast furnace operation, distilling coal in coke ovens makes coke. Coke is made more
cheaply than petroleum coke. But coal contains much sulphur, which is present in coke-oven
coke, since no process is in use to remove sulphur from coal or coke. On the other hand it is
standard practice to desulphurise petroleum, and petroleum coke thus has almost no sulphur
content.

PAINTS AND OTHER SURFACE COATINGS:

Protective coatings function by virtue of the inter position of a continuous physical barrier
between the coated surface and its environment. Such coating barrier must be chemically inert to
the environment, under particular conditions of temperature and pressure and prevent the
penetration of the environment to the base material, which they protect. Besides, corrosion

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protection and decoration, protective coatings some times impart to the protected surface specific
mechanical and physical properties such as wear resistance, hardness, electrical properties,
oxidation resistance and thermal insulating properties.

TYPES OF PROTECTIVE COATINGS (or) CLASIFICATION OF

SURFACE COATING:
In order to protect metals from corrosion effects, it is possible to cover their surfaces in
several ways. The main types of protective metal coatings may be classified as follows:
1. Metallic coatings and metal cladding;
2. Chemical conversion coatings;
3. Organic coatings;
4. Organic linings and
5. Ceramic protective material.

METALLIC COATINGS AND METAL CLADDING:

Metallic coatings can be divided into:

 Anodic coatings
 Cathodic coatings
Anodic coatings are produced from coating metals, which are anodic to the base metal (i.e.,
which is to be protected). For example, coating of Zn, Al and Cd on steel is anodic, because their
electrode potentials are higher than that of the base metal, iron. If any pores, breaks or
discontinuities occur in such anodic coatings, a galvanic cell is formed between the coating metal
and exposed part of base metal, e.g., in case of galvanized steel, between Zn and the exposed
iron. Zinc, being anodic to iron, will dissolve anodically; whereas the iron, being cathodic, will be
protected. Thus, no attack on the iron occurs until practically all the zinc has first corroded in the
vicinity of the exposed iron spot. So, zinc coating protects iron ‘sacrificially’.

Cathodic coatings are obtained by coating a more noble metal (i.e., having lower electrode
potential) than the base metal. They protect the base metal, because they have higher corrosion
resistance than the base metal. Cathode coatings provide effective protection to the base metal
only when they are completely continuous and free from pores, breaks or discontinuities. If such
coatings are punctured, much more corrosion damages can be done to the base metal than to
metal without it.

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Galvanizing is the process of coating iron or steel sheets with a thin coat of zinc to prevent them
from rusting. The process is carried out as follows: The iron or steel article (e.g., sheet, pipe and
wire) is first cleaned by pickling with dilute H 2SO4 solution for 15 – 20 minutes at 60 – 90 deg.C
This treatment also removes any scale, rust (oxide layer) and impurities.

The article is then washed well and dried. It is then dipped in a bath of molten zinc maintained at
425 – 430 °C. The surface of the bath is kept covered with a flux (ammonium chloride) to prevent
oxide formation. When the article is taken out, it is found to have been coated with a thin layer of
zinc. It is then passed through a pair of hot rollers. This process removes any superfluous
(excess) of zinc and produces a thin film of uniform thickness. Then, it is annealed at temperature
of 650 °C and finally cooled slowly.

Metal cladding is the process by which a dense, homogeneous layer of coating metal is bonded
firmly and permanently to the base metal on one or both sides. The choice of cladding material
will depend on the corrosion resistance required for any particular environment. Nearly all exist in
corrosion resisting metal (like nickel, copper lead, silver, platinum, etc) and alloys (like stainless
steel, nickel alloys, copper alloys, lead, etc.) can be used as cladding material. Among the base
metal on which cladding is done are mild steel, aluminum, copper, nickel and their alloys.

Generally, cladding is accomplished by arranging thin sheets of the coating metal and the base
metal sheet in the form of a sandwich, which are then passed through rollers under the action of
heat and pressure. Very wide use is made in the aircraft industry of ‘alclad’ sheeting, in which a
plate of duralumin is sandwiched between two layers of 99.5% pure aluminum.

Electroplating or electro-deposition is the process by which the coating metal is deposited on the
base metal by passing a direct current through an electrolytic solution containing the soluble salt
of the coating metal.

Electroplating (or electro-deposition) is probably the most important and most frequently applied
industrial method of producing metallic coatings. The film so produced is quite uniform, with little
or few pinholes per unit area. The number of pinholes decreases as the thickness of the deposit
increases. It consists of depositing a thin layer of a superior metal (or alloy) over an inferior (or
base) one by passing a direct current (D.C) through an electrolytic solution, containing the metal

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ions to be deposited. The base metal to be plated is, usually, made the cathode of the electrolytic
cell; whereas the anode is either made of the coating metal itself or an inert material of good
electrical conductivity like graphite.

Metal spraying or metalized coatings

In this process, the coating metal in the molten state (from a spraying gun) is sprayed on the
roughened surface. The sprayed coatings are continuous, but somewhat porous. Consequently,
a sealer-oil (or paint) is applied on such coating to provide a smooth surface. The process offers
certain advantages over the other methods due its.
(I) Greater speed of working
(II) Applicability to large surfaces and
(III) Case of application, even of thick coatings to restricted areas.

CHEMICAL CONVERSION COATINGS:

Chemical conversion coatings are inorganic surface barriers, produced by chemical or electro-
chemical reactions brought at the surface of the base metal. Such coatings are particularly used
as an excellent base for paints, oil and enamels.

Phosphate coatings are produced by the chemical reaction of base metal with aqueous solution
of phosphoric acid and phosphate. The phosphates, generally, used are of iron, manganese
and zinc along with various accelerators (like copper salts) Accelerators are used to enhance
the rate of otherwise slow reactions. Such coatings are applied frequently to iron, steel and
zinc to a lesser extent on aluminum, cadmium and tin. The chemical reactions between the
phosphate solution and the base metal, results in the formations of a surface film consisting of
crystalline zinc-iron or manganese-iron phosphates.

Phosphate coatings are, usually applied by either immersion or spraying or brushing. Such
coatings do not offer complete resistance to atmospheric corrosion and are principally used as
an adherent base primer-coat for paint, lacquers, oils, etc.
Phosphate coatings however, impair the welding strength.

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ORGANIC COATINGS:
Organic coatings are inert organic barriers (like paints, varnishes, lacquers and enamels) applied
on metallic surfaces and other constructional materials for both corrosion protection and
decoration. The protective value of such coatings depends on.
(I) Its chemical inertness to the corrosive environments.
(II) Good surface adhesion,
(III) Impermeability to water, salts and gases
(IV) The proper application method

For continuous and uniform organic coatings, the impermeability depends directly on its
thickness. Low thickness coatings contain pinholes, discontinuities, particularly over the sharp
edges, projections, welds, crevices and other irregularities, normally present on surfaces.
Moreover, there is always possibility of an abrasive and erosive action, which may more easily
destroy the continuity of a thin film. So the choice of the proper thickness must, therefore it
should be decided by taking into account all factors encountered in service condition. Organic
coatings are quite effective only against atmospheric corrosion.

PAINT:
Paint is a mechanical dispersion mixture of one or more pigments in a vehicle. The ‘vehicles’
here is a liquid, consisting of a non-volatile film- forming material, drying oil and a high volatile
solvent, thinner. When paint is applied to a metal surface (usually by brushing or spraying), the
thinner evaporates; while the drying oil slowly oxidizes forming a dry pigmented-film.

CONSTITUENTS OF PAINT:
A pigment is a solid substance, which is an essential constituent of paint. Its functions are to:
(i) Provides capacity to paint.
(ii) Provide strength to paint.
(iii) Provide desired colour to paint.
(iv) Give aesthetical appeal (i.e., pleasing to look at) to the paint film.
(v) Give protection to the paint film by reflecting harmful ultraviolet light.
(vi) Provide resistance to paint film against abrasion/wear.
(vii) Improve the impermeability of paint film to moisture.

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 (viii) Increase whether – resistance of the film.

Pigments used are whites (such as white lead, zinc oxide, litho phone, titanium oxide) or colored

(i) Red-red lead, ferric oxide, Venetian red, chrome red.

(ii) Green-chromium oxide.
(iii) Blue-Prussian blue.
(iv) Black-Carbon black.
(v) Brown-brown umbrae.

Characteristics of good pigments:

Good pigments should be:

(i) Opaque
(ii) Chemically inert so that paint film has stability and longer life
(iii) Non-toxic so that there is no bad effect on the health of painter as well as inhabitants,
(iv) Freely mixable with film-forming constituent, oil.
(v) Cheap.

Vehicle or drying oils are film-forming constituents of the paint. These are glyceryl esters of high
molecular weight fatty acids, generally, present in animal and vegetable oils. The main acids
forming glycerides in oils are palmtic acid (C 15H31COOH), oleic acid (C17H33COOH) linoeic acid
(C17H31COOH) and linolenic acid (C17H22COOH).

THINNERS:
Important functions of a thinner are to:
(i) Reduce the viscosity of the paint to suitable consistency so that it can easily be
handled and applied.
(ii) Dissolve vehicle and the additives in the vehicle.
(iii) Suspend the pigments.
(iv) Increase the penetration power of the vehicle.
(v) Increase the elasticity of the paint film.
(vi) Help the drying of the paint film, as it evaporates.

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Common thinners used are turpentine (produced by the distillation of resinous exudation of some
kind of pine tress), mineral spirits (from petroleum), benzene, dipentene, naphtha, tuluol, xylol,
kerosene, mentholated naphthalene, etc

Driers are oxygen-carrier catalyst. They accelerate the drying of the oil-film through oxidation,
polymerization and condensation. Thus, their main function is to improve the drying quality of the
oil-film.

The most effective driers are resonates, linoleates, tungstates and naphthanates of Co, Mn, Pb
and Zn.

Extenders or fillers are low refractive indices materials, generally of white colour added to:
(i) Reduced the cost.
(ii) Increase durability of the paint.
(iii) Provide negligible covering power to the paint.
(iv) Help to reduce the cracking of dry paint and sometimes help to keep the pigments in
suspension.
(v) Serve to fill voids in the film.
(vi) Increase random arrangement of pigment particles.
(vii) Act as carriers for the pigment colour.

Important extenders used are barites (BaSO4), talc, asbestos, ground silica, gypsum, ground
mica, slate powder, china clay, calcium carbonate (CaCO 3), magnesium silicate, diatomite clay,
calcium sulphate, etc.

PLASTICIZERS:
Sometimes, plasticizers are incorporated in the paint;
(i) To provide elasticity to the film.
(ii) To minimize it’s cracking.
Common plasticizers used are tricresyl phosphate, triphenyl phosphate, tributyl naphthalate, and
diamyl naphthalate and dibutyl tartarate.

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VARNISHES:
Varnish is a homogeneous colloidal dispersion-solution of natural or synthetic resins in oils or
thinners or both, it is used as a protective and decorative coating of suitable surfaces and it dries
by evaporation, oxidation and polymerization of its constituents, leaving behind a hard,
transparent, glossy, lustrous and durable film. There are two main types of varnishes, namely.

Oil varnishes (or oleo resinous varnishes) are homogeneous solutions of one or more natural or
synthetic resins in a drying oil and a volatile solvent.

The presence of oil reduces the natural brittleness of the pure resin film. This type of varnish
dries up by the evaporation of the volatile solvent, followed by oxidation and polymerization of the
drying oil. Consequently, such varnishes take comparatively longer period (about 24 hours) for
drying, but the film produced is hard, quite lustrous and durable. An example is copal varnish
(prepared by dissolving copal in linseed oil and mixing a quantity of turpentine). They are used for
exterior as well as interior works.

Spirit varnishes contain a resin dissolved in a completely volatile solvent. Such a varnish dries by
the evaporation of the solvent. Spirit varnish dries quite rapidly, but leaves behind a film, which is
brittle, and, so, has a tendency to crack or peel off. Moreover, the film is easily affected by
weathering. An example is spirit varnish (a solution shellac in alcohol). Such varnishes are used,
usually, for polishing wooden furniture.

ENVIROMENTAL POLLUTION:
Our environment is a complex and dynamic system in which all forms of life are
interdependent and inter –connected it is something like a huge fabric engulfing the whole earth
in which various non stop self –generating cycles are going on .For example green plants by their
photosynthetic activity, consume carbon dioxide and provide oxygen to man and other animals.
Plants and microorganisms provide pure water in lakes and rivers. Biological processes that have
gone in the soils for thousand years provide coal petroleum, food etc, without which our life itself

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would virtually come to standstill. However, man in his quest for comfort wealth and power, has
been ignoring Nature’s law and broken out of the circle in the process of achieving those. Man
has been constantly changing the basic characteristics of his environment by;

(i) Removing some of its essential components, e.g oxygen, and

(ii) Adding on some undesirable component, e.g. oxides of nitrogen, sulphur oxides,
carbon monoxide, etc.
These adverse type of changes caused by the misdeeds of man are Called “Environmental
pollution”. Thus, pollution may be defined as the excessive discharge or addition of undesirable
substances or unwanted foreign matters into the environment, thereby adversely altering the
natural quality of the environment and causing damage to human, plants or animal life or it may
unreasonably interfere with the comfortable enjoyments of life or the conduct of business. The
term environment includes the air water and land. It also includes buildings, landscape, oceans,
open space parts, vehicles and noise pollution may also be defined as “unwanted undesirable
foreign matter added to environment

CAUSES OF POLLUTION:
Man has befouled his own environment by
(i) Uncontrolled growth in his number, i.e. tremendous increase in man’s population
(ii) Rapid industrialization
(iii) Rapid urbanization
(iv) Unscrupulous exploitation of nature, e.g. cutting tree
Beside man himself, natural phenomena like
(a) Radioactivity.
(b) Volcanic eruptions.
(c) Strong winds.
(d) Forest fires, minerals
(e) Sands also cause pollution.
The problem of pollution has emerged into a growing threat to the human life. To
understand the magnitude of the pollution problem; it is appropriate to study the
subject under three heads, namely,
(i) Air pollution
(iii) Water pollution and

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 (iv) Soil or land pollution. Beside these, “sound pollution” is also growing rapidly, due
to tremendously increasing mechanized transportation.

AIR POLLUTION:
The atmosphere is a layer of air that surrounds the earth is about 150 km thick. However,
more than half of its total weight is concentrated in the troposphere, which is just up to 6.4km
above the earth. The upper portion is called the stratosphere. The stratosphere has clouds of
water vapour and there is a considerable movement of air, due to temperature variations. The
air pollution concerns mainly the state of the troposphere.

TYPES OF AIR POLLUTION:

On the basis of physical states there are 4 major groups of air pollutions.
(A) Gases: which freely mix with air without setting down

These gases are sulphur dioxide, sulphur trioxide, hydrogen sulphide, nitrogen oxide, carbon
monoxide, carbon dioxide, ozone, hydrogen fluoride, Aerosols, photochemical oxidants.
(B) Particles: When include. Dust, Smoke, Smog, Asbestos dust, and Lead dust.
(C) Deforestation
(D) Radioactive gases

CONTROL OF AIR POLLUTION:

The best way to control air pollution is to reduce or prevent the formation of pollutant at the
source itself. The economic costs of the damages caused by air pollution are, generally much
higher than the cost of avoiding or preventing such damages. Some of our industrial processes
may be suitably modified so as to minimize the extent of pollution. Various air pollution control
methods are

(i) Cleaning the exhaust gases after combustion through the use of a catalyst, may
minimize emissions from automobiles and vehicles.
(ii) The use of “tall stacks or chimneys” reduces substantially the concentration of air pollutants at
the ground level. The gases discharged through stacks get diluted and are dispersed into the
atmosphere. The stacks thus serve to provide low concentration pollutants.
(iii) Smoke can be reduced or prevented during combustion of fuel by

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 (a) Correct method of firing.
(b) Admitting correct quantities of air.

Maintaining high temperature

At low temperature, the combustion is incomplete and smoky, and feeding the fuel continuously,
instead of intermittently, “Automatic mechanical strokes ” which enable to regulate the draught
and the temperature within the combustion chamber are now-a-days use for this purpose.

WATER POLLUTION
Water is found in the environment as seawater, river water, pond water, and lake water and as
water vapour in the atmosphere. Water is used directly by man for providing food and drink for
personal and domestic hygiene, recreation, animal husbandry, agriculture, transport and industry.
However the quality of water needed in each case is different. Water suitable for drinking
purposes may not be suitable for industrial use and vice versa.

The word-polluted water is defined as water that does not meet ever the minimum standards for
any function and purposes for which it would be suitable in its natural state. The concept of water
pollution may alternatively be defined as “any alteration in the physical (e.g. temperature),
chemical and biological properties of water as well as contamination with any foreign substances
which would constitute a health hazard or otherwise decreases the utility of water”

SOURCES OF WATER POLLUTION

THE PRICIPLE SOURCES OF WATER POLLUTION ARE:
(1) Domestic sewage:
The release of huge quantities of municipal and domestic wastes by drains into the canals and
rivers causes the pollution of major rivers of our country. The sewage contains human faces,
urine, kitchen wastes, street wastes, and organic substances that provide nutrition for bacteria
and fungi.

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Disposal of sewage into rivers and lakes cause several undesirable effect, e.g., the spread of
water-brorn diseases like dysentery, cholera, typhoid (due to the presence of bacteria)
hookworm infections (due to the presence of parasitic worms) inter viral infections (due to
viruses) malaria (due to insect verve). Sewage increases the biological productivity and interferes
with many uses of the water.

(2) Industrial waters:

Water get polluted by acids, alkalis, detergents, soaps, phenols, cyanides, copper, zinc, lead,
mercury, pesticides, insecticides, fungicides, which are released from chemical industries.
Pollution is also caused by wastes of industries like leather tanneries, sugar, paper, breweries,
slaughter houses, textile, steel mills, soap, distilleries, oil refineries, pharmaceuticals, etc. Wastes
containing toxic substances damage the biological activity and kill useful organisms.

(3) Run-off from land and fields:

Residual pesticides, fungicides, insecticides are washed dawn into river, lakes etc and pollute
them.

(4) Suspended particles:

The surface water sometime contains a high concentration of suspended solids (organic as well
as inorganic) bacteria viruses, protozoa, etc. This makes water unfit for domestic as well as
industrial purposes.

(5) Oil from oil spills and washing of automobile pollutes our rivers.

(6) Wastes like acid wash, alkali wash, cyanides, phenols, mercury (from paper industries) lead
zinc, copper, etc, are released into water sources They all cause water pollution.

(7) Atomic explosion and processing of radioactive materials near the sources of water cause
water pollution.

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(8)Wastes from fertilizer plants containing nitrates, phosphates, ammonia, etc, are released in
water and they all cause water pollution.

(9) Clay, ores, fine particles of soil on which water travels are added to water sources and they all
cause water pollution.
Of these the biggest contribution to water pollution is industrial wastes and next comes sewage
(street washing, urine, kitchen wastes, human excreta, etc)

METHODS OF PREVENTING WATER POLLUTION:

The water pollution can be prevented and controlled by the recycling of wastes, e.g. conversion
of coconut and agricultural wastes into paper and board, and jute wastes into hard board. Gobar
gas plant provides not only gas (for domestic cooking use), but also enriched cow-dung manure.

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