Ecological problem of using thermal machines. Methods of solution

Conservation of nature is an important task, because the advancement of the civilized world leads to inevitable difficulties and risks in the matter of environmental pollution. Among other social hazards, one of the first places is occupied by environmental problems associated with the use of thermal machines.

What for us, heat engines

Every day we deal with engines that drive cars, ships, production equipment, railway locomotives and airplanes. It was the appearance and wide use of thermal machines that promptly advanced industry.

The ecological problem of using thermal machines is that emissions of thermal energy inevitably lead to the heating of surrounding objects, including the atmosphere. Scientists have long been fighting the problem of melting glaciers and raising the level of the World Ocean, considering human activity as the main factor of influence. Changes in nature will lead to a change in the conditions of our lives, but despite this every year, energy consumption increases.

Where thermal motors are used

Millions of cars on internal combustion engines are engaged in the transportation of passengers and cargo. On the railways there are powerful diesel locomotives, along the water trajectories - motor ships. Aircraft and helicopters are equipped with piston, turbojet and turboprop engines. Rocket engines "push" space stations, ships and satellites of the Earth. Engines of internal combustion in agriculture are installed on combines, pumping stations, tractors and other objects.

Ecological problem of using thermal machines

The machines used by man, heat engines, automobile production, the use of gas turbine propulsion systems, aviation and missile carriers, and the pollution of the water environment by vessels - all this has a catastrophically destructive effect on the environment.

First, when burning coal and oil, nitrogen and sulfur compounds, harmful to humans, are released into the atmosphere. Secondly, the processes use atmospheric oxygen, the content of which in the air because of this falls.

Emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere are not the only factor affecting the effect of heat engines on nature. The production of mechanical and electrical energy can not be carried out without the removal of significant amounts of heat to the environment, which can not but lead to an increase in the average temperature on the planet.

Thermal pollution is burdened by the fact that the substances burned increase the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This, in turn, leads to the emergence of a "greenhouse effect". World warming is becoming a real danger.

The ecological problem of using thermal machines lies in the fact that the combustion of fuel can not be complete, and this leads to a release into the air we breathe, ash and soot flakes. According to statistics, worldwide power plants annually discharge more than 200 million tons of ash and more than 60 million tons of sulfur oxide.

Problems of ecology associated with the use of thermal machines, trying to solve all civilized countries. The newest energy-saving technologies for the improvement of thermal engines are introduced. As a result, energy consumption for the production of the same products is significantly reduced, reducing the harmful effect on the environment.

Thermal power plants, internal combustion engines of cars and other machines in large quantities discharge into the atmosphere, and then into the soil harmful to all living waste, for example, chlorine, sulfur compounds (in the combustion of coal), carbon monoxide CO, nitrogen oxides, etc. Automobile engines annually emit about three tons of lead into the atmosphere.

At nuclear power plants, another environmental problem of using thermal machines is the safety and disposal of radioactive waste.

Due to the incredibly high energy consumption, some regions have lost the ability to self-clean their own airspace. The operation of nuclear power plants has helped to significantly reduce harmful emissions, but for the operation of steam turbines requires a huge amount of water and a large space under the ponds to cool the waste steam.

Solutions

Unfortunately, mankind can not refuse to use heat engines. Where is the way out? To spend an order of less fuel, that is, to reduce power consumption, it is necessary to increase the efficiency of the engine for carrying out the same work. The fight against the negative consequences of using thermal machines is only to increase the efficiency of energy use and switch to energy-saving technologies.

In general, it will be incorrect to say that the world ecological problem of using thermal machines is not being solved. An increasing number of electric locomotives are replacing conventional trains; Cars on batteries are becoming popular; Energy-saving technologies are being introduced into the industry. There is a hope that environmentally friendly aircraft and rocket engines will appear. The governments of many countries are implementing international programs to protect the environment, directed against pollution of the Earth.