Ella True
11/16/14
Schneck 3
Honors Chemistry
Energy Persuasive Essay Before reading this paper, one should understand what electricity is and how it works. One should also understand that electricity is a type of energy. Electricity is simply the flow of electric charge. This may sound fairly straight forward, but there is a lot more to this simple statement. One might wonder: Where exactly is this charge coming from? What is obtaining this charge? How is the charge flowing and to where? How does an electric charge power a machine or make lights light up? The answer to all these questions begin with the basic building blocks of matter, the atom. Atoms are extremely tiny objects that are composed of even smaller particles: protons, electrons, …show more content…
First, the coal is crushed into a fine powder and is blown into the boiler. In the boiler, the coal is burned and the chemical energy is converted into heat energy. So basically, the coal just gets extremely hot while in the boiler. Grinding the coal is necessary because it increases surface area to allow the coal to burn more efficiently with minimal waste and maximizes heat production. Coal also produces ash and exhaust gas when it is burned. The ash falls to the bottom of the boiler, gets removed by the ash systems, and is then sold to building companies to make new products like concrete. The gases go into the exhaust stack which has equipment that is used to filter out dust and ash before releasing it into the atmosphere. The exhaust stacks are built really tall to allow the exhaust plume to spread out before it hits the ground. This makes certain that the air around the station is not affected by the exhaust gas. The water in the pipes that are coiled around the boiler gets heated when coal is burned. This turns the water into steam. Since hot steam expands, the pressure in the pipes increase. The steam is under high pressure when it emerges before the pressure pushes the steam over the turbines. The steam will make the turbine spin, converting the heat energy released in the boiler into mechanical energy. When the turbine spins, the generator also spins because they connected by a shaft. The generator has an electromagnetic …show more content…
cons: “High construction costs due to complex radiation containment systems and procedures, high subsidies needed for construction and operation, as well as loan guarantees, subsidies and investment could be spent on other solutions (such as renewable energy systems), high-known risks in an accident, unknown risks long construction time, target for terrorism (as are all centralized power generation sources), uranium sources are just as finite as other fuel sources and are expensive to mine, refine, and transport, and produce considerable environmental waste (including greenhouse gasses) during all of these processes, the majority of known uranium around the world lies under land controlled by tribes or indigenous peoples who don’t support it being mined from the earth, the legacy of environmental contamination and health costs for miners and mines has been catastrophic, waste lasts 200
11/16/14
Schneck 3
Honors Chemistry
Energy Persuasive Essay Before reading this paper, one should understand what electricity is and how it works. One should also understand that electricity is a type of energy. Electricity is simply the flow of electric charge. This may sound fairly straight forward, but there is a lot more to this simple statement. One might wonder: Where exactly is this charge coming from? What is obtaining this charge? How is the charge flowing and to where? How does an electric charge power a machine or make lights light up? The answer to all these questions begin with the basic building blocks of matter, the atom. Atoms are extremely tiny objects that are composed of even smaller particles: protons, electrons, …show more content…
First, the coal is crushed into a fine powder and is blown into the boiler. In the boiler, the coal is burned and the chemical energy is converted into heat energy. So basically, the coal just gets extremely hot while in the boiler. Grinding the coal is necessary because it increases surface area to allow the coal to burn more efficiently with minimal waste and maximizes heat production. Coal also produces ash and exhaust gas when it is burned. The ash falls to the bottom of the boiler, gets removed by the ash systems, and is then sold to building companies to make new products like concrete. The gases go into the exhaust stack which has equipment that is used to filter out dust and ash before releasing it into the atmosphere. The exhaust stacks are built really tall to allow the exhaust plume to spread out before it hits the ground. This makes certain that the air around the station is not affected by the exhaust gas. The water in the pipes that are coiled around the boiler gets heated when coal is burned. This turns the water into steam. Since hot steam expands, the pressure in the pipes increase. The steam is under high pressure when it emerges before the pressure pushes the steam over the turbines. The steam will make the turbine spin, converting the heat energy released in the boiler into mechanical energy. When the turbine spins, the generator also spins because they connected by a shaft. The generator has an electromagnetic …show more content…
cons: “High construction costs due to complex radiation containment systems and procedures, high subsidies needed for construction and operation, as well as loan guarantees, subsidies and investment could be spent on other solutions (such as renewable energy systems), high-known risks in an accident, unknown risks long construction time, target for terrorism (as are all centralized power generation sources), uranium sources are just as finite as other fuel sources and are expensive to mine, refine, and transport, and produce considerable environmental waste (including greenhouse gasses) during all of these processes, the majority of known uranium around the world lies under land controlled by tribes or indigenous peoples who don’t support it being mined from the earth, the legacy of environmental contamination and health costs for miners and mines has been catastrophic, waste lasts 200