THERMAL POLLUTION

ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY

INTRODUCTION

The term thermal pollution has been use to indicate the detrimental effects of heated effluents discharge by various power plant. Its denote the impairment of quality and deterioration of aquatic and terrestrial environment. Various plants like thermal, atomic, nuclear, coal fired plants, oil field generators and mills utilize water for cooling purpose. The heated effluents are discharge at temp 8 to 100 higher than the temp of intake waters, which reduces the concentration of D.O (dissolved oxygen).

DEFINITION
1. The warming up of aquatic system to the point where desirable organism are adversely affected. 2. Addition of access of undesirable heat to water that makes it harmful to man, animal, plant or aquatic life or otherwise causes significant dangers to the normal activity of aquatic communities in water. 3. Heated effluents either from natural or manmade sources, contaminated with water supplies, may be harmful to life because of their toxicity, reduction in dissolved oxygen, aesthetically unsuitable and spared disease. 4. It reduces the numbers of aquatic species and destroys the balance of life in streams as is evidenced by the biological indices of community and diversity. 5. It is a by product of rapid and unplanned industrial progress and over population

SOURCES

1. Nuclear power plant : Nuclear power plant including drainage from hospitals , institute , nuclear experiments and explosion , discharge a lot have unutilised heat and trap radio-nuclides into nearby water streams . Emission from nuclear reactor and processing instrument are also responsible for increasing the temp of water bodies. Heated effluents from power plants are discharges at 100 higher than the coolant receptor and severely affect the aquatic flora and fauna.

2. Coal-fired power plant: Some thermal power plants ultimately discharge effluent having temp. Difference of 150 C between effluent & water body. The thermal power plants utilise coal as fuel & they constitute the major source of thermal pollutants. The heated coils are cooled with water from nearby lake or river & discharge the hot water back to the receptor water body & thereby increasing the temp of the nearby water. The heated effluent decrease the Dissolved Oxygen content of water. It results into killing of fish & other marine organisms.

3. Industrial Effluents : Industries generating electricity, like coal as fuel & nuclear powered thermal plants require huge amounts of cooling water for heat removal. Other industries like textile paper & pulp as well as sugar also heat in water to a much lesser extent. The heat from the turbo generator installed in the industries have temp of effluent as 50C to 90 C more than the normal temp of

stream. The cope with the increased demand of electricity & rapid industrialisation the number of installation are raised with results in discharge of more volume of water/heated effluent & above the receptor water body temp.

4. Hydro-electric Power: The generation of hydro electric power sometimes results in negative loading in water system. Apart from electric power industries various factors cooling contribute to thermal loading. It has been reported that about 18% more heat is given to cooling ponds in nuclear power plants than by other plant of equivalent size.

5. Domestic Sewage : Domestic sewage is commonly discharge into rivers, lake & canals with or without water treatment. The municipal sewage normally has a higher temp than receiving water. The discharge water not only raises the stream temp to a measurable extent but also creates numerous deleterious effects on aquatic biota. The organic water present in the sewage utilise the dissolved oxygen present in the surface water for oxidation. With the increase in the temp of the water the D.O. content decreases & the demand of oxygen increase. Hence the anaerobic condition will result the release of foul & offensive gases. The marine life dependent upon the D.O. will die out & the quality of water is also adversely affected.

IMPACT
1. Reduction in the Dissolved Oxygen: Concentration of D.O. decrease with increase in temp of water. Eg .The D.O. content is 14.6ppm in water at a temp of 320F & 6.6ppm at 640F. Thus cold water fish which requires about 6ppm to survive will not tolerate the high water temp. If they remained the the area they would die off oxygen starvation. Since the aquatic biota live aerobically, so a healthy stream should have an adequate supply of D.O. 2. Change in water properties: A rise in temp changes the physical & chemical properties of water. The vapour pressure increases sharply while the viscosity of water decreases. The decrease in density, viscosity & solubility of gases increases the settling speed of suspended particles, which seriously affects the food supply of aquatic organisms. 3. Increase in toxicity: The rising temp increases the toxicity of poison present in water. A 100C rise in temp doubles the toxic effect of Potassium cyanide while an 800C temp triples the toxic effects of O-Xylene causing massive mortality of fish. 4. Interference with the biological activities: Temp is considered to be of vital importance to physiology, metabolism & bio chemical process in controlling respiratory rates, digestion, excretion & overall development of aquatic organism. The temp changes totally disrupt the entire eco system. Sharp changes in temp are often destructive. Because the life of aquatic animals involves several chemical reaction & the rate of these react ion vary according the changes in temp.

Eg. Tracer expe. With young carp have revealed that at 100C the food takes 18 hr. to pass through alimentary canal, while at 260C it takes only 4to5 hr. Since at higher temp., the metabolic activity of the fish increases, a substantial portion of the food intake in warm water is utilized for merely maintaining the body functions. 5. Interfering with Reproduction : In fishes, several activities like spawning, hatching & migration & reproduction etc. depend on some optimum temp. For instance, the max. temp. at which lake trout will spawn successful is 8.90C.The warm water not only disturbs spawning but also destroys the laid eggs. 6. Variations in Reproductive Rate: The increase in temp triggers deposition of eggs by female. The triggering is particularly dramatic in estuarine fish which spawn in 4 hrs after the water temp. reaches critical level. 7. Changes in Metabolic Rate : Fishes show a marked rise in basal rate of metabolism with temp. to the lethal point. The respiratory rate, oxygen demand, food uptake & swimming speed in fishes increases. 8. Increased Vulnerability to Disease: Activities of several pathogenic micro organisms are accelerated by higher temp. Hot water causes bacterial disease in certain fishes such that they fail to develop eggs above critical temp. 9. Invasion to Destructive organisms: Thermal pollutants may permit the invasion of organisms that are tolerant to warm waters & highly destructive. Eg. Invasion of ship worms into New Jerseys Oyster creek. 10. Undesirable Changes in Algae Population: The life in an eco system is greatly influenced by the algal growth. Excess nutrients from the wash out waters from farm lands, thermal plants cause an excessive algal growth with consequent acceleration eutrophic & other undesirable changes.

11. Destruction of Organisms in Cold Water: The volume of water required for cooling purposes from a stream is enormous. Unfortunately many of Plankton, Small fish, insect larvae that are sucked into the condenser along with cooling water are killed by the thermal shock, increased press. & water viscosity. 12. Bio chemical Oxygen Demand: When the temp. of stream carrying bio degradable organic matter rises, the intensified action of aquatic organisms causes B.O.D. to be accomplished at lower temp. when the temp of stream carrying bio degradable organic matter rises fish death may occur due to synergistic action, which is caused due to accelerated chemical or bio chemical action. 13. Effect on Marine Life: Temp. plays an important role in affecting the physiology, metabolism, growth & development of Marine animals. Sea organisms are poikilothermic ie. Their body temp. varies with the surrounding water. Some marine cannot tolerate wide changes of temp, so they die at higher temp. 14. Effect on Bacteria: Due to heated discharges from the industries & plants (Industrial), the bacteria are severely damaged. The effect includes coagulation of body protein, melting of cell fats, toxic action of metabolic products etc.

CONTOL MEASURES
Heat must be removed from the condenser cooling water prior to their disposal into water bodies. The major principles involved in the process of heat loss are as follows. I. II. III. IV. Conduction Convection Radiation Evaporation

The following methods can be adopted to control high temp. caused by thermal discharges:1. Cooling Ponds : The cooling towers are beneficial used ic dissipation of heat. The water from the condensers is stored in the earth like ponds where natural evaporation brings down the temp. The water is recirculated again.

Another method for installation of cooling ponds is as shown in the diagram 2. Cooling Tower : Wet Cooling Tower: In this the hot water is sprayed over baffles in a huge hyperbola shaped tower. Cool air rising through the tower carries waste heat & cooled water either discharged into the stream or recycled. Two problems are associated with wet tower technique : A substantial amount of water is lost through evaporation. this not only vitiates the benefit of recycling, but also concentrates whatever pollutants the effluent may contain. In cooler regions there is extensive fog formation in the vicinity of the wet cooling tower, causing damage to vegetation.

 Dry Cooling Tower : The heated effluent is contained in the pipes, air is passed over the pipes by a large fan facilitating heat exchange by radiation & convention. Water loss & fog formation control by this method.Installation & maintenance cost are much higher as compared to those of wet cooling tower.

INVOLVED ECONOMY
The heated effluent discharge from the chemical industries & thermal power plants can be put into certain beneficial uses such as follows. Green Houses: The air the green houses can be warmed by using it as a mechanism of cooling. the water is passed through vertical towers in the green house, across which the air passes. Agriculture : The use of heated of water can also be made in agriculture particularly for frost protection during cold seasons, plant cooling during hot periods, soil heating , an irrigation. Soil heating is normally performed by passing the water through underground networking of pipe system near the root zone, which brings optimum temp. for the crop growth. The application of heated water can also be made for keeping the temp. optimum in animal houses for max. growth. Aquaculture: Thermal discharges have been successfully used in aquaculture to increase the yield of fish in many countries. The optimum temp. for growth of many fishes / species are in the of thermal discharges. Heating: The thermal discharges from an industry or power plant are also used for heating the homes, buildings or other such structures. This is achieved by circulating the hot water through pipes in the structures.

REFERENCES

Environmental Pollution by Dr.R.K. Khatoliya. Fundamental Concepts of Environmental Pollution by G.S.Sodhi. Environmental Chemistry by A.K.Day. Wikipedia.