By: A.

Anuradha

Hydrocarbons in Everyday Life

Hydrocarbons are the compounds containing carbon and hydrogen.

Today, we live in a world full of hydrocarbons.

INDUST RIES POWER GENERA TION
FUEL FOR AUTOMOBIL ES

Hydrocarbons find their use in all fields, especially in the energy sector.

HOUSEH OLD

Novel Applications
Extensive use in two industries
Polymer industry Nano sensors

With inorganic elements being Cytotoxic, Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs) are being developed
These too are made up of hydrocarbons.

Sources of Hydrocarbons
Hydrocarbons

Petroleum

Natural Gas

Gasoline

Diesel

Aviation Fuel

CNG

LPG

PNG

Coal: Source of Energy

Most ancient source of energy exploited by man Cheapest and easily accessible form of energy Used in production of electricity and heat

Also used for industrial purposes such as refining metals

Largest source of energy in India

Emergence of Petroleum in the Energy Sector

Coal emits twice as much of carbon dioxide than any other fossil fuel

Coal mines are dangerous and the risk of fatalities is high.

There is a massive decrease in the availability of quality coal.

Consequently petroleum emerged as a strong candidate to fulfill the energy demands.

Petroleum: Production and Consumption rising oil consumption and relatively The combination of
flat production left India increasingly dependent on imports to meet its petroleum demand.

In 2010, India was the worlds fifth largest net importer of oil.

Changing Landscape: The matter of concern

Besides being a crucial source of energy it has been responsible for the degradation of the environment.

Effect on Water Bodies

The aquatic flora and fauna are vindicated by the oil spills that largely contain petroleum products ( Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons)

Oil Pollution

Submarine hydrocarbon seeps continually release oil into the marine environment (approx. 250,000 tonnes a year) Major causes of oil pollution are Increased use of oil as fuel source and

industrial raw material Increased extraction from marine areas Increased transport of oil by a marine route

The largest oil spill

1991 - Gulf War: 9,000,000 barrels (378,000,000 gallons)

1979 - Bay of Campeche, Ciudad del Carmen, Mexico: 140,000,000 gallons

Cleanup

Human intervention

Booms, Skimmers (remove floating oil) Sorbents (absorb oil) Straw/peat/synthetic Dispersing agents, Gelling agents Biological agents Mechanical washing Trenches Dredging

All these substances of any attempt of human intervention to cleanup the oil spill further adds to pollution.

Effect on Soil
Changes in concentration of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in soil due to its contamination by crude oil and drilling fluids.

Primary effect is: Changes in soil pH.

Organic matter (soil organic matter), carbon, nitrogen and sulphur at different concentrations of crude oil and drilling fluids in soil.

Effect of soil tillage as a form of bioremediation on the reduction of TPH and PAHs concentrations.

Effects of different concentration of crude oil and drilling fluids on emergence, plant density and crops yield.

Poly Aromatic Hydrocarbons

PAHs are composed of Carbon and Hydrogen atoms arranged in the form of fused benzene rings(linear, crystallized and angular arrangements).

They are produced in all processes of incomplete combustion of natural resources. PAHs belong to the group of persistent organic pollutant. These are organic contaminants that are resistant to degradation and can remain in the environment for long periods

Sources of PAHs
Power and heat generation(pe at power plants, coal, wood, oil)
Mobile sources (cars, aeroplanes, sea-traffic, trains)

Industries (mainly coke and carbon production, petroleum processing and Residential heating aluminium (furnaces, sintering) stoves, cooking gas, etc.)

Incineration of Municipal and Industrial wastes.

Introduction of New Technology

Green Technology
Mercedes-Benz F 800 Style research vehicle is showing the future of premium automobiles from a new perspective. Smaller engines are able to deliver more power with higher mileage and lower emissions.

Alternate To Petroleum: Natural Gas

Natural Gas

Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG):

Flammable mixture of hydrocarbon gases.
Increasingly used as an aerosol propellant and

refrigerant and widely used for domestic purpose

Compressed Natural Gas (CNG):

Fossil fuel made by compressing natural gas

usually methane at STP. Now a days used as fuel for automobiles for

Exploration And Production

Until 2008, the majority of Indias natural gas production came from the Mumbai High. Recent discoveries in the Bay of Bengal have shifted the gravity of natural gas production in the country.

Moreover many new pipelines have been set up like the Iran-Pakistan-India Pipeline and Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India Pipeline to provide adequate gas supply.

Why Natural Gas ?

Natural gas is much cleaner - per unit of energy its combustion produces 30% less carbon dioxide than oil, and about 45% less carbon dioxide than coal. Natural gas is also more abundant: at constant levels of production, the worlds proven supply of natural gas will last 65 years, higher than oil's 41 years.

Available Alternate Sources

Beyond Hydrocarbons
The power plants of these vehicles convert the chemical energy of hydrogen to mechanical energy either by burning hydrogen in an internal combustion engine, or by reacting it with oxygen in a fuel cell to run electric motors. Widespread use of hydrogen for fueling transportation is a key of a proposed hydrogen economy.

Limitations

Hydrogen is explosive in nature. Low energy content per unit volume High investments in infrastructure.

Renewable energy: Energy comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides and geothermal heat which are naturally replenished. Wind Energy: Airflows can be used to run wind turbines which produce power energy ranging from 1.5-3 MV. Limitations: High installation cost and area with very low output, due to limited availability of high speed winds consistently.

Supplement with Renewable Energy

Supplement with Renewable Energy

Hydro Power: Energy in water can be harnessed and used to rotate turbines which produce large amount of energy. Limitations: Setting up of dams destroys the habitation & settlements.

Solar Energy: Solar energy is the energy derived from the sun through the form of solar radiation. Limitations: Huge investments with low output.

Supplement with Renewable Energy

Biomass: Biomass (plant material) is a renewable energy source because the energy it contains comes from the sun. through the process of photosynthesis, plants capture the suns energy. When the plants are burnt, they release the suns energy they contain. Bio Fuels:
Biofuels include a wide range of fuels which are derived

from biomass.
Biomass covers solid biomass, liquid fuels and various

biogases.

Natural Gas: Bridge to a Renewable Future

Renewable sources of energy require huge investments in infrastructure, but the output is not high.

The availability and cost of natural gas varies by location. This leads to several opportunities for renewable energy.
Renewable energy sources require sustained and rapid growth: therefore dependence on expanding markets. Natural gas now defines

New Technology

Compressed Natural Gas

In order to provide enough range, gas is

compressed and stored on the vehicle in pressurized tanks. In smaller fuelling locations and on vehicles, CNG is stored in thick-walled steel, aluminium, or composite tanks built to last more than 20 years.

Future Perspectives

Alternative Fuels
Algae Fuel
Alternative to fossil fuel and uses algae as its source of

nature deposits. Unlike fossil fuels which release CO2 on burning, harvested algae take out CO2 from the atmosphere. High oil prices and gap between demand & supply ignited interest in algaculture for making vegetable oil, biodiesel, bio ethanol, bio gasoline using land i.e not suitable for agriculture.

SVO (Straight Vegetable Oil):

Algal oils i.e. used to produce biodiesels can be used

for fuel directly.

Alternative Fuels
Hydro cracking to traditional transport fuel Vegetable oil can be used for an oil refinery where methods like hydro cracking or hydrogenation can be used to transform the vegetable oil into standard fuels like gasoline and diesel. Synthetic fuel: Synthetic fuel or synfuel is a liquid fuel obtained from coal, natural gas, oil shale, or biomass. It may also refer to fuels derived from other solids such as plastics or rubber waste. Jet fuel from Sugarcane: In March 2011, Brazil and USA signed an expanded

CO2 Capture and Utilization

Petroleum refining is an energy intensive process but also contributes to green house gases emissions. Zeolite type adsorbent has been developed for CO2 recovery. Metal frame works (MOF) which have high adsorption CO2 capacities.

Amine based novel solvent to be used in absorption process for CO2.

CO2 removal form biogas to improve its calorific value using the zeolite based adsorbents.

Facing Challenges

Increasing product quality requirement and stricter emission regulations, while the demand for distillate product continues to grow, the demand for fuel oil is diminishing with many industries switching to gas in place of fuel oil. The volatility in crude oil and product prices is compounded with decreasing availability of lighter and sweet crude oils. Old and obsolete technologies that are eventually inefficient and gives very low output. Unstable crude prices. Significant price differential between light and heavy crudes Shifting price demands, reducing fuel oil uptake.

Energy Sector in India

India is the sixth largest energy consumer and offers immense potential for foreign investors. Energy sector in India is one of the most challenging sector for global players. Energy industry considered as the primary driver of Indian economy as it is the major fuel for various industries like power sector, steel, chemical, fertilizers, paper, cement, transport and thousands of small and medium enterprises in India.

The Energy Sector Scenario

Filling the Gap

Crucial measures undertaken to bridge the expected Demand-Supply Gap:

Implementation of exploration measures to convert the proven

reserves into established resource fetching reserves.

Government policies to increase the industry attractiveness for foreign investors. Technological enhancement in existing production and exploration capacities to better productivity and to extract more resources from proven reserves.

Create an enabling Infrastructure for energy sector growth by investment in ports, railways, pipelines and power transmission. Tie ups and alliances are inevitably required to set up international pipeline for crude oil and LNG import.

Conclusion
For the healthy existence of life on earth we will have to go for sustainable development and thus judicious use of the exhaustible energy resources, and development of alternate sources of energy which are less polluting, more efficient for our coming generations.

References