Nature protection is an important task, because the progress of the civilized world leads to inevitable difficulties and risks in terms of environmental pollution. Among other social dangers, one of the first places is occupied by environmental problems associated with the use of heat engines.
What are heat engines for us
Every day we deal with the engines that power cars, ships, industrial machinery, railway locomotives and aircraft. It was the emergence and widespread use of thermal engines that quickly advanced the industry.
The environmental problem of using heat engines is that thermal energy emissions inevitably lead to heating of surrounding objects, including the atmosphere. Scientists have long been struggling with the problem of melting glaciers and rising sea levels, considering human activity to be the main factor of influence. Changes innature will lead to a change in our living conditions, but despite this, energy consumption is increasing every year.
Where are heat engines used
Millions of internal combustion engine vehicles transport passengers and goods. Powerful diesel locomotives go along the railways, motor ships go along the water trajectories. Airplanes and helicopters are equipped with piston, turbojet and turboprop engines. Rocket engines "push" stations, ships and Earth satellites into outer space. Internal combustion engines in agriculture are installed on combines, pumping stations, tractors and other objects.
Environmental problem of using heat engines
Human-used machines, heat engines, automobile manufacturing, gas turbine propulsion, aviation and rocket launchers, ship pollution of the aquatic environment - all this has a catastrophic effect on the environment.
Firstly, when coal and oil are burned, nitrogen and sulfur compounds are released into the atmosphere, which are harmful to humans. Secondly, the processes use atmospheric oxygen, the content of which in the air drops because of this.
Emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere is not the only factor in the impact of heat engines on nature. The production of mechanical and electrical energy cannot be carried out without discharge into the environment.environment of significant amounts of heat, which cannot but lead to an increase in the average temperature on the planet.
Thermal pollution is exacerbated by the fact that the burning substances increase the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This, in turn, leads to the "greenhouse effect". Global warming is becoming a real danger.
The environmental problem of using heat engines is that the combustion of fuel cannot be complete, and this leads to the release of ash and soot flakes into the air we breathe. According to statistics, worldwide power plants annually release into the air more than 200 million tons of ash and more than 60 million tons of sulfur oxide.
Ecological problems associated with the use of thermal machines are trying to solve all civilized countries. The latest energy-saving technologies are being introduced to improve heat engines. As a result, energy consumption for the production of the same product is significantly reduced, reducing the harmful effect on the environment.
Thermal power plants, internal combustion engines of automobiles and other machines in large quantities discharge into the atmosphere, and then into the soil, harmful to all living wastes, for example, chlorine, sulfur compounds (during the combustion of coal), carbon monoxide CO, nitrogen oxides, etc. Car engines annually emit about three tons of lead into the atmosphere.
At nuclear power plants, another environmental problem of using thermal engines is safety and disposalradioactive waste.
Due to incredibly high energy consumption, some regions have lost the ability to self-purify their own airspace. The operation of nuclear power plants has helped to significantly reduce harmful emissions, but the operation of steam turbines requires huge amounts of water and large space under the ponds to cool the exhaust steam.
Ways to solve
Unfortunately, humanity is unable to refuse the use of heat engines. Where is the exit? In order to consume an order of magnitude less fuel, that is, to reduce energy consumption, it is necessary to increase the efficiency of the engine to carry out the same work. The fight against the negative consequences of the use of heat engines is only to increase the efficiency of energy use and switch to energy-saving technologies.
In general, it would be wrong to say that the global environmental problem of using heat engines is not being solved. An increasing number of electric locomotives are replacing conventional trains; battery cars are becoming popular; energy-saving technologies are introduced into the industry. There is hope that environmentally friendly aircraft and rocket engines will appear. The governments of many countries are implementing international programs to protect the environment against pollution of the Earth.
