Carbon dioxide atmospheric release

Carbon. Most of the Earth s supply of carbon is stored in carbonate rocks in the Hthosphere. Normally the circulation rate for Hthospheric carbon is slow compared with that of carbon between the atmosphere and biosphere. The carbon cycle has received much attention in recent years as a result of research into the possible relation between increased atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration, most of which is produced by combustion of fossil fuel, and the "greenhouse effect," or global warming. Extensive research has been done on the rate at which carbon dioxide might be converted to cellulose and other photosyntheticaHy produced organic compounds by various forms of natural and cultivated plants. Estimates also have been made of the rate at which carbon dioxide is released to soil under optimum conditions by various kinds of plant cover, such as temperature-zone deciduous forests, cultivated farm crops, prairie grassland, and desert vegetation. 

Carbon dioxide has been implicated as a contributing factor in global warming. Increased global warming has been associated with increased release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere attributed in part to an increase in the combustion of hydrocarbon fuels. Carbon dioxide is an inevitable consequence of the complete combustion of hydrocarbons in air. If combustion devices are made more efficient, less fuel is required and less carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere. 

Some volatile fluids are used once only, and then escape into the atmosphere. Two of these are in general use, carbon dioxide and nitrogen. Both are stored as liquids under a combination of pressure and low temperature and then released when the cooling effect is required. Carbon dioxide is below its critical point at atmospheric pressure and can only exist as snow or a gas. Since both gases come from the atmosphere, there is no pollution hazard. The temperature of carbon dioxide when released will be - 78.4°C. Nitrogen will be at - 198.8°C. Water ice can also be classihed as a total loss refrigerant. 

The carbon dioxide generated by the personnel in the artificial atmosphere of submarines and spacecraft must be removed from the air and the oxygen recovered. Submarine design teams have investigated the use of potassium superoxide, K02, as an air purifier because this compound reacts with carbon dioxide and releases oxygen (Fig. 4.16) ... 

Carbon dioxide is released to the atmosphere when solid waste, fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, and coal) and wood and wood products are burned. 

Three processes that take place in living organisms - respiration in animals and plants, photosynthesis only in plants, and the precipitation of solids by some aquatic animals - have altered the primeval composition of the outer solid, liquid, and gaseous layers of the earth. Respiration consumes oxygen from the atmosphere and creates carbon dioxide. Photosynthesis, which does the opposite (consumes carbon dioxide and releases oxygen), has... 

The lung is an organ that participates in gas exchange. The tissues and structures unique to the human lung provide for oxygen to be taken up from ambient air and absorbed into the blood while carbon dioxide is released from the blood into the atmosphere. A human being inhales about ten cubic meters (10 m ) of air a day. 

Likewise, the ability of the oceans to take in atmospheric carbon could be increased. Algae, plankton, and other organisms carry on photosynthesis as do green plants on land They take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen. In fact, about half of the oxygen we breathe is produced by these organisms. Experiments to fertilize plankton growth in the oceans have already been completed, but the method has not yet been implemented as a way to increase the ocean s carbon contents. 

Carbon is released into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide as part of the process of respiration. The decomposition of the remains and wastes of living things by bacteria and other soil organisms also releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. In addition, carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere by fires and other types of burning, including the burning of fossil fuels and erupting volcanoes. 

Carbon dioxide forms carbonic acid upon entering any body of water. In flesh i water, this reaction is reversible, and the carbon dioxide is released back into the atmosphere. In the alkaline ocean, the carbonic acid is neutralized to compounds such as calcium bicarbonate, Ca(HC03) 2, which precipitate to the ocean floor. As a result, most of the atmospheric carbon dioxide that enters our oceans stays there. 

Carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere through the combustion of octane (CgHjg) in gasoline. Write the balanced chemical equation for the combustion of octane and calculate the mass of octane needed to release 5.00 mol CO2. 

When the so-called fossil fuels such as coal and petroleum are used a large amount of carbon dioxide is released, resulting in an increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. As carbon dioxide is a gas with an influence on the greenhouse effect, its increase in the atmosphere results in the raising of the temperature on the surface of Earth. Therefore the increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere should be curtailed. It is usually thought that most carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is consumed by plants on the land. Of course this idea is not incorrect the tropical rain forests of the Amazonian area, Kalimantan (Borneo) and some other areas consume much of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. However, it should be kept in mind that the consumption of the gas by algae and cyanobacteria in the ocean is also sizable. Some researchers say that 70% of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is consumed by the photosynthesis of algae and cyanobacteria in the oceans. 

Free oxygen is an important agent in the decay of all rocks that contain oxidizable substances, Iron and sulphur being especially suspect. The rate of oxidation Is quickened by the presence of water Indeed, It may enter Into the reaction itself, for example, as in the formation of hydrates. However, its role is chiefly that of a catalyst. Carbonic acid is produced when carbon dioxide is dissolved in water, and it may possess a pH value of about 5.7. The principal source of carbon dioxide is not the atmosphere but the air contained in the pore spaces in the soil where its proportion may be a hundred or so times greater than it is in the atmosphere. An abnormal concentration of carbon dioxide is released when organic material decays. Furthermore, humic acids are formed by the decay of humus in soil waters they ordinarily have pH values between 4.5 and 5.0, but they may occasionally be less than 4.0. 

On an individual basis each of us can play a significant role. Recycling, switching to more fuel-efficient cars, and using energy-efficient appliances, heaters, and air conditioners all would result in decreased energy consumption and less carbon dioxide being released into our atmosphere. 

Atmospheric sciences is the study of various aspects of the nature of the atmosphere, including its origin, layered structure, density, and temperature variation with height natural variations and alterations associated with anthropogenic impacts and how it is similar to or different from other atmospheres within the solar system. The present-day atmosphere is in aU likelihood quite dissimilar from the original atmosphere. The form and composition of the present-day atmosphere is believed to have developed about 400 million years ago in the late Devonian period of the Paleozoic era, when plant life developed on land. This vegetative cover allowed plants to take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen as part of the photosynthesis process. 

It follows from what has been said in 2 4 that the maximum amount of useful work which might be obtained from, say, the combustion of carbon will be obtained when it is converted into that oxide, namely, carbon dioxide, which has the lowest value of G. It is also evident that the maximum work will be obtained if the carbon dioxide is released, at the completion of the combustion, at the same temperature, Tq, and the same pressure, p, as that of the atmosphere. For if it is released at some other temperature, T, then useful work has been lost which could have been obtained by heating or cooling the ccurbon dioxide from T to To. by using it as a heat reservoir to drive a heat engine with the atmosphere as the second reservoir. Similarly, if it leaves the combustion S3 tem at a pressure which is either smaller or greater than Po then useful work has been lost which could have been obtained by allowing the pressure to equalize with that of the atmosphere. Therefore, if we use fuel which is initially at atmospheric pressure and temperature (say 20 the maximum useful work which may be obtained is the decrease of Gf in the process ... 

Carbon capture refers to measures that at least temporarily remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or prevent its release to the atmosphere. One way in which net release of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere is prevented is the use of biomass for fuel and raw material in place of petroleum. When biomass is burned, carbon dioxide is released, but exactly the same amount of carbon dioxide was removed from the atmosphere for the photosynthetic production of the biomass. Therefore, on balance, using biomass as fuel does not add carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. If biomass is not burned or does not decay, its production amounts to a net loss of atmospheric carbon dioxide. 

The elastomer process is very similar to the Dennis process. It involves a number of steps in which a gas, formerly carbon dioxide and now fluorocarbon, is mixed with a plastisol under pressure. When released to atmospheric pressure, the gas expands the vinyl compounds into a low density, open-ceUed foam which is then fused with heat. 

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