Air pollution CHP. Ecology of TPP

Any activity of people is connected with the consumption of electrical energy. Therefore, the construction of large power plants (often thermal ones), starting from the twentieth century, has solved and solves global issues of a shortage of this very energy, without which progress is impossible. The disappearance of fertile soils, shallow rivers and lakes without fish, ruined forests, thermal pollution created by CHP, an increase in the number of serious diseases. These are all the results of the development of energy, the most polluting industry. The future of mankind depends on the solution of two related problems, such as: the need for energy development and environmental pollution of the CHP. Air, soil, water, plants and animals suffer from a consumer attitude towards themselves. The pollution of the CHPP disrupts the natural functioning of all components that make up the biosphere. And such disasters as Chernobyl and Fukushima are a warning, but rather, even a cry for help. Not fulfilling environmental requirements for CHP plants at all stages of construction and operation, people endanger their lives and the lives of future generations in general.

Energy sources

Almost three quarters of the energy necessary for life is provided by heat power engineering. And it is today considered ecologists the most polluting industry. At the heart of the industry is the production of energy when burning combustible raw materials. Fuel can be coal, peat, shale, oil or gas. They also use the energy of rivers. This requires the construction of reservoirs and CHP.

Problems of lack of clean water

Negative point from the activity of CHP plants is pollution of the atmosphere and water in the first place. Annually, energy complex enterprises use over thirty billion cubic meters of clean water. During the construction of water reservoirs on the rivers, there is a flooding of adjacent fertile land, and sometimes people's housing. Dams and other hydraulic structures disrupt natural river current, which leads to shallowing of rivers and changes in the level of groundwater. The consequences of these changes are bogging and salinization of soils that become unsuitable for agricultural work. The decomposition of vegetation flooded during the construction of reservoirs leads to negative changes in aquatic fauna and flora. Energy at TPPs is obtained from the most powerful turbines, driven by steam from clean heated water. The spent steam is cooled and continuously discharged into the reservoirs. Streams of warm water form sources of thermal pollution at the thermal power station.

The scale of the heating zone in the rivers is measured by several dozen kilometers of "scorched" in the direct and figurative sense of the river. The change in the physical properties of water in rivers and water bodies entails a change in chemical constituents, and then of biological processes. Ecology suffers. CHP is the reason.

Air pollution problems

Air pollution CHP - the problem is even greater. According to the volume of emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere, thermal power plants occupy a leading position. This is almost thirty percent of the total emissions of all enterprises in various industries. And this is more than six million tons of dust, harmful compounds of carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, vanadium, and almost all elements of the periodic table. Acidification of the soil by acid rain is a consequence of such a process as the air pollution of the CHP plant with sulfur dioxide. The accumulation of a large amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere leads to an increase in the air temperature on the planet, its annual average, called the greenhouse effect. The poor ecology of the CHP plant causes the accumulation of aerosol chemically harmful particles and organic dust in the lower layers of the atmosphere. This phenomenon was called "photochemical fog", when under conditions of weak winds, strong sun radiation and increased concentration of photo-oxidants in the air, smog hangs over the cities. If you do not take measures, this leads to the destruction of the ozone layer of the Earth. Every year, the percentage of allergy sufferers of varying severity increases. Air pollution of thermal power station Is extremely dangerous for the health and life of city residents. This is especially harmful for the respiratory and cardiovascular systems of the body.

Ash-and-slag wastes

In the near future, in order to increase the productivity of the energy industries, an increase in the amount of solid fuel burnt is projected. Therefore, the problems of utilization of carcinogenic wastes from its combustion and storage of slag are becoming increasingly important. Now only eight percent of all ash and slag wastes are processed. Deficiency of free land compels to allocate for technical zones of energy enterprises territories adjacent to residential buildings of cities, and to increase the height of ash dumps. Air pollution CHP in this situation is particularly acute, since wind erosion ash waste leads to pollution of significant areas. Enterprises and agriculture are not ready for slag processing. We need scientific and design developments on these issues. It is necessary to solve these problems without delay.

Wastewater Problems

In big cities, there are acute and interconnected moments in the operation of the combined heat and power plants: CHP pipelines and waste water treatment at CHP. The pipeline system is worn out and requires major repairs. The emergency pipeline threatens pollution and oxidation of the soil, rising groundwater level, water pollution in the nearest water bodies. All this entails a deterioration in the quality of drinking water every year. Wastewater treatment is carried out by different methods and in several stages, this, in turn, requires energy consumption and leads to the formation of secondary waste that need to be disposed of. The purification of industrial wastewater is an even more laborious and energy-intensive process. Industrial wastewater, which is not subject to cleaning at all, is burned or pumped into deep wells. And this attracts a lot of environmental problems.

The state issue

Environmental safety, conservation of a livable environment are handled by state and public organizations. An important aspect of their activities is the standardization of quality indicators, as well as monitoring their implementation. Normative documents establish permissible standards of impact on the habitat. Physical, chemical, biological and other quality indicators are evaluated. For users of nature, the permissible norms for the extraction of natural resources, the physical (noise, vibration, ionization, etc.) impacts on the environment, the norms of wastewater discharges, the norms of harmful emissions into the atmosphere and other actions are taken into account, taking into account the peculiarities of each particular territory.

Precautionary principle

In order to minimize the adverse effect from the activities of the CHP, the development of measures to protect the environment must be carried out together with the planning, development and implementation of new projects of enterprises. Especially this applies to the territories adjacent to protected conservation areas, which are subject to special regulatory documents. Violation of them leads to criminal liability. From residential buildings, enterprises must necessarily be separated by sanitary protection zones. Such zones serve for a barrier and reduction of negative factors from industrial objects. The sizes of such zones are established by state norms and rules with allowance for expected negative actions after ecological examination of corresponding natural objects.

Possible ways to solve energy problems

The need to reduce the negative impact on the environment of the energy sector as never before raises the issue of saving energy. First of all, by reducing the energy intensity of all production processes. For this, modern developments are needed, which will take into account the following points:

• Energy saving in everyday life;
• Approaching the objects of energy production to the consumer, which reduces costs by increasing the efficiency of the fuel used, while reducing the risk of thermal pollution;
• Perfection of physical and chemical methods of fuel preparation for bringing it to safe and energetically favorable fuel;
• Modernization of burning regimes;
• Improvement and development of highly effective treatment facilities.

Alternative energy sources

Environmental and economic factors associated with energy force us to talk about the use of alternative energy sources :

• Direct or indirect use of solar energy (storage photocells, obtaining future fuels - hydrogen from water, etc.);
• Use and improvement of wind turbines in areas with intense winds;

• The use of energy from sea currents, ebbs and tides, and temperature changes at various depths in the seas.

The level of modern developments provokes optimistic forecasts in the energy issue in terms of both the economy and the environment. The impact on the environment has become global and requires the same solutions.