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| Pollution caused due to Combustion of Fossil Fuels |
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| With Man's ever increasing need for energy, he has been using fossil fuels indiscriminately. In the process, harmful materials contributing to air pollution are being produced. |
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| Coal is mainly elemental carbon with small amounts of hydrogen, oxygen, sulphur and nitrogen. |
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| On complete combustion of coal, carbon dioxide is the main product formed. This is non-toxic, but contributes to the green house effect if produced in excess. |
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| Small amounts of oxides of nitrogen and oxides of sulphur formed are responsible for acid rain. |
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| On incomplete combustion of coal, carbon monoxide and unburnt carbon particles are also formed. This causes carbon monoxide poisoning and formation of smog, blackening of buildings etc. |
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| Petroleum is a mixture of hydrocarbons. On combustion, it produces mainly carbon dioxide and water vapour. |
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| However, on incomplete combustion, they produce carbon monoxide, unburnt hydrocarbons etc. They also produce oxides of nitrogen. |
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| Petrol is an important fraction of petroleum used in motor vehicles. To increase the efficiency of petrol engines, an anti-knock agent, lead tetra ethyl is added to slow down the rate of combustion. |
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| Lead tetra ethyl releases harmful lead compounds into the atmosphere. Lead being a cumulative poison, is extremely toxic. |
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| From the above, we can infer that pollution caused by petroleum based fuels is more harmful than that of coal. Moreover, coal is generally used in a fixed place while petrol is used in vehicles which are constantly on the move. Thus, it is easier to control pollution due to combustion of coal as compared to that of petrol. |
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