Uses of sulphuric acid
Sulphuric acid is a very useful, referred as universal chemical because it is a commonly used chemical in the world and is used in a lot of manufacturing industries, for example, car battery, manufacturing fertilisers, refining crude oil, making phosphoric acid etc. This chemical is also known as one of the most important industrial chemical. This acid has helped us in many ways, making things easier for us.
What is sulphuric acid?
Sulphuric acid is a chemical compound, H2SO4. It is colourless, odourless and very corrosive causing burn. It is an oily liquid and is sometimes called oil of vitriol. Sulphuric acid can be produced by Contact Process.
Combustion Chamber
(combustion of sulphur)
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Converter
(conversion
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Positive environmental impacts
This product of sulphuric acid, phosphoric fertiliser, can make fertile land. It can help farmers by making more land for them to grow crops. More soil nutrients are available for farmers to use. The farmers are able to use more land for farming efficiently instead of planting in small spots. Besides, the plant growth can be improved to protect the soil. More different plants can grow. The biodiversity can be increased.
Negative environmental Impacts
Even though this chemical is very helpful to farmers and is good for crop production. Over using chemical fertiliser can cause a lot of pollutions. For example water pollution occurs when the fertilisers are washed into rivers or sea. Besides, plants or crops do not absorb the fertiliser one hundred percent. They only absorbs a portion of the fertilisers leaving some remaining in the soil. When the fertiliser goes into the water, micro organism can grow like algae. This can cause eutrophication because the algae grows faster on the fertiliser washed into the sea. This can cause the algae to take up a lot of oxygen from the water. This can cause lack of oxygen in the water for the fish, suffocating the fish that lives in the area. The ecosystem will be disturbed due to the large numbers of death of
Furthermore, factory farms pollute drinking water sources. Manure and fertilizers are rich in nitrates and phosphates, which are very unhealthy for living things. They pollute groundwater sources by seeping in through lagoons of waste sewage that factory farms create. Lagoons of animal feces and spent fertilizers are a very cheap way of dealing with waste (NRDC). The chemicals travel through the soil to groundwater that the local communities depend on. Ingesting nitrate tainted water will lower the amount of oxygen a person can intake. This can lead to death for infants. Some of the pollutants can reach open waters if they are carried by rain or irrigation water, called runoff. Runoff pollutes ponds, lakes, oceans, and other open bodies of water. Polluted waters with high levels of nitrates kill fish, aquatic plants, and other aquatic organisms because they experience the same problems with oxygen intake. High levels of phosphorus in our waters cause algae blooms in open bodies of water. Algae blooms disrupt the ecosystem in the water and kill the organisms living in the water. They use up all the oxygen in
The excess use of fertilizers can result in soil erosion and can lead to land pollution.
To begin with, humans can become very sick due to chemicals in the water.As more farmland is being made, many people grow sugarcane. When they harvest the crop, the fertilizer chemicals can enter the water In the
The polluted water supply that results can become harmful to humans. Aquatic life quickly suffers the effects of watershed pollution.
Even though, fertilizers are needed to supply essential nutrients to the growth of plants; an excess of them is one of the major issues contributing to pollution in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. Fertilizers are mainly composed of two elements: nitrogen and phosphorus.(4) Throughout the years, millions of pounds of this nutrients are applied all around the Chesapeake Bay Watershed; everything not absorbed by the soil or taken up by plants eventually reaches the Chesapeake Bay through storm-water runoff. This nutrients end up creating algae blooms in the water, which reduce the amount of sunlight available to underwater grasses; not allowing plants to photosynthesize and produce the food they need to survive. Algae then decomposes creating dead zones killing fish and other species since oxygen is needed for any organism to live. (5)
In addition, the nutrients from these sources cause harm to the Gulf of Mexico because they cause an increase of algae growth in the area usually known as red tide. The algae releases toxins in the water, killing many of the marine mammal life
Harmful chemicals, manure, and pollution factor into it. These can cause large amounts of blue-green algae, which can be more of an issue then the nitrates. They take away oxygen from the water which would cause a decrease in organisms. In the article, “The muted voice in water quality debate is finally heard.” Mike Kilen (2016) says, “But while we focus on nitrates, we also can’t forget the dangerous bacteria and blue-green algae increasingly popping up in our rivers that are even more a danger to public health.” So although the fertilizer problem is important, the nitrates and phosphorous is not the only thing to worry
Current conventional farming practices are also responsible for many pollution problems that would not exist otherwise. The land where we live and grow our food, the water we drink, and the air we breathe are all being contaminated. The large amounts of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers used on our crops are poisoning the soil, air, and water. Toxic heavy metals such
water that is unpleasant to drink due to bad odor, taste, and algae. Also, acid
Another global effect of overfishing is fish farming or aquaculture. It was first started to help preserve the ocean and hoped to help people to obtain a reliable fish source. Unfortunately, what many came to realize is the downside of fish farming. One example is water contamination, where consequently waste products such as foods eaten, feces and other dead fish, are all dumped into our main water supply which contributes to water pollution. Moreover, chemicals that are used to treat the fish farms like antibiotics and algaecides are all released into the ocean; which is a real cause for concern for our oceans. Fish that come from the fish farms are pumped full of drugs, to prevent sickness in the fish but this is not healthy for us to eat. There is also a great environmental impact which includes the fact that to sustain fish farms, portions of
According Oraclethinkquest, "Water pollution has the potential to have a harmful effect on all living things including plants and animal species. Chemicals, radioactive waste, industrial waste in the water can affect species and their development. There is no
The chemical poisoning in water have a great impact on humans because it can cause brain damage and physical deformities in unborn fetuses. Pollution disrupts the natural food chain as well. Pollutants such as lead and cadmium are eaten by tiny animals. Later, these animals are consumed by fish and shellfish, and the food chain continues to be disrupted at all higher levels. Eventually, humans are affected by this process as well. People can get diseases such as hepatitis by eating seafood that has been poisoned. Besides,
Water pollution affects plants and organisms living in these bodies of water; and, in almost all cases the effect is damaging not only to individual species and populations, but also to the natural biological communities.
Modern farming and agricultural operations contribute to the degradation and contamination of our environment as well as the neighboring ecosystems. Fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, animal manure and other Argo-chemicals are rich in chemical nutrients and toxic substances which are often the major sources of agricultural pollution. The use of these various types of products can affect water quality when it rains, and the contaminated soils and water is washed into the waters or into ground waters. These chemicals can also be absorbed by plants which are then consumed by animals and even humans, harmful to animal and human health. There are many causes of this pollution.
Pollution is a damaging with fish farming. A group of wild fishing being fed to fish in the ocean will eventually transfer disease. As well, fish pollute the water from their wastes. Fish farming also affects the growth and genetics of the fish because they are not in a wild environment. More research should be completed to provide more adequate information and prevent negative outcomes for fish farming.