Flaga, Marco Polo B.
BS ChE-5
ChE Elective 2 (Energy Engineering)
Test II Essay – Midterm Examination
1. Explain briefly the following environmental impacts:
a. Most geothermal reservoirs are found deep underground, well
below groundwater reservoirs – they pose almost no negative
impact on water quality and use. Occasionally, geothermal
effluents, if stored rather than injected back into the system,
deliver beneficial environmental effects. Geothermal fluids used for
electricity are injected back into geothermal reservoirs using wells
with thick casing to prevent cross-contamination of brines with
groundwater systems. They are not released into surface
waterways.
b. 1
a. Most geothermal reservoirs are found deep underground, well below groundwater
reservoirs – they pose almost no negative impact on water quality and use.
Occasionally, geothermal effluents, if stored rather than injected back into the
system, deliver beneficial environmental effects. Geothermal fluids used for
electricity are injected back into geothermal reservoirs using wells with thick casing
to prevent cross-contamination of brines with groundwater systems. They are not
released into surface waterways.
b. Many areas in our world developing at a rapid pace, resulting in construction of
multi-storied buildings on hill slopes in large numbers, in spite of unfavorable
conditions for construction. The buildings transmit their load to the hill slope
through foundations. It results in increase in shear stress, which may cause
instability of hill slopes, when exceeding the shear strength of the soil.
c. Global atmospheric methane concentrations have continued to rise in recent years,
having already more than doubled since the Industrial Revolution. Further
environmental change, especially climate change, in the twenty-first century has the
potential to radically alter global methane fluxes. Importantly, changes in
temperature, precipitation, and net primary production may induce positive climate
feedback effects in dominant natural methane sources such as wetlands, soils, and
aquatic ecosystems.
2. How does OTEC works in real life?
Ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) generates electricity indirectly from solar
energy by harnessing the temperature difference between the sun-warmed surface of
tropical oceans and the colder deep waters. OTEC power systems operate as cyclic heat
engines. They receive thermal energy through heat transfer from surface sea water
warmed by the sun, and transform a portion of this energy to electrical power. The
Second Law of Thermodynamics precludes the complete conversion of thermal energy
in to electricity. A portion of the heat extracted from the warm sea water must be
rejected to a colder thermal sink.
3. Explain how fuel cell (using hydrogen) can help mitigate climate change.
Low carbon-in-energy economy, with the use of hydrogen as an alternative fuel to
substitute carbon containing fuel, is the “Holy Grail” of the scientific community.
Hydrogen is a promising future energy carrier with well-known advantages, and the
interest in it (mainly as an alternative transportation fuel) stems from its ability to
power fuel cells in zero-emission electric vehicles that can help mitigate climate change.
4. Explain how ocean energy will affect biodiversity.
Environmental impact from OTEC is the alternation of hydrological conditions, such as changes
in temperature, acidity and salinity, and increase of nutrients in the surface water due to mixing
with nutrient rich deep water. Increase of nutrients can lead to eutrophication which in
oligotrophic tropical ecosystems can have detrimental effects on important coastal ecosystems
such as coral reefs and seagrass beds. If the OTEC discharge water is released at a sufficient
depth such effects can be avoided, at the expense of higher installation costs.
5. Explain the mechanisms of at least five (5) energy storage technology.
a. Geothermal - The Geothermal Battery Energy Storage concept uses solar radiance to heat
water on the surface which is then injected into the earth. This hot water creates a high
temperature geothermal reservoir acceptable for conventional geothermal electricity
production, or for direct heat applications.
b. Wind - Pumped-hydroelectric energy storage (PHES) is the most mature and largest capacity
storage technique available. A pump and turbine have been combined in a single device
optimised for this purpose. PHES consists of two large reservoirs located at different
elevations and a number of pump turbine units.
c. Solar - Flow batteries have been considered promising for as long as anyone’s thought about
long-duration storage, but that hasn’t given them many advantages in the [Link]
archetypal flow battery company is either insolvent or still aspiring to its first substantial
commercial deployment. But a lot of flow battery scientists swear by the technology, which
circulates liquid electrolytes to charge or discharge electrons via redox reaction.
d. Ocean - The Ocean Battery is a scalable, modular solution for large
scale storage of electricity that is produced by renewable sources such as wind turbines and
floating solar farms at sea. It is a pumped hydro system in a box that provides utility-
scale energy storage of 2 – 10 MWh per unit
e. Thermal - Liquid Air Energy Storage (LAES) uses electricity to cool air until it liquefies, stores
the liquid air in a tank, brings the liquid air back to a gaseous state (by exposure to ambient
air or with waste heat from an industrial process) and uses that gas to turn a turbine and
generate electricity.
