The Emission of CO2 from the Burning of Fossil Fuels

1998 WWLPT Environmental Science Institute: Energy (Fossil Fuels)

The Emission of CO₂ from the Burning of Fossil Fuels

by:
Leah Childers
Thomas Dileo
Pamela Hall

Summary/Abstract
Instructor's Objectives
Target Age or Ability Group Audience
Teacher Instructions/Special Precautions
Materials & Equipment Needs
Background [Prior knowledge or vocabulary necessary to complete activity]
The Student Lab
Method of Evaluation/Assessment
Extension/Reinforcement/Additional Ideas

Summary/Abstract

Students will act as problem solvers, researchers and utilize critical thinking skills.
Students will be able to explain how global warming and specifically greenhouse gases are dangerous to the earth.
Following this experiment students will be able to set up an experiment that measures CO₂ from various types of coal.
Using a Bunsen burner, a ring stand and wire gauze, students will burn four types of coal . They will entrap the gaseous material using an inverted funnel and use rubber hosing to transfer the gases to a flask being monitored by a gas censoring device, CBL and graphing calculator.

to top

Instructor's Objectives:

Students will make use of group/cooperative learning.
Students will set up their lab following directions.
Students will learn how to use the CBL and graphing calculator.
Students will determine which coal source produces the most CO₂.
Students will be able to construct a data table and a graph.
Students will make correlations between coal burning carbon dioxide and acid rain formation, leading to the greenhouse effect and increased surface temperatures of the earth.

This activity relates to the following National Standards:

Human populations use resources in the environment in order to maintain and improve their existence.
Natural resources have been and will continue to be used to maintain human population.
The earth does not have infinite resources; increasing human consumption places severe stress on the natural processes that renew some resources, and it depletes those resources that cannot be renewed.
The sun is a major source of energy for changes on the earth's surface. The sun loses energy by emitting light.
A tiny fraction of that reaches the earth, transferring energy from the sun to the earth. The sun's energy arrives as light with a range of wavelengths, consisting of visible light infrared, and ultraviolet radiation.

Target Audience or Age Group

Environmental students
Grade Level 6-10

to top

Notes to the Teacher: to top

Preparation Time:	15 min.(only preparation is to gather materials) Coal samples can be ordered from a science catalog such as Ward's Geology Catalog.
Class Time Needed:	One class period (approx. 90 min) is sufficient.
Hazards and Precautions	Be sure to use caution when burning materials Activity should be performed under a hood or in a well ventilated area. The coal, ring stand, gauze and funnel become very hot during the burning process
No. of Preparations	Students can work in groups of 4. Each group needs approx. 1 gram of each sample of coal
CBL:	Calculator Based Laboratory and TI-83 Calculators can be borrowed from Texas Instruments

Materials & Equipment Needs

(Each group of 4 needs one of the following)

Four types of coal	Bunsen burner	graph paper	graphing calculator
Anthracite	tubing	goggles	CBL
Bituminous	glass funnel	aprons	CO₂ probe
Lignite	striker/match	wire gauze	computer (optional)
Peat	ring stand	Erlenmeyer flask w/side arm	Balance

to top

Background

Glossary

Coal - A combustible rock that contains carbonaceous materials and moisture. It is formed during the earlier geological periods from the compaction of plant remains.
Lignite - A form of coal that is crumbly and contains the highest percentage of moisture. It is usually a light brown to very dark brown in color. It is used to produce electricity and has a heating value of 4,000-15,000 Btu/pound.
Bituminous(soft coal) - The most common type of coal that is smooth and shiny. It is harder than lignite and produces 11,000-15,000 Btu/pound. It is the form of coal that is used in the home.
Anthracite - It has a deep black shiny color that burns without smoke. It burns longer than any coal. It produces 15,000 Btu/pound.
Peat - A material that is in the early stages of coal development. It has a high (75%) moisture content and burns easily.
Fossil fuel - A resource such as coal, natural gas, and petroleum that is formed from the remains of plants and animals.
Nonrenewable resource - A natural resource such as coal, gas and nuclear energy whose supply is limited and cannot be replaced.
Combustion - The production of heat form the burning of coal. It produces 14,100 Btu/pound of carbon. It combines atmospheric oxygen with carbon to produce carbon dioxide.
Greenhouse gases - CO₂, O₃, H₂O, CH₄, and other trace gases that are emitted to the atmosphere to add to the global warming.
Greenhouse effect - A shield formed in the earth's atmosphere from the collection of greenhouse gases. This shield allows heat (from the sun) in but does not let the heat out.

History

The study of carbon dioxide, global warming, pollution and increased temperature of the earth goes back more than three hundred years.

Van Helmont in 1630, a Flemish scientist, called gas from burning weed gas sylvestre. He discussed in his papers the similarities between breathing (respiration) and combustion (both use up oxygen). Photosynthesis is the reverse of respiration. It uses up carbon dioxide and releases oxygen that requires sunlight and chlorophyll.

In 1792, Scottish naturalist Robert Brown (1773-1858), discovered particles within a grain moving. He tested pollen from plants, glass, coal and rock and found the same movement. He found that minuscule cell particles that could be suspended in water exhibited Brownian motion. Carbon dioxide was the first gas distinguished from air, and connected to cycles of plant and animal life. When air is breathed, or wood or other fuels are burned, carbon dioxide is released.

Svante August Arrhenius (1880's) predicted during the Industrial Revolution that factories and power plants would increase the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by burning coal.

John Dalton, an English scientist, determined the decay of all organic materials produces carbon dioxide very slowly and that the earth's atmosphere contains only 0.033 % of CO₂. In our solar system Venus and Mars have atmospheres rich in carbon dioxide. Also, in ocean water, it plays a role in marine plant photosynthesis.

Jan Ingen Hoaz, a Dutch physiologist, stated the age old superstition "plants purify air during the day and poison it at night." Carbon dioxide is used as a fire extinguisher, refrigerant, dry ice and to chill food. Also, carbon dioxide is used as a greenhouse gas which traps earth's heat.

In 1938, British physicist G. S. Callender determined that higher levels of carbon dioxide had caused warmer temperatures in America and Europe since Arrhenius's day. Trees extract carbon dioxide from the air. Their depletion upset the delicate balance of gases in the atmosphere. In rare circumstances, carbon dioxide can endanger life. In 1986 a huge cloud of gas exploded in Lake Nyos, a volcanic lake in Northwest Cameroon, suffocated more than 1,700 people and 8,000 animals. Today, scientists can control this phenomenon by slowly pumping the gas up from the bottom of the lake.

British chemist Morris William Travers (1872-1961) measured the temperature of liquid gases accurately. He was interested in furnaces, fuel technologies and coal gasification. Coal produces hydrocarbons when burned. Methane(CH₄), simplest of all organic compounds, is produced when organic matter is digested by bacteria in the absence of air, creating natural gas. This gas contains 50-90% methane. Most natural gas lies with coal and oil deposits buried deep beneath the earth and is a product of the decomposition of ancient swamps and bogs. Coal is used for cooking, heating and operating motor vehicles. Coal stays in one spot unlike oil which rises upward through tiny cracks and tiny holes in nearby rocks.

Interdisciplinary lesson with history: the Middle East possesses nearly two thirds of all recoverable oil. North America possesses 4-8%. Most of the world's refineries are in the United States. By the 1950's, oil had replaced coal as the United States most important fuel, just as coal had replaced wood 150 years earlier. Oil has displaced coal as the major railroad and shipping fuel. Also, power generation uses mostly oil.

In the 1960's the Middle East created OPEC, oil supplies were soon suspiciously short, and oil suppliers were soon disrupted. Political instability during the 1970's caused the price of crude oil to jump dramatically.

A machine called a Seismograph is used to detect the speed of seismic waves traveling in Earth which gives clues about different materials contained in Earth, such as oil and coal.

Major Coal Production States in the U.S.

[Major Coal Production States in the U.S.]

Since the first coal mine opened in the U.S., it is estimated that 56 billion tons of coal have been produced. The following are the top 5 coal producing states from 1980-1991:

Wyoming - 194 million tons
West Virginia - 166 million tons
Kentucky - 157 million tons
Pennsylvania - 66 million tons
Illinois - 59 million tons

to top

The Student Lab to top

Problem: Which of the four types of coal produces the most CO₂?
Gather Information: Background
Hypothesis: If a sample of each type of coal is burned, then anthracite will produce the most CO₂.

Four types of coal	Bunsen burner	graph paper	graphing calculator
Anthracite Coal	tubing	goggles	CBL
Bituminous Coal	glass funnel	aprons	CO₂ probe
Lignite Coal	striker/match	wire gauze	computer (optional)
Peat	ring stand	Erlenmeyer flask w/side arm

Procedure:

Wear goggles and apron.
Weigh 1 gram of each sample of coal.
Place wire cause on top of ring stand.
Place Bunsen burner under ring stand.
Attach rubber tubing to a funnel and position the funnel so that it sits on the gauze.
Attach the other end of the tubing to the arm of an Erlenmeyer flask.(See fig. 1)
Set the CBL, graphing calculator and CO₂ probe according to the directions. Use the ChemBio Program on the graphing calculator.
Place the carbon dioxide probe in the top of the Erlymelyer flask Make sure that all connections are tight.
Burn one sample of the coal under the funnel and collect data for 10 minutes.
Graph the data.
Repeat this procedure for each the other samples of coal.
(Notes: The flask needs to be aired out between each monitoring of gas. Simply remove the probe for a few min.)

Observation:
Weight of each coal sample:

Anthracite = 3.179g

Bituminous = 3.517g

Peat = 3.086g

Collection of CO₂Emissions

Time(seconds)	Control(ppm)	Anthracite(ppm)	Bituminous(ppm)	Peat(ppm)
30	2.496	2.357	1.338	1.030
60	1.881	1.842	0.666	0.571
90	1.847	2.502	0.565	0.493
120	1.931	2.485	0.744	0.504
150	1.982	2.502	0.924	1.578
180	1.982	2.485	1.019	2.496
210	1.993	2.502	1.147	2.485
240	2.032	2.485	1.248	2.502
270	2.049	2.502	1.332	2.485
300	2.149	2.485	1.422	2.496
330	2.133	2.502	1.483	2.485
360	2.183	2.485	1.562	2.502
390	2.194	2.502	1.629	2.485
420	2.183	2.502	1.702	2.485
450	2.217	2.491	1.746	2.496
480	2.250	2.502	1.836	2.485
510	2.239	2.485	1.937	2.496
540	2.261	2.502	2.015	2.491
570	2.267	2.491	2.043	2.496
600	2.295	2.496	2.071	2.491

[Graph depicting the levels of CO2 emitted into atmosphere by coal]

Conclusion:

Based on our data, anthracite and peat emit the most CO₂ into the atmosphere, although it appears that anthracite produce more CO₂ over a longer period of time. Peat started out slower but at approx. 3 minutes it was at the same level as anthracite. Our hypothesis was somewhat proven correct, but we were surprised that peat produced the same level of CO₂ as anthracite.

to top

Methods of Evaluation/Assessment

Culminating Performance

Have students design a lab to measure CO₂ emissions in other resources such as various types of wood or paper products.
Have students construct graphs and charts using data collected.
Have students research alternate resources for energy.

to top

Extension/Reinforcement/Additional Ideas

Portfolio Ideas

Have students read related literature about coal and create their own stories, poems and songs that could be placed in a science portfolio. Coal Mining in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era
Have students research various coal industry careers. Careers

to top

References Including Web Addresses

Teacher Resource List

Kentucky Coal and Our Environment

"Coal." Considine, Douglas M.

"Van Nostrand's Scientific Encyclopedia" 1995 Eighth edition.

Miller, David. The Cambridge Dictionary of Scientists. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996.

to top

Woodrow Wilson Leadership Program in Environmental Science

lpt@www.woodrow.org
The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation

webmaster@woodrow.org
CN 5281, Princeton NJ 08543-5281

Tel:(609)452-7007

Fax:(609)452-0066