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Unit 6: Chemical Engineering as a Career

Unit #6: Chemical Engineering as a Career Chemical engineering is a very common career choice in the field of chemistry and engineering. It is an intersection of many disciplines, including basic and applied sciences, economics, and health and safety. Chemical engineering graduates use a series of operations to sustainably process raw natural materials into finished products. They work in any number of industries and during their careers, they may face a variety of challenges, such as optimizing processes and monitoring pollution, converting waste materials into renewable energy, processing foods and drugs, and manufacturing new materials. In this article, ten reasons are given for why you should become a chemical engineer. Some of the most intriguing reasons include: the money, working for big companies, the travel, the lifestyle, and how it’s recession-proof. Since the global recession in 2008, by and large, chemical engineers have retained their standard of living. In a period
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Unit 5: Negative Environmental Impacts of Lawn Mowers

Blog Post #5: Gas-Powered Lawn Mowers Gas-powered lawn mowers are machines that use revolving blades to cut a grass to a desired height. The most common lawn mower you will find would be a gas-powered lawn mower. They are the most efficient at cutting grass quickly but they have a negative aspect, their emittance of greenhouse gases. In this article, it is said that each weekend, approximately 54 million Americans mow their lawns, using 800 million gallons of gas per year and producing tons of air pollutants. Garden equipment engines, which have had unregulated emissions until the late 1990's, emit high levels of carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides, producing up to 5% of USA’s air pollution and a good deal more in metropolitan areas. Some interesting facts about gas-powered lawn mowers include that one hour of mowing is equivalent to driving 350 miles, one gas mower spews 87 lbs. of the greenhouse gas CO2, and 54 lbs. of other pollutants into the air
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Unit 4: Ethical and Environmental Impacts of Bottled Water

Despite there being thousands of people, many of them children in third world countries, dying every year from drinking contaminated water, we still spend millions of dollars on bottled water. So, why do we still spend so much money on bottled water when many of these third world countries can’t afford to build water treatment plants, and when we have clean tap water. According to Tessa Marano from 1 Million Women, people from developed countries still contribute to this crisis because of marketing. It is stated in the article that through marketing, we are brainwashed into thinking that bottled water is cleaner, healthier, crisper and tastier than regular old tap water. ("Why Do We Continue To Buy Bottled Water? | 1 Million Women", 2018) This plays such a big ethical issue on how we abuse our water consumption from not only drinking water but also showering, bathing, brushing our teeth, etc. A study has estimated that bottling water produces 2.5 million tonnes of CO2 in Am
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Unit 3: Salt and Sand on Highways During Winter Storms

Salt and Sand on Highways During Winter Storms Winter storms occur very frequently in Canada which is why salt and sand is needed to get rid of the snow and ice, especially on the highways. According to the Vancouver Courier, The most efficient way to use a salt-sand mix is by making the mixture, one-part salt to 12 parts sand for increased abrasion and traction. In an article by the Vancouver Courier, it states that by using correct ratios of salt and sand, it will still have its freezing point depression while not having highly negative effects on the environment. There are other mixtures used in order to melt ice and snow including, salt brine — a diluted mixture of salt and water, and calcium chloride (CaCl2) "We make that ourselves," (Cloutier, 2018). By using “salt brine”, there is usually a better distribution of salt since it stays in the pores of the road for a couple of days. Unlike salt and sand mixtures, the brine will have a better distribution of the salt
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Unit 2: Chemical Reactions During the Manufacturing of Paper and Its Effect on Local Populations, and the Environment

Unit 2: Chemical Reactions During the Manufacturing of Paper and Its Effect on Local Populations, and the Environment https://sciencing.com/chemical-reactions-used-manufacturing-paper-13973.html This article strongly relates to what we learned about combustion reactions and double displacement reactions. During the kraft pulping process, Sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) reacts with lime or calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2) which is a double displacement reaction. This reaction produces NaOH and CaCO3 (limestone). Calcium carbonate (CaCO3) is burned (combustion) to give back calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2 and CO2). In this article, it talks about the various processes of manufacturing paper including kraft pulping, acid sulfite pulping, bleaching, and wet strengthening. Kraft pulping is the process of wood chips being combined with a mixture of sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide in water at a high temperature and with great pressure. By doing this, the negatively charged sulfide ions react with
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Unit 1: Properties of Bleach (Sodium Hypochlorite) and their Effect on the Environment

Bleach is a generic name for a variety of chemical products which include products to whiten clothes, lighten hair colour and remove stains. I will be specifically talking about Clorox Bleach which is a dilute solution of sodium hypochlorite. However sodium hypochlorite, the bleaching, stain removal, and disinfecting ingredient isn’t the only ingredient in Clorox Bleach. Other ingredients include sodium chloride (table salt), which thickens and stabilizes the solution; Sodium carbonate (washing soda), which is an alkaline cleaning agent that breaks down alcohol and grease stains; and Sodium hydroxide (lye) which is also an alkaline cleaning agent that breaks down fatty, oily or acidic stains; and finally, Sodium polyacrylate which is a dispersant that prevents loosened soils from depositing back on fabrics during the laundry cycle. The Clorox Company makes its own sodium hypochlorite by buying commercial chlorine, which is prepared by passing an electric current
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