Nichole He – Just another UBC Blogs site

Cloud Seeding for Acid Rain

Decades ago, individuals had a hard time controlling the flow of water particularly when there was a flood so that their cops could not be water logged. In the current century, the opposite problem is being faced; there is intense water scarcity that has threatened the lives of farmers and their farms (Guilford, 2013). Nowadays, instead of controlling the floods and excess water, there is the making of artificial rain. Artificial rain exists through the process known as cloud seeding, which is ideally a chemical process by which chemicals are launched in the clouds that aid in the acceleration of the process for creating ice crystals that in the eventual end, turn to become rain. This enema is one that has left people baffled, though for the scientists, it is a purely simple concept that lies on combating issues of severe drought. Cloud seeding is a form of modification in which the weather gets to have modifications done where the type or amount of precipitation in the clouds is changed though the dispersion of substances in the atmosphere. These substances act as ice nuclei, or cloud condensation, and they alter the processes that exist within the cloud, hence the rain. The intent of this is to increase the level of precipitation, such as in snow or rain, or decrease fog and hail as in airports.

Cloud seeding can be done by ground generators, plane, or rocket. (Image provided by http://www.snowyhydro.com.au)

Ideally, the process involves temperature differences. The most common way is through the use of silver iodide or dry ice. The temperature of dry ice lies in the range of -78 degrees Celsius. By spreading the dry ice in a cloud that is cold and one that lacks ice crystals will eventually form rain without the aid of the ice crystal nuclei (Central Weather Bureau, 2016). When the temperature of a cloud is said to be above 0 degrees Celsius, then the cloud can be defined as a warm cloud, and when it is below 0 degrees Celsius, then it gets to be known as a cold cloud. A warm cloud will have a process where small water drops become larger through coalescence and collision, which in turn break the buoyancy and fall out of the bottom (Central Weather Bureau, 2016). This is what gets to be known as rain. In a cold cloud, the ice crystals can also in a way grow to become larger and also break the buoyancy of the cloud and fall to the bottom of the cloud. When these crystals pass through a 0 degrees Celsius temperature, they melt and get to become drops of rain. This is the natural process, but when the water drops in the cloud are either too small or are not yet formed enough to form ice crystals that are enough to form rain, chemistry gets into the picture. Artificial ways are used to create crystals of ice or help water drops grow thus facilitating the process of precipitation. Spreading the dry ice reduces the temperature of a cold cloud, thus there will be transformation from water that has been super cooled into crystals of ice, which in the eventual end become drops of rain. Silver iodide is a component that acts as a nuclei for ice-crystals that help and facilitate the process of water solidification below -5 degree Celsius into crystals of ice. Rain will be formed through the process of crystals of ice being under water drops coexistence (Central Weather Bureau, 2016).

Reference:

Snowyhudro [Online]; Science Lab; Houston, Texas, May 21, 2013,http://www.snowyhydro.com.au/waterenvironment/cloud-seeding/cloud-seeding-how-does-it-work/ (Accessed Oct 31, 2016)

Using the Sun to Power the Earth

Several decades ago a large portion of the scientific community had termed sustainable nuclear fusion, which is the process that powers the sun unattainable here on earth. This was due to the fact that reaching the ignition point where the nuclear reaction becomes self-sustaining seems impossible due to various issues. For instance, such processes requiring massive amounts of energy to just start and the output being less than the required energy input. Thus, the hopes of one day abandoning unsustainable approaches to energy production which are still in use seemed farfetched, however, there after carrying out intense research on this issue I believe that there may be hope after all. As I earlier mentioned one obstacle that stood in the way of attaining beneficial nuclear fusion reaction, was the indifference in power input and power generated where the latter was lesser than the former. Never the less, this barrier has been broken demonstrating that it may be still possible to use the sun’s approach to energy here on earth.

Chemical process of Nuclear Fusion Source: www.extremetech.com

This was reported by various studies and experiments, which have been conducted worldwide in the elusive search for nuclear fusion energy. An example I stumbled upon was the article published in Nature an international scientific journal where it stated that energy created exceeded the amount used for the fusion process (Hurricane, Callahan, Casey, Celliers, Cerjan, Dewald, & Kline, 2014). This has been made possible due to various advancement in the process of achieving nuclear energy with the main ones being Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) and Magnetic confinement Fusion (MCF). These have allowed better control of these reactions and such not only allow more power to be generated but also sustains the possibility of one-day achieving ignition in these reactions. Progress is also being made on other fronts in the field of Nuclear energy. For instance, one key process in nuclear fusion is achieving and sustaining high plasma temperatures, and scientists in China have gone beyond the one-minute mark in the nuclear reactions (Rundel, 2016). Such achievements increasingly show that human beings can harness the energy process of the sun, which fuses lighter atoms into heavier ones and at the same time, creates energy is in the reach of humanity, however more effort is required.

Advanced Nuclear reactor outlook source: www.sciencealert.com

Nuclear fusion power plants may be something that will be achieved in the next decade years says experts responsible for the “International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project” (Clery, 2015). Nevertheless, I and others who have looked into this issue point out that more efforts are necessary for this feat to be accomplished and this are not only required from the scientific community but the social and political spheres of the globe. Nuclear fusion would mean abundant and sustainable energy for the world and this brings on endless possibilities for the human race. In its onset in the 50’s and 60’s, scientist saw this process of energy production as achievable but underestimated the complexities around it. However, their aspirations of achieving large-scale power production through this process are still alive as more and more breakthroughs are being achieved. The last obstacle seems to be that of achieving ignition and though this seems like the hardest barrier, I am optimistic that human ingenuity, which has triumphed for centuries, will allow the successful creation of energy through nuclear fusion.

References

Daniel Clery, (2015). “ITER fusion project to take at least 6 years longer than planned.” Science Magazine. Retrieved from: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2015/11/iter-fusion-project-take-least-6-years-longer-planned

Hurricane, O. A., Callahan, D. A., Casey, D. T., Celliers, P. M., Cerjan, C., Dewald, E. L., … & Kline, J. L. (2014). Fuel gain exceeding unity in an inertially confined fusion implosion. Nature, 506(7488), 343-348.

Micheal Rundel, (2016). “Chinese team makes unexpected fusion breakthrough.” Wired. Retrieved from: http://www.wired.co.uk/article/china-fusion-breakthrough

The Weapons of the Terracotta Army

Due to the love of history, I assessed on the chrome plated mystery of the Terracotta army’s weapons. Qin was the first Emperor of China who prepared well for his after-life, during his sway, he built and made to order an everlasting army of 6000 soldiers, cavalry plus charioteers. This solders stood in formation, buried around the foot of his tomb to protect him for time without end.

Pit one, which is 230 metres (750 ft) long and 62 metres (203 ft) wide,[30] contains the main army of more than 6,000 figures.[31] Pit one has 11 corridors, most of which are more than 3 metres (9.8 ft) wide and paved with small bricks with a wooden ceiling supported by large beams and posts. This design was also used for the tombs of nobles and would have resembled palace hallways when built. The wooden ceilings were covered with reed mats and layers of clay for waterproofing, and then mounded with more soil raising them about 2 to 3 metres (6 ft 7 in to 9 ft 10 in) above the surrounding ground level when completed. (cc) Wikipedia

What surprised me more was the bronze weapons that armed the officers, the swords that were made from them were still sharp and unchanged by the more than 2000 years that had passed since they were forgotten. Instead of the brown collusion that one would look forward to in bronze manufactured articles, the swords’ blades were shinning. The underlying principle behind this is a mystery. Analysis conducted by Chinese research institute of nonferrous metals along with Chinese Academy of geological sciences suggested that 10-15 micron coating full of chromium oxide equivalent to 2 % chromium was found that is why, for two millennia this thin coat sheltered the weapons from the negative effects of time plus chemistry. Click here for more information.

Did the very old Chinese metallurgists have chrome technologies long time ago as recommended by curators of the empire army before it was invented in the west? Was a 10 micron weakening layer of chromium oxide really sufficient to pass on anti corrosion properties? Over the superseding time did the chromium polish lose its shine as it slowly tarnished, resulting in the shinning we see? Or was there enlightenment for the spotless weapons?

During an interview with ABC documentary in the year 2003, Prof Frank Walsh, an electrochemist acknowledged that the heat from the fires along with the occurrence of carbon would have supplied a reducing environment such that chromium atoms could have roamed to the surface of the weapons. Hence they oxidized as well as created a protecting coating. Therefore, this natural clarification is reasonable because metals do disperse over time. The hilt has evidently corroded. If the slow roaming of chromium to the surface of the weapon is in charge, why didn’t this method occur in another place on the weapons? In all probability they could have derided up a solution of Cr3+ ions all along with electrode Fe atoms, in this manner plummeting themselves to Cr atoms. Apparently one cannot chrome -plate a weapon minimally by marinating it in solution of Cr3+ ions, but it does not give the impression completely without a solution that the course of action could be achieved with no an electricity make available.

Subsequently chemists, time to resurrect discussions. What do you believe is going on? Could any person come up with a way that the antique Chinese might have with intent or out of the blue protected the missiles? Or what in addition may have consequence a deterioration free blade, while the rest of the weapon is flecked.

-Nichole He

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trWGHTZ2f1I

Reference:

[geobeats]. (2012, Nov 30). Chinese Terracotta Soldiers Carried Real Weapons. [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trWGHTZ2f1I.