Myplan8

Tag: CFC

  • This 1920s Inventor Sped Up Climate Change With His Inventions

    This 1920s Inventor Sped Up Climate Change With His Inventions

    While many technologies have helped people and advanced society, others once hailed as breakthroughs today have detrimental implications. Once-wonderful insecticide DDT had far-reaching harmful consequences on the ecosystem, as did plastic packaging. Two innovations—leaded gasoline and chlorofluorocarbons—cause the most harm (to human and planetary health) (CFCs). 

    Thomas Midgley Jr., a chemical engineer from Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, who wore glasses, invented both.

    Low-quality gasoline at the turn of the century caused engines to knock, reducing performance and economy and often causing mechanical failure. In 1916, Charles Kettering, inventor of the electric starter, asked Thomas Midgley to produce a gasoline additive that would boost car engine performance. Midgley opted for ethanol after many fruitless efforts (the same ethyl alcohol found in wines and spirits). Midgley patented an alcohol-gasoline anti-knock fuel in 1920.

    Midgley and Kettering hailed ethanol as the “fuel of the future,” but they couldn’t patent the technique and couldn’t profit from it. Prohibition made it easier for farmers to produce ethanol from corn, which increased home distillation. Further, ethanol’s dual purpose as a fuel source made it unpalatable to the oil business, whose support the embryonic automakers sector needed.

    The dark discovery by Midgley

    Midgley and Kettering had moved on to General Motors by this time, and Alfred P. Sloan (often called the “father of planned obsolescence”) had abandoned their attempt to sell gasoline mixed with ethanol in 1921. Sloan’s plan to fight Ford’s Model-T comprised flashier cars with more powerful engines, but engine knock remained a problem. GM sent Midgley back to the lab to build a cheap, profitable gasoline additive.

    The first in the US to include lead was ethyl-branded gasoline. BEV Norton’s fault. The first leaded gasoline in the US was called “Ethyl.” To Norton’s credit Midgley discovered tetraethyl lead in December 1921. (TEL). Karl Jacob Löwig developed TEL in 1853, but Midgley discovered that adding it to gasoline prevents engine banging when a cool flame burns fuel too early. TEL disturbs this process, allowing combustion to occur at the correct time, and enhancing engine compression, speed and fuel economy. TEL was inexpensive to develop and could be trademarked, opening the door to significant income for GM.

    Due to the detrimental health effects of lead, the word “lead” was never used when the first leaded gasoline was introduced in Dayton (Ohio, USA) in February 1923 under the brand name “Ethyl.” This name evoked discarded ethanol.

    First TEL deaths

    Midgley was vice president of the Ethyl Corporation, a collaboration between GM and Standard Oil (now Exxon) that commissioned Dupont to produce “Ethyl fluid” (essentially TEL plus red dye). Despite the company’s assertion that TEL was safe, numerous states outlawed it after hundreds of workers hallucinated, went insane, and died at a new New Jersey factory.

    Midgley held a press conference in 1924 to tout the TEL’s safety. Source: Wikipedia Midgley praised TEL’s security in 1924. Wikipedia photos

    After recovering from lead poisoning in 1923, Midgley participated in a press briefing on 30 October 1924 to illustrate TEL’s safety. He then rubbed TEL into his hands and inhaled its fumes for 60 seconds in front of the journalists, insisting he would be OK doing this every day and blaming the illness on staff who hadn’t followed safety rules. Midgley knew TEL was toxic. In 1922, DuPont’s chairman described it as a “colourless liquid with a sweetish odour that causes lead poisoning swiftly if absorbed through the skin.”

    Midgley ignored TEL’s risks for its financial benefits. According to his 1925 scientific conference presentation, “tetraethyl lead is the only known material that can achieve these [anti-knock] findings, which are important to the economical use of all automotive equipment by the general population.” He didn’t say he’d altered his view regarding ethanol as an anti-knock component since it burns cleanly.

    Health consequences

    Large corporations convinced the US Surgeon General that the health dangers of lead-tainted gas were insignificant compared to the economic benefits. By 1936, 90% of U.S. gasoline contained ethyl fluid, having quickly surmounted regulatory barriers from states and health agencies. Leaded gasoline became standard globally in later decades. In 2000, Mexico City’s four million cars produced 32 metric tonnes of lead daily.

    People stopped using lead-tainted gasoline in the early 21st century. CC-licensed photo (CC0) Most industrialised nations eliminated leaded gasoline by the early 2000s. Pixabay’s public-domain image.

    Leaded gasoline was a public health hazard. Lead has no physiological use and harms the kidneys and nervous system. It can cause children to lose their IQ and become more aggressive and impulsive. Research links childhood lead exposure to violent criminality.

    In the 1980s, the U.S. began phasing out leaded gasoline as Americans learned of its health risks (only Algeria continues to use leaded petrol today). Due to the widespread usage of leaded gasoline for nearly a century, the metal is now embedded in the planet’s surface, atmosphere, water supply, and human bodies. According to a 1992 research in The New England Journal of Medicine, modern people have 625 times more lead in their skeletons than pre-Columbian North Americans. Leaded gasoline causes 90% of lead poisoning in poor children, according to the WHO. 15 to 18 million youngsters suffer chronic brain damage.

    Discover of Freon

    Thomas Midgley’s next great innovation addressed a problem with General Motors refrigerators of the 1920s. This equipment sometimes emits corrosive gases like sulphur dioxide or methyl formate (highly toxic if inhaled and flammable).

    Under Midgley’s leadership, scientists invented dichlorodifluoromethane, the first chlorofluorocarbon (CFC), a non-toxic, non-flammable refrigerant commercialised Freon-12. Midgley blew out a candle after inhaling the gas to show the American Chemical Society its effectiveness.

    Midgley’s next concept was to fix refrigerators. James Vaughan Midgley’s second invention was refrigerators. Chlorofluorocarbons were first synthesised in 1939 and immediately became used as refrigerants, aerosol propellants, and solvents. Midgley didn’t realise that these gases would blast a hole in Earth’s ozone layer, which absorbs cancer-causing UV light. Even though the CFC-caused gap has stabilised, the situation is still worrying and will take decades to repair.

    Think about this:

    Midgley can be forgiven for the CFC debacle, but tetraethyl lead’s dangers were immediately apparent. Thomas Midgley was honoured for his two discoveries and 170 patents, including ethyl gasoline. Midgley was paralysed by polio in 1940. He was an innovator. Therefore, he let others help him move using ropes and pullies he built. He was strangled to death on November 2, 1944, at age 55. His final idea only injured him, unlike his first two, which were global.

  • Two inventions you can’t live without are responsible for ozone depletion

    Two inventions you can’t live without are responsible for ozone depletion

    Have you heard that the refrigerants used in air conditioners and refrigerators can harm the natural world? Both chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other refrigerants are recognised as harmful to the ozone layer, and some of them also significantly impact greenhouse gases.

    Unfortunately, the development of refrigerants has not been an event free of debate. The greenhouse impact caused by driving your car for six months is comparable to that caused by one kilogramme of refrigerant R410a. Consequently, India exercises stringent control over the entry of artificial greenhouse gases and completely prohibits the importation of gases such as CFCs.

    Refrigerants can be released into the air due to malfunctioning equipment, improper maintenance, or disposal. Be careful to choose only highly trained and experienced service professionals: When working with refrigerants, a licenced technician will know how to do it with the most negligible negative impact on the surrounding environment.

    The ozone layer is essential for absorbing potentially harmful UV radiation emitted by the sun. Still, it has been depleted by many chemicals that humans use to keep their homes cool. UV radiation has been associated with various adverse health effects, including sunburn, skin cancer, accelerated ageing, and blindness.

    What exactly makes up the ozone layer?

    Ozone (O3) is a naturally occurring gas with a pungent odour but is colourless and odourless to the human eye. It is created when certain bacteria in the atmosphere decompose organic substances in the environment. Normal oxygen molecules (O2) are unreacted and exposed to the sun’s ultraviolet radiation, which produces this substance. Because of a positive reaction that occurs in ozone, a considerable amount of the harmful radiation from the sun does not reach Earth.

    The ozone layer can be found in the stratosphere, located between the altitudes of six and thirty miles above the earth’s surface. There are only three ozone molecules for every ten million air molecules in the stratosphere, which is a percentage of 0.00006%. Even though it only makes up a tiny percentage of the atmosphere, ozone is crucial in ensuring that the sun’s rays are safe for all life forms.

    Natural processes produce ozone and then break it down. Still, artificial chemicals called CFCs in the atmosphere prevent new ozone from being Pradesh creation of a “hole in the ozone layer” has been attributed to the use of these chemicals, which were common ingredients in early refrigerants. It is more accurate to say that ozone depletion results in a weakening of the ozone layer than it is to say that actual holes are being created in the lactating.

    Just what do we mean when we talk about refrigerants?

    In early air conditioning systems, some of the refrigerants that were accessible included ammonia, methyl chloride, and sulphur dioxide. In the 1920s, methyl chloride and sulphur dioxide were banned from usage because of their toxicity and chlorofluorocarbons were introduced to take their place (CFCs). Before sulphur dioxide and methyl chloride risks were recognised, their use in the industry was prevalent for several decades.

    How much damage does it create in the ozone layer when refrigerants are used?

    It wasn’t until the 1970s that scientists realised the ozone layer was losing approximately 4% of its mass every decade. The significant decrease in ozone levels discovered for the first time in 1985 was attributed by the British Antarctic Survey to faulty instruments. It was established that the principal cause of the depletion was the excessive use of synthetic substances, such as CFCs, which were released into the atmosphere through the emission of aerosols and refrigerants. Ozone molecules are susceptible to damage from chlorine and bromine, which are produced when CFCs break down in the presence of sunshine.

    “Polar stratospheric clouds” form when temperatures drop below freezing, making polar regions more susceptible to ozone depletion. These clouds are the ideal environment for the chemical processes that deplete the ozone layer. Consequently, the amount of ozone in some regions is lower than the average for the entire planet, leaving behind “holes” or sparse areas.

    In the spring, there is a significant depletion of the ozone layer in the stratosphere above Antarctica, which results in the formation of the so-called Antarctic ozone hole.

    The importation of autos, boats, and others The air conditioner is commonly seen in homes, workplaces, and other types of buildings worldwide. Air conditioners are available in various sizes and configurations, ranging from enormous central chiller systems to small window units. However, they all have in common: they utilise refrigerants to eliminate heat.

    What is the Montreal Protocol?

    In September 1987, the Montreal Protocol, which aimed to eradicate ozone-depleting refrigerants, became legally binding. This agreement outlined a timetable for developing zone-safe substitutes for the substances that deplete the ozone layer. There has not been another international agreement that has received as many signatures as this one has (197 countries).

    The usage of refrigerants that deplete the ozone layer and, more subsequently, refrigerants that contribute to global warming has significantly decreased since the pact was implemented

    Which of these refrigerants poses the most significant?

    The main uses of ozone-depleting substances include:

    CFCs and HCFCs in refrigerators and air conditioners,

    HCFCs and halons in fire extinguishers,

    CFCs and HCFCs in foam,

    CFCs and HCFCs as aerosol propellants, and

    methyl bromide for fumigation of soil, structures and goods to be imported or exported.

    Chlorodifluoromethane was a common refrigerant used in older models of air conditioning units for homes (R-22). Both the ODP and GWP values of the refrigerant R-22 are incredibly high (GWP). Currently, the Environmental Protection Agency is working on outlawing this drug.

    Even though it does not include chlorine, its successor, R-410A, also has a high global warming potential (GWP). Chemists are still looking for the “ideal” refrigerant, but they are not optimistic that they will find it soon. All we can do is keep our fingers crossed that choices like this will quickly become more mainstream.

    Making the switch to a more modern air conditioner that uses less hazardous refrigerants and looking at energy-saving efficiency star-rated appliances can help us use refrigerant-based equipment more efficiently.

    Think about this:

    Even if your existing air conditioner is only ten years old, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) predicts that you might save hundreds of dollars by replacing it with a newer one that has improved energy efficiency. If you still have a gadget that employs refrigerants that are harmful to the ozone layer, you should get in touch with Applewood as soon as possible. Allow us to assist you in the process of upgrading your system.