Prepared by-

Desai Karan Alpesh

Vadodara Institute of

Engineering

Gujarat,

India.1

Index:• Introduction.

• Some Historical facts.

• Detailed explanation of the problem.

• Sources of acid rain.

• Ishikawa diagram.

• Effects of acid rain.

• Preventive measures.

• Conclusion.

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1. Introduction.

• Acid rain

Rain that is more acidic than normal is called acid rain.

In other words the precipitation containing acid in amount more than usual is called acid rain.

Acid rain has pH value very low.

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What is pH?

• pH

Convenient measure of acidity for dilute solution

• pH = -log[H+], where [H+] is hydrogen ion conc. in mole l-1

pH scale for acid varies from 0 to 7. If

lesser the pH more will be acidity.

Acid rain has Ph value varying from 2 to 5.

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2. Some historical facts.

• Dr. Gene E. Likens discovered acid rain

in North America

• The English chemist Robert Angus

invented the term ‘acid rain’ for the first

time. He is sometimes referred to as the

'Father of Acid Rain’.

Dr. Gene Likens

Robert angus

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3.Detailed explanation of the process.

• Acid Rain refers to the deposition of acidic

components in either wet forms (e.g. dew,

smog) or dry forms (e.g. sulphates,

nitrates)

• Biggest contributor is the burning of coal.

Annually 70Tg (1012 g) of Sulfur emissions

comes from fossil fuel burning, compared

to 8Tg from volcanoes and 2.8Tg from

wildfires 6

Detailed explanation. (contd…)

• Burning coal is extremely cheap and

efficient but dirty, releasing sulfur dioxide

which becomes sulfuric acid in the

atmosphere.

• Areas downwind of power plants receive

heavy acid rain due to it.

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4.Sources of acid rain.1. Sulfur.

2. Nitrogen.

3. Carbon.

4. Methane. (In very small amount)

These gases react with air to form oxides

and than with moisture to form acids.

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Reactions taking place:

The gases mentioned above forms

oxides and reacts with atmospheric

moisture to form gaseous acids.

Reactions:

1. N2O+H2O=2HNO3

N2O3+H2O=2HNO2

(nitric acid)

2. SO3+1/2 O2+H2O=H2SO4

(sulphuric acid) 9

Some diagrammatic

representation…

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5.Ishikawa diagram.Industrial development. Automobiles.

MAN MADE FACTORS.

NATURAL FACTORS,

Volcanic eruptions. Biological process

Agriculture. (N) By product in

combustion of

coal. (N, S)

Dye industry. (S)

Over use of fuel.

(N, S)

Sulfur cycle.Nitrogen cycle.

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6.Effcts of acid rain.

• There are intense

effects of acid rain on

various components:

1. Effects on

monuments and

sculptures..

2. Effects on trees and

vegetation.

3. Effects on animals.

4. Effects on humans.

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Effects on sculptures.

1.Many buildings are made of concrete or

stone.

2.These compounds act as bases and

react with acid.

3.The building technically “weathers”

very fast, or Non technically

“crumbles”.

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EuropeThe US Capital 16

Effects on vegetation.

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Forests affected by Acid

Rain:

1. Northeast US

2. Canada

3. Northern Europe

4. Asia

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Effect on animals.

• Mostly aquatic life

suffers due to acid

rain.

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Effect on humans.Major respiratory problems.

Asthma, along with dry coughs, headaches, and throat irritations can be caused by the sulphur dioxides and nitrogen oxides from acid rain.

Brain damage, kidney problems, and Alzheimer's disease has been linked to people eating "toxic" animals/plants.

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Preventive measures.

• Industry should reduce the production

of dyes and fertilizers needs sulfur and

nitrogen as raw materials.

• Cleaning scrubbers in factories,

washing sulfur out of coal can help.

• One can use natural manure, vermi

technology, biogas remnants as

fertilizers instead of artificial nitrogen

containing fertilizers.

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Conclusions.

• Acid rain is the rain containing acid in

more proportion than usual.

• Acid rain is caused by two major gases:

sulfur and nitrogen.

• Sulfur and nitrogen comes from

environmental sources like volcanoes or

biological cycles or from man-made

sources like industries and automobiles.

• Effect of acid rain is dangerous. It is

causing damage to health and human

resources. We must take preventive steps.22

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Sources:

• Environmental Studies by R. Rajagopalan,

Oxford University Press

• Howstuffworks.com

• Google.com

• The presentation is prepared on: Microsoft

PowerPoint 2007

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