5 Things about electricity


How is electricity made?
Table of contents
- Electricity was discovered 26 centuries ago!
- Electricity is the means of transporting energy!
- Steam coal
- Nuclear Energy
- water energy
- Solar energy
- Wind energy
- Biomass
- Geothermal
- What are the most common and wrong ideas about nuclear energy?
- How an atom gives an electric current
- What are the sources from which electricity is produced?
- The electric risk
- Electrical Risk Prevention
Electricity was discovered 26 centuries ago!
Electricity is the means of transporting energy!
How the atom gives an electric current?
What are the sources from which electricity is produced?
Unclean Sources (Polluted)
- Steam coal
Coal-fired power plants operate by converting the combustible heat energy into electricity.
Coal plays an important role in generating electricity around the world, providing 41% of electricity in global power plants, and it is also called “steam coal” or “thermal coal”, and this is done by following the following steps:
- Transfer the coal to the factories, then burn it as it is converted into a fine-grained powder, so that the diameter of one grain is about 70 microns.
- Water flows through thousands of narrow tubes in order to generate high heat and high-pressure steam, knowing that the temperature inside the water heater reaches 1300 degrees Celsius.
- Transfer the steam to the turbine, where the blades rotate at a high speed, which causes the electrical transformer to rotate, which will generate electricity.
Charcoal power plants are characterized by low construction costs and they require less space than water plants.
Disadvantages of coal steam plants
- It produces large quantities of pollutants, which results in negative impacts on the surrounding environment and cause global warming, while the cost of operating them increases compared to water stations.
- These stations produce large quantities of energy, but they are often created close to the locations of coal, which is often far from the places where the electric energy is consumed, so the produced electric energy must be transferred to long distances.
- Clean sources
Nuclear
-
These tablets are inserted into tubes made of zirconium alloys of half a meter in length, which is a special type of metal that has a high resistance to corrosion, as these tubes are welded together in the form of fuel bundles
-
These bundles are inserted into nuclear reactors where uranium is split to generate heat for boiling water and for generating steam and electricity.
-
It is worth noting that this method is able to supply electricity to 100 homes in at least a year.
Advantage of nuclear energy
- Nuclear energy is the only fuel that can efficiently produce vast quantities of electricity-known as primary charging electricity-without releasing harmful gases such as greenhouse gases.
- In addition, nuclear energy is among the sources that severely reduce environmental impacts, whether on the ground or natural resources, among all other sources of electricity production.
- Nuclear power provided the world with a reliable and efficient source of electricity, and today there are more than 400 nuclear plants in more than 30 countries around the world.
What are the most common and wrong ideas about nuclear energy?
1- Explosion of nuclear reactors
2- Nuclear energy is harmful to the environment.
3- Approaching nuclear power plants is not safe
Water
Water energy can be produced using electricity generators to obtain electricity from the movement of water. In ancient times, people used the power of river runoff in agriculture and milling of wheat, and today our workers re-direct the flow of rivers through water generators and build dams, as is the case in the River of a town. Sandouping “which is located in Liling, in the Chinese Republic, where the Three Gorges Dam is built and is currently considered the largest power station in the world.
The Sun
The principle of solar energy production is based on collecting sunlight and converting it into electricity, and this is done using solar panels, which are large flat panels consisting of a group of individual solar cells. Some kinetic energy sources contribute to the rotation of a loop or coil within a magnetic field so that this loop is connected to fixed wires.
The Wind
The operating principle of wind energy is relatively simple: the wind turns blades which in turn rotates the generator of the wind turbine. In turn, the generator transforms the mechanical energy of the wind into electrical energy of the wind type. Wind power is routed to the grid or to wind power storage batteries.
What is a wind turbine?
- A mast, which is used to hold the propeller high.
- A propeller made up of several blades (often 3) which will “catch” the wind and turn thanks to it.
- multiplier, which will increase the number of turns: when the propeller will make a turn, the axis of the multiplier will make 10. In this way, we can produce more electricity with less wind.
- A brake will slow down the propeller in the event of a strong storm to prevent it from falling off and taking off.
- A generator, which will transform the rotating force of the propeller shaft into electricity.
- A nacelle, which is a large block which contains the multiplier and the generator.
Biomass
The oldest energy used by humans is the combustion of organic materials such as wood, plants, agricultural waste …
These materials, once burned, give off heat. This heat is used to heat water in a boiler that produces steam. the vapor released will allow the rotation of a turbine, which will drive an alternator producing electricity.
The electricity that cannot be contained will be sent to the high-voltage lines of the electricity distribution network.
Biomass by combustion
Household waste is treated by the urban waste incineration plant
Biomass by méthanisation
Geothermal
Geothermal energy which results from the heat released by the Earth’s core and which escapes through the Earth’s crust. the average geothermal power density is very low (around 60 mW / m² compared to an average of 150 to 300 W / m² for solar radiation). But in certain geological zones (generally volcanic), the heat leaks can be much more intense and one can meet very hot water deposits exploitable to produce electricity (more than 150 ° C) via turbines with steam or for low-temperature heat use (less than 100 ° C)
The electric risk
1.Risk on wildlife
Power lines are one of the main causes of abnormal bird deaths in a large portion of African-European and Asian flight paths. Collisions with species threatened with extinction from the first supplement to the bird protection directives in many European countries, for example, Spoonbill – Platalea leucorodia, and the problem also exists in Africa.
read High voltage electrical lines and Electrocution problems
2.Risk on Humans
- Destruction of cells
- Internal burns
- external burns
- Tetany crises that can cause suffocation
- Ventricular fibrillation that leads to heart attacks
- Secondary trauma resulting from a fall or reflex movement.
![]() ![]() |
Human body resistance |
Some values
- Chest resistance: 60 Ω
- Skin resistance: 500 Ω (1000 to 2500 Ω )
- internal resistance: 500 Ω
- Bone resistance: 300 000 Ω
- Immersed body resistance: 325 Ω
The intensity of Electric Current
- Perception : 0.5 mA {*Eye : 0.02 mA *tongue : 0.045mA
- Non-let go: 10 mA (tetanization)
- mortals
- 30 mA: Asphyxia
- 75mA :Heart failure (3A)
- 1 A :cardiac arrest
Differences between electrification and electrocution
Electrical Risk Prevention