CLASS VIII

General Science

Coal and
Petroleum
 CHAPTER 05

COAL AND PETROLEUM

 INTRODUCTION

We use various materials for our basic needs. Some of

them are found in nature and some have been made
by human efforts. Since all these are obtained from
nature, they are called natural resources.
 ACTIVITY - 1

Make a list of various materials used by us in daily life

and classify them as natural and man-made.
 CLASSIFICATION OF RESOURCES

Can air, water and soil be exhausted by human

activities? You have already studied about water . Is
water a limitless resource?
 CLASSIFICATION OF RESOURCES

In the light of the availability of various resources in

nature, natural resources can be broadly classified into
two kinds:

INEXHAUSTIBLE NATURAL RESOURCES:

These resources are present in unlimited quantity in

nature and are not likely to be exhausted by human
activities. Examples are: sunlight, air.
 CLASSIFICATION OF RESOURCES

EXHAUSTIBLE NATURAL RESOURCES:

The amount of these resources in nature is limited.

They can be exhausted by human activities. Examples
of these resources are forests, wildlife, minerals, coal,
petroleum, natural gas etc.
 ACTIVITY - 2

[It is a group activity]

Take some containers. Fill them with

popcorn/peanuts/roasted gram/toffees. Divide students
into groups of seven each. Further divide each group
into three subgroups containing 1, 2 and 4 students.
Label them as first, second and third generation
respectively. These sub-groups represent the
consumers. As population is growing, second and third
generations have larger number of consumers. Put one
full container for each group on a table.
 ACTIVITY - 2

Ask consumers of the first generation from each group

to consume eatables from the container of their group.
Now, ask the second generation consumers from each
group to do the same. Ask students to observe
carefully the availability of eatables in each container. If
some thing is left in the containers, ask third generation
from each group to consume it. Now, finally observe
whether all the consumers of the third generation got
the eatables or not. Also observe if any thing is still left
in any of the containers.
 OBSERVATION

Assume that the eatables in the container represent

the total availability of an exhaustible natural resource
like coal, petroleum or natural gas. Each group may
have different consumption pattern. Are the earlier
generations of any group too greedy? It may be that
the earlier generations in some groups were
concerned about the coming generations and left
something for them. In this chapter we will learn about
some exhaustible natural resources like coal,
petroleum and natural gas. These were formed from
the dead remains of living organisms (fossils). So,
these are all known as fossil fuels.
 COAL

You may have seen coal, or heard about it. It is

as hard as stone and is black in colour.

Coal is one of the fuels used to cook food. Earlier, it was

used in railway engines to produce steam to run the
engine. It is also used in thermal power plants to
produce electricity. Coal is also used as a fuel in various
industries
 STORY OF COAL

About 300 million years ago the earth had dense

forests in low lying wetland areas. Due to natural
processes, like flooding, these forests got buried under
the soil. As more soil deposited over them, they were
compressed. The temperature also rose as they sank
deeper and deeper. Under high pressure and high
temperature, dead plants got slowly converted to coal.
As coal contains mainly carbon, the slow process of
conversion of dead vegetation into coal is called
carbonisation. Since it was formed from the remains of
vegetation, coal is also called a fossil fuel.
 STORY OF COAL

When heated in air, coal burns and produces mainly

carbon dioxide gas. Coal is processed in industry to
get some useful products such as coke, coal tar and
coal gas.
 COMPONENTS OF COAL

A. COKE

It is a tough, porous and black substance. It is almost

pure form of carbon. Coke is used in the manufacture
of steel and in the extraction of many metals.
 COMPONENTS OF COAL

B. COAL TAR
When heated in air, coal burns and produces mainly
carbon dioxide gas. Coal is processed in industry to
get some useful products such as coke, coal tar and
coal gas. about 200 substances. Products obtained
from coal tar are used as starting materials for
manufacturing various substances used in everyday
life.
 COMPONENTS OF COAL

B. COAL TAR
In industry it is used for making like synthetic dyes,
drugs, explosives, perfumes, plastics, paints,
photographic materials, roofing materials, etc.
Interestingly, naphthalene balls used to repel moths
and other insects are also obtained from coal tar.

These days, bitumen, a

petroleum product, is used in
place of coal-tar for metalling
the roads.
 COMPONENTS OF COAL

C. COAL GAS

Coal gas is obtained during the processing of coal to

get coke. It is used as a fuel in many industries
situated near the coal processing plants. These days,
bitumen, a petroleum product, is used in place of coal-
tar for metalling the roads. Coal gas was used for
street lighting for the first time in London in 1810 and in
New York around 1820. Now a days, it is used as a
source of heat rather than light.
 PETROLEUM

You know that petrol is used as a fuel in light

automobiles such as motor cycles/ scooters and cars.
Heavy motor vehicles like trucks and tractors run on
diesel. Petrol and diesel are obtained from a natural
resourcecalledpetroleum. Do you know
petroleum is formed? how was
organisms
Petroleum living in the sea. As these organisms
formed from died,
their bodies settled at the bottom of the sea and got
covered with layers of sand and clay. Over millions of
years, absence of air, high temperature and
pressuretransformed the dead organisms high
petroleum and natural gas. into
 PETROLEUM

It shows the deposits of petroleum and natural gas.

You see that the layer containing petroleum oil and gas
is above that of water. Why is it so? Recall that oil and
gas are lighter than water and do not mix with it.
 PETROLEUM

The world’s first oil well was drilled in Pennsylvania,

USA, in 1859. Eight years later, in 1867, oil was stuck
at Makum in Assam. In India, oil is found in Assam,
Gujarat, Mumbai High and in the river basins of
Godavari and Krishna.
 REFINING OF PETROLEUM

Petroleum is a dark oily liquid. It has an unpleasant

odour. It is a mixture of various constituents such as
petroleum gas, petrol, diesel, lubricating oil, paraffin
wax, etc. The process of separating the various
constituents/ fractions of petroleum is known as
refining. It is carried out in a petroleum refinery.
 REFINING OF PETROLEUM

Many useful substances are obtained from petroleum

and natural gas. These are termed as
‘Petrochemicals’. These are used in the manufacture
of detergents, fibres (polyester, nylon, acrylic etc.),
polythene and other man-made plastics. Hydrogen
gas obtained from natural gas, is used in the
production of fertilisers (urea). Due to its great
commercial importance, petroleum is also called
‘black gold’.
 TABLE 1

Various constituents of petroleum and their uses are

given in Table 1.
 NATURAL GAS

Natural gas is a very important fossil fuel because it

is easy to transport through pipes. Natural gas is
stored under high pressure as compressed natural
gas (CNG). CNG is used for power generation. It is
now being used as a fuel for transport vehicles
because it is less polluting. It is a cleaner fuel. The
great advantage of CNG is that it can be used
directly for burning in homes and factories where it
can be supplied through pipes. Such a network of
pipelines exists in Vadodara (Gujarat), some parts of
Delhi and other places.
 NATURAL GAS

Natural gas is also used as a starting material for the

manufacture of a number of chemicals and fertilisers.
India has vast reserves of natural gas. In our country,
natural gas has been found in Tripura, Rajasthan,
Maharashtra and in the Krishna Godavari delta.
 SOME NATURAL RESOURCES ARE
LIMITED
You have studied in the beginning of the chapter that
some natural resources are exhaustible like fossil
fuels, forests, minerals etc. You know that coal and
petroleum are fossil fuels. It required the dead
organisms millions of years to get converted into
these fuels. On the other hand, the known reserves
of these will last almost a few hundred years.
Moreover, burning of these fuels is a major cause of
air pollution. Their use is also linked to global
warming.
 SOME NATURAL RESOURCES ARE
LIMITED

It is therefore necessary that we use these fuels only

when absolutely necessary. This will result in better
environment, smaller risk of global warming and their
availability for a longer period of time. In India, the
Petroleum Conservation Research Association
(PCRA) advises people how to save petrol/diesel
while driving.
 SOME NATURAL RESOURCES ARE
LIMITED

Their tips are:

•Driveat a constant and moderate speed as far

as possible
•Switch off the engine at traffic lights or at a
place where you have to wait
• Ensure correct tyre pressure
• Ensure regular maintenance of the vehicle.
 KEYWORDS

1. COAL
2. COAL GAS
3. COAL TAR
4. COKE
5. FOSSIL FUEL
6. NATURAL GAS
7. PETROLEUM
8. PETROLEUM REFINERY
Any Questions Please…
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THANK
YOU