TECHNOLOGY MILESTONES FROM THE CHEMIST’S VIEW

I. ENERGY AND TRANSPORTATION

Chemists and chemical engineers have made many contributions to energy and transportation what allows us to power our lives on land, through air and in space. In the 19th century people heated their homes with wood or coal, used kerosene lanterns or candles for illumination, and traveled by railroad, steamboat, horse or on foot. As demands for energy in the last two centuries have increased, chemistry has developed and improved power sources, liquid fuel, batteries, and novel energy-conversion technologies. Advances in chemistry have also fueled the transportation revolution, contributing new and improved materials to automobiles, airplanes, space vehicles, and roadways. By extracting metals, minerals, and motor fuels from natural resources and by creating entirely new materials, their work as revolutionized our way of life of mankind.

I.4. Petrochemical Fuels Production of gasoline from crude oil Fuel additives Catalytic converters

I.5. Automotive Vehicles Advanced materials for comfort and safety Plastic components Tire technology

I.6. Aeronautics Hot-air balloons Helium Rocket fuel Construction materials for aircrafts and rockets

I.1. Energy Sources Utilization of coal as an energy source Petroleum exploration and production Nuclear energy Alternative energy sources

I.2. Electrical Energy Storage and Portable Power Sources Single-use batteries Rechargeable batteries

I.3. Materials for Roadways and Bridges Concrete Asphalt Metals and alloys Maintenance and repair technology

Chronology

Technology Milestones in Energy and Transportation

Chronology

1882 First coal-fired electric generating station supplies household electricity.

1884 The German Gottlieb Daimler builds the first gasoline-fueled, spark-ignited, piston-engine car.

1902 Asphalt pavement for roads is made from processing crude oil.

1913 Thermal cracking (breaking of long-chained molecules by heat) of hydrocarbons increases gasoline production from petroleum.

1921 Thomas Midgley, Jr. uses tetraethyl lead as an antiknock additive in gasoline.

1936 The French Eugene Houdry develops the catalytic cracking of petroleum to produce high-octane gasoline.

1947 The American B. F. Goodrich firm introduces the first tubeless tires.

1949 Eveready Battery Co. miniaturizes the alkaline battery.

1954 First silicon-based solar battery is developed at Bell Labs.

1958 Boeing 707 jet airliners debut and begin to transform air transport.

1970s Unleaded fuels introduced; the phase-out of lead in gas begins.

1975 Catalytic converters are introduced in many automobiles.

1980-1990s Lithium-ion batteries are popular for cellular phones and laptop computers.

1981 The Columbia Space Shuttle becomes the world’s first reusable spacecraft.

I.1. Energy Sources

Utilization of coal as an energy source

Coal replaced wood as the principal source of energy in the United States by the 1890s. The first coal-fired power plant was built in 1882, generating steam that turned a generator to make electricity. In 1884, Charles Parsons developed the more efficient high-speed steam turbine. By the 1920s, pulverized coal increased efficiency and reduced the air need for combustion. The 1940 cyclone furnace used poorer-grade coals and produced less ash. Recently chemical technology has developed the combustion of culm (waste material from coal mining) to produce power and to decrease environmental load.

Steam turbine of Parsons (1907)

Charles Parsons

I.1. Energy Sources

Petroleum exploration and production

The 1901 discovery of the vast Spindletop oil field in Texas and the emergence of the automobile caused petroleum to surpass coal as the principal fuel source by 1951. The chemical technology of refining crude oil to separate its different chemical fractions has been continually improved, starting with simple atmospheric distillation and progressing to vacuum (reduced pressure) distillation to thermal cracking to the use of catalysts. For the primary crude oil recovery process, chemistry is most evident in diamond drilling bits, drilling muds, and oil-from-shale extraction using a combination of chemicals and steam. The secondary recovery processes include pumping high pressure gas (carbon dioxide) or water solutions into the earth.

I.1. Energy Sources

Nuclear energy

The first nuclear reactor was developed in 1942 for military use. After World War II., the diversion of nuclear technology to peaceful uses including the generation of electrical power plant began in 1951 with President Eisenhower’s Atoms for Peace program. Chemistry has played an internal part ever since, producing the radioactive materials used as fuel in the reactors, the reactor control rods that regulate the flow of neutrons from the radioactive decay, the reprocessing of spent fuel rods, waste-management, environmental protection, and minimizing the harmful effects of radiation exposure.

I.1. Energy Sources

Alternative energy sources

Green methods for power generation, such as wind, hydroelectric, and geothermal, account for less than one percent of the world’s total power generation, but they can play an increasingly important role, as determined by economics and availability. Through chemistry, solar panels for both thermal and photovoltaic generation, lightweight carbon fiber propellers for wind generation, concrete and metal turbines for hydroelectric plants, and corrosion-resistant materials for harnessing geothermal sources have all been developed.

The first silicon-based solar battery (1954)