Unit A Lesson A13 Fluid Technology
Completion requirements
Lesson A13: Fluid Technologies: Pumps, Valves, and Pipelines
Video Lesson
Pumps, valves, and pipelines are essential to modern life. Watch this video to learn more about how these structures help move water into our homes.
Lesson A13: Fluid Technologies: Pumps, Valves, and Pipelines
Figure A.4.13.1 – Chocolate fountains use an Archimedes screw to move melted chocolate to the top.
Figure A.4.13.2 – The Archimedes screw moves water from low areas to high areas.
Archimedes’ Screw
The Archimedes screw is a type of pump that moves water from low-lying areas to higher elevations. An Archimedes screw scoops up water at its base as it rotates, which gradually transfers the water higher. The Greek scientist Archimedes is given credit for the invention of this device, but it is not certain if he actually invented it.
Archimedes screws have several practical applications. One of their most important purposes is to drain water from low land. The Netherlands is a very flat country close beside the ocean. Some of its land is reclaimed from the sea, so it floods easily during storms. In the 1500’s, the Dutch built walls called dikes to prevent the ocean from flooding the reclaimed land. To pump water out, they connected Archimedes screw pumps to windmills. The windmills provided power to the pumps, which transferred water up from the land into canals.
Archimedes screws are still used today to move sewage in water treatment plants, to generate electricity, and to make chocolate flow in fountains!
The Archimedes screw is a type of pump that moves water from low-lying areas to higher elevations. An Archimedes screw scoops up water at its base as it rotates, which gradually transfers the water higher. The Greek scientist Archimedes is given credit for the invention of this device, but it is not certain if he actually invented it.
Archimedes screws have several practical applications. One of their most important purposes is to drain water from low land. The Netherlands is a very flat country close beside the ocean. Some of its land is reclaimed from the sea, so it floods easily during storms. In the 1500’s, the Dutch built walls called dikes to prevent the ocean from flooding the reclaimed land. To pump water out, they connected Archimedes screw pumps to windmills. The windmills provided power to the pumps, which transferred water up from the land into canals.
Archimedes screws are still used today to move sewage in water treatment plants, to generate electricity, and to make chocolate flow in fountains!
Reading and Materials for This Lesson
Science in Action 8
Reading: Pages 66–68
Materials:
Empty clean pop bottle (2 L size), flexible clear plastic tubing (2 metres, 1 cm diameter), sharp scissors, duct tape, 2 bowls, square plastic container, water, food coloring, drinking straw, permanent marker, wooden skewer, tape.
Watch More
Moving Fluids and the Archimedes' Screw
Watch this video to learn more about how Archimedes screws generate electricity.
Try It!
Build an Archimedes Screw Pump
Try building a simple Archimedes screw pump to transport water.
Materials:
Try building a simple Archimedes screw pump to transport water.
Materials:
- Empty clean pop bottle (2 L size)
- Flexible clear plastic tubing (2 metres, 1 cm diameter, found in
- hardware or pet stores)
- Sharp scissors
- Duct tape
- 2 bowls
- Square plastic container (or something washable to raise 1 bowl)
- Water
- Food coloring
Safety Warning
You will be using sharp scissors in this activity. Please be careful not to cut yourself or others.
Instructions:
- Tape one end of the plastic tubing to the side of the pop bottle, near the bottom. Leave 2 cm of plastic tubing hanging below the bottle.
- Wrap the tubing around the bottle in a spiral. Secure the tubing along the way with duct tape.
- When the tubing reaches the top of the bottle, leave 2 cm of tubing hanging above the bottle and cut off any extra tubing. Tape the tubing securely to the side of the bottle.
- Fill one bowl with water. Add 2 drops of food coloring to the water.
- Place the other empty bowl on top of a plastic container to raise it higher than the first bowl. You can use an object other than the plastic container to raise the bowl, but make sure you use something that can accidentally get wet.
- Place the bottom of the Archimedes screw into the water in the first bowl. Arrange the second empty bowl so that it will catch water when it comes out of the top of the tubing.
- Rotate the Archimedes screw 20 times. Rotate the Archimedes screw 20 times in the other direction. What do you observe, in the tubing and in the bowls?
- Watch this video to see a similar experiment and its results:
Try It!
Build a Centrifugal Pump
A centrifugal pump works due to rotating motion. Try this experiment to build a simple centrifugal pump.
Materials:
A centrifugal pump works due to rotating motion. Try this experiment to build a simple centrifugal pump.
Materials:
- Drinking straw
- Scissors
- Permanent marker
- Wooden skewer
- Tape
- Bowl of water
Safety Warning
This activity asks you to use a pointed skewer and sharp scissors in this activity. Please be careful not to hurt yourself or others.
Instructions:
This website contains photographs and a video of this experiment.
This website contains photographs and a video of this experiment.
- With the permanent marker, mark ⅓, ½, and ⅔ down the straw.
- At the ½ mark make a small hole with a sharp point. This is where the skewer pokes through the straw.
- At the â…“ and â…” marks cut the straw halfway through. These are the places that the straw will bend downwards.
- At the halfway mark, carefully push the wooden skewer through the straw.
- Bend the straw at the â…“ and â…” cuts into a downward pointing triangle.
- Tape both straw ends to the skewer, but don’t cover the openings.
- Put the straw ends into water.
- Spin the skewer to pump water up and out the cuts in the straw.
- Watch this video to see this experiment and its results:
Figure A.4.13.3 – Many pipelines are built then buried underground.
Figure A.4.13.4 – Pipelines transport a variety of fluids across land.
Figure A.4.13.5 – Pipelines must be inspected carefully to prevent leaks.
Fossil Fuel Pipelines
Pipelines transport fluids like water and natural gas to our homes, to easily meet our daily needs. When people or the media talk about pipelines, they are usually referring to large pipelines that carry natural gas and oil across large stretches of land.
A large network of pipelines can be found both above and underground. Pipelines provide a cheaper alternative to transporting fluids by truck or train. Natural gas pipelines transport fuel to our homes for heating and cooking. Crude oil pipelines move oil to refineries where the oil mixture can separated into useful products.
Some people are opposed to the use of pipelines, because if pipelines leak or explode, they hurt people and the environment. Building new pipelines is often met with opposition. This has been the case when companies are trying to build pipelines to transport bitumen from the Alberta Oil Sands to other parts of Canada and the world.
Pipelines transport fluids like water and natural gas to our homes, to easily meet our daily needs. When people or the media talk about pipelines, they are usually referring to large pipelines that carry natural gas and oil across large stretches of land.
A large network of pipelines can be found both above and underground. Pipelines provide a cheaper alternative to transporting fluids by truck or train. Natural gas pipelines transport fuel to our homes for heating and cooking. Crude oil pipelines move oil to refineries where the oil mixture can separated into useful products.
Some people are opposed to the use of pipelines, because if pipelines leak or explode, they hurt people and the environment. Building new pipelines is often met with opposition. This has been the case when companies are trying to build pipelines to transport bitumen from the Alberta Oil Sands to other parts of Canada and the world.
Lesson Activity
In this activity, you will learn more about the controversy over the use of fossil fuel pipelines. You will collect information on both sides of the issue. This lesson activity will help you with your Unit A Assessment.
Instructions:
-
Construct a table with two columns. You can do this with a pen on a sheet of paper, or type it.
- Title the columns “Examples of Pipeline Advantages” and “Examples of Pipeline Disadvantages”.
- Watch the following videos. As you watch, listen for examples of advantages and disadvantages to using pipelines. Pause the video when you hear an example and summarize the example in the correct column of your table.
- When have finished with all the videos, save your table. It will be useful for your Unit A Assessment.
Videos:
This video provides a good overview of the history and uses of pipelines.
Many people work in the pipeline industry. How can pipeline jobs be beneficial or cause harm? Watch these three videos to learn more.
The proposed Keystone XL pipeline in Canada and the USA was controversial and rejected by the US president in 2015. These videos explain both sides of the Keystone XL pipeline controversy.
These videos will explain the many measures that pipeline companies take to operate safely.
These news reports show some pipeline spills and explosions.
Is it safer to transport oil by rail or pipelines? Watch these videos to find out more.
Governments make laws for pipeline safety and check on oil companies to make sure they are following safety rules. These videos explain the purpose of the Alberta Energy Regulator.
Figure A.4.13.6 – Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a method of drilling for natural gas.
Figure A.4.13.7 – Fracking recovers natural gas trapped in shale rock.
Fracking
Hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, is a fossil fuel drilling method. Fracking is used to extract oil and gas trapped in tiny pores of shale rock. Fracking involves drilling a well downward, and then turning to drill horizontally into a shale rock bed. A fracking fluid of water and chemical solutes is pumped down the well at high pressure. The fluid pressure creates cracks in the shale rock, allowing fossil fuels to flow into the well and up to the surface.
The fracking industry has grown greatly in recent years. Fracking has increased fossil fuel production in areas where the fuel could not previously be recovered. One major fracking project is at the Bakken formation in southern Saskatchewan and the US state of North Dakota .
Similar to oil sands recovery, fracking is an expensive process because it requires lots of energy to run the high pressure pumps. For this reason, fracking is only profitable when fossil fuel prices are high enough to offset the cost of the extraction energy required.
Hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, is a fossil fuel drilling method. Fracking is used to extract oil and gas trapped in tiny pores of shale rock. Fracking involves drilling a well downward, and then turning to drill horizontally into a shale rock bed. A fracking fluid of water and chemical solutes is pumped down the well at high pressure. The fluid pressure creates cracks in the shale rock, allowing fossil fuels to flow into the well and up to the surface.
The fracking industry has grown greatly in recent years. Fracking has increased fossil fuel production in areas where the fuel could not previously be recovered. One major fracking project is at the Bakken formation in southern Saskatchewan and the US state of North Dakota .
Similar to oil sands recovery, fracking is an expensive process because it requires lots of energy to run the high pressure pumps. For this reason, fracking is only profitable when fossil fuel prices are high enough to offset the cost of the extraction energy required.
Lesson Activity
In this activity, you will learn more about the controversy over the use of fracking. You will collect information on both sides of the issue. This lesson activity will help you with your Unit A Assessment.
Instructions:
- Construct a table with two columns. You can do this on a sheet of paper or type it.
- Title the columns “Examples of Fracking Advantages” and “Examples of Fracking Disadvantages”.
- Watch the following videos. As you watch, listen for examples of advantages and disadvantages to using pipelines. Pause the video when you hear an example and summarize the example in the correct column of your table.
- Save your table. It will be useful for your Unit A Assessment.
Videos:
These videos provide a good overview of how hydraulic fracturing works.
These videos explore the controversy around fracking.
How does fracking affect the economy and people’s jobs? Watch these three videos to learn more.
Many geologists and seismologists believe that fracking can cause earthquakes. Watch this video to learn more.
Since fracking is a relatively new technology, research is being done on how fracking affects the environment.
Make sure you have understood everything in this lesson. Use the Self-Check below, and the Self-Check & Lesson Review Tips to guide your learning.
Unit A Lesson 13 Self-Check
Instructions
Complete the following 6 steps.
Don't skip steps – if you do them in order, you will confirm your
understanding of this lesson and create a study bank for the future.
- DOWNLOAD the self-check quiz by clicking here .
- ANSWER all the questions on the downloaded quiz in the spaces provided. Think carefully before typing your answers. Review this lesson if you need to. Save your quiz when you are done.
- COMPARE your answers with the suggested "Self-Check Quiz Answers" below. WAIT! You didn't skip step 2, did you? It's very important to carefully write out your own answers before checking the suggested answers.
-
REVISE your quiz answers if you need to. If you answered all the questions correctly, you can skip this step. Revise means to change, fix, and add extra notes if you need to. This quiz is NOT FOR MARKS, so it is perfectly OK to correct
any mistakes you made. This will make your self-check quiz an excellent study tool you can use later.
- SAVE your quiz to a folder on your computer, or to your Private Files. That way you will know where it is for later studying.
- CHECK with your teacher if you need to. If after completing all these steps you are still not sure about the questions or your answers, you should ask for more feedback from your teacher. To do this, post in the Course Questions Forum, or send your teacher an email. In either case, attach your completed quiz and ask; "Can you look at this quiz and give me some feedback please?" They will be happy to help you!
Be a Self-Check
Superhero!
Self-Check Quiz Answers
Click each of the suggested answers below, and carefully compare your answers to the suggested answers.
If you have not done the quiz yet – STOP – and go back to step 1 above. Do not look at the answers without first trying the questions.
An advantage of pipelines is that they transport fluids across long distances at a relatively low cost.
A disadvantage of pipelines is that pipeline leaks can result in environmental disasters.
An advantage of fracking is that it recovers oil and gas that is trapped in rocks and difficult to obtain. Fracking also helps the economy by providing people with jobs.
A disadvantage of fracking is that fracking fluids can leak into groundwater, contaminating drinking water.
Fossil fuels require the energy from pumps to move them from deep underground to the surface.