How can thermal energy be used

The hotter the substance, the more its particles move, and the higher its thermal energy. The hot chocolate has thermal energy from its vibrating particles. When you pour some cold milk into your hot chocolate, some of this energy is transferred from the chocolate to the particles in the milk. So what happens? Your hot chocolate cools down because it lost some of its thermal energy to the milk.

The tea has thermal energy from its vibrating particles. When you pour some cold milk into your hot tea, some of this energy is transferred from the tea to the particles in the milk. As cold particles heat, they contain more energy and so vibrate and separate. Some matter changes from solid to liquid to gas as its particles heat, vibrate and separate.

Boiling a kettle is an example of both thermal and kinetic energy. Thermal energy comes from a substance whose molecules and atoms are vibrating faster due to a rise in temperature. Kinetic energy is the energy of a moving object. As thermal energy comes from moving particles, it is a form of kinetic energy. Ever burnt your hand from picking up something hot?

That's because the thermal energy has been transferred from the hot object to your skin. Boiling water on a stove is an example of thermal energy. Solar thermal energy is one of the cleanest sustainable and renewable energy on earth.

Thermal energy is collected through two ways, passive solar heating, and active solar heating. Solar thermal energy is used to increase the internal energy of an element through solar radiation. Solar collectors are also used to collect and store solar thermal energy, which is then used to heat water for domestic use.

Photovoltaic panels collect solar energy, are used to collect thermal solar energy and to convert it into direct current that can be used as AC electric power. Solar thermal energy can also be collected in thermoelectric plants and used to heat water and produce steam which is then directed to a single source to operate a turbine that produces electricity.

Solar thermal power is also used to heat outdoor and indoor pools, especially during winter. Thermal energy from solar is used for underfloor heating and radiator heating to warm the house. Another solar thermal energy use is in heating domestic water boilers make accessible warm and hot water for showering, kitchen use, and other domestic hot water uses.

Solar thermal is used to operate refrigeration appliances. Like air conditioning in buildings and in industrial cooling processes. Solar thermal energy is an efficient way to dry grain, it uses solar electric powered process to draw ambient air which is heated and runs through the dryer, drying the grain more evenly than the natural methods. Solar-powered ovens use solar thermal energy to generate heat that is used for baking bread cakes and anything that needs baking, they are efficient and safe to use for both domestic and industrial uses.

The solar-powered desalination plant uses solar thermal energy to modulate both photovoltaic and RO Reverse Osmosis systems to provide filtration of saltwater and provide clean soft drinking water. Mechanical, thermal energy is produced when two objects are rubbed against each other to produce friction.

The ancient ways of starting a fire is an excellent example of mechanical, thermal energy at work. Electrical energy occurs as a result of moving charged particles and is highly potent in thermal energy.

Electric energy is therefore easily converted to thermal energy and used in different sectors, in industries and domestically, here are some appliances that convert electric energy to thermal energy.

A bread toaster is an excellent example of electric thermal energy at work, it draws electric power heats up the filaments into thermal power that toast bread to a golden brown. Drying clothes in clothes dryer brings electricity into the dryer, hits a filament in the dryer as it spins, drying your clothes.

Another use for electrical thermal energy can be seen in electric hair straighteners, they convert electrical power into thermal energy in the comb that heats up to straighten hair. An electric stove draws electricity into its elements that heat up to produce thermal energy that can be transferred into any container placed on the stove to cook a meal.

The electricity flowing through An electric kettle heats the element which produces thermal energy that can be used to boil tea water milk or coffee. Electric cookers convert electrical energy into thermal energy and produce heat, which can be used to cook, bake, or warm food. Microwave cookers operate electromagnetic radiation within the microwave frequency range.

As the food in the microwave rotates, it produces thermal energy through dielectric heating, cooking or warming the food. The incandescent bulb, when lighting up, produces thermal energy due to the heat-induced in the filament by passing an electrical current.

Thermal energy is also used when burning fossil fuel in electric power generating stations, to produce thermoelectric energy. Petroleum refineries use thermal energy in several processes, cracking, reforming, and treating. This process requires different types of thermal energy, steam and direct heat for combustion, and separation.

Catalytic reforming is a process where low octane gasoline and naphthas are converted into high octane aromatics through dehydrogenation of naphthas, dehydrocyclization of paraffin to aromatics, isomerization, and hydrocracking.

All these processes require thermal energy. Steel and iron industries use thermal energy to manufacture steel from iron ore by smelting with coke or limestone. The thermal energy contained in the is dissipated when the molten iron is cast into ingots and rolled into sheets by hot and cold rolling. Paper Mills require a high amount of thermal energy to dry their products. They use heat in forms of hot air and steam, which is produced from electricity.

Many paper mills have heat recovery cogeneration, and the steam trap traps thermal energy and recycles it for efficiency.

Paperboard Mills use thermal energy to dry their products and to press the boards. They use to heat hot air and steam from boilers produced from electricity. Industries use natural gas, electricity, petroleum, and coal to produce thermal energy which is used to heat industrial processes and space heating in buildings the thermal energy fires boilers and is used as feedstock.

Ethyl Alcohol manufacturing requires ethanol energy during distillation. Thermal energy is required in different stages, Pretreatment drying and conditioning of corn, steam is used in distillation, water is required during cooling to dissipate the excessive thermal energy.

Plastics fibers adhesives and rubbers are processed using thermal energy. Commonly known as polymers, they include automobile parts, aircraft parts, coffee cups foam, and many more. Petrochemical industries use thermal energy in cracking natural ethane, and propane into olefins like ethylene and propylene and aromatics like benzene and xylene isomers produced by catalytic reforming.

Chlorine is manufactured by electrolysis which involves passing an electric current through a solution of brine to release thermal energy that transforms the compounds caustic soda and hydrogen. While molecules and atoms that make up matter move all the time, when an object heats up, the increase in temperature makes these particles move faster and collide with each other. The faster these particles move, the higher the thermal energy of the object. Thermal energy or heat energy can be transferred from one body to another via three processes —.

To better explain this phenomenon, we have gathered some of the best examples of thermal energy that you see in everyday life. The Sun is a nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma that converts hydrogen into helium through billions of chemical reactions, which eventually produce an intense amount of heat. Instead of staying near the Sun, the heat radiates away from the star and into space.

A small portion of this energy heat reaches the Earth in the form of light. It mostly contains infrared, visible, and ultraviolet light. The transfer of heat energy in this way is called thermal radiation. Sunlight that does reach the surface of the Earth warms it.

According to the University of Oregon, the entire Earth receives an average of Watts per square meter over a 24 hour day. This means the whole planet receives 84 Terawatts of power. Heat energy always flows from regions of higher temperature to regions of lower temperature. For instance, when you add ice cubes to your beverage, the heat moves from the liquid to the ice cubes.

The temperature of liquid drops as heat transfers from beverage to ice. The heat continues to move to the coldest area in the drink until it reaches an equilibrium. This loss of heat causes the temperature of the beverage to plummet. A fuel cell that takes hydrogen and oxygen as input. Fuel cells are electrochemical devices that convert the chemical energy of a fuel and oxidant gas into electrical energy. When a fuel cell operates, a significant amount of input is used to generate electrical energy, but the remaining portion is transformed into thermal energy, depending on the type of fuel cell.

The heat produced throughout this process is harnessed to increase energy efficiency. Geothermal energy is the heat derived within the sub-surface of the Earth. This results in portions of the mantle convecting upward since the melted rock is lighter than the surrounding solid rock.

According to a study , the ocean has been heating at a rate of 0. Oceans have incredible potential for storing thermal energy. Since their surfaces are exposed to direct sunlight for prolonged periods, there is a huge difference between the temperatures of the shallow and deep water marine regions. This temperature difference can be used to run a heat engine and generate electricity. This type of energy conversion, known as ocean thermal energy conversion , can operate continuously and can support various spin-off industries.