Mercury Problems In Oil And Gas Industries Environmental Sciences Essay

Mercury Problems In Oil And Gas Industries Environmental Sciences Essay Mercury is a natural occurring element and could be present in various stages of oil and natural gas exploration, production and processing. Mercury is not only hazardous to human health and the environment but could also attack process equipment components that have mercury reactive materials, leading to potential catastrophic failure to the plant. The mercury associated with petroleum and natural gas production and processing enters the environment primarily via wastewater, solid waste streams, and air emissions. Wastewater originates in production and oil refining operations in the form of produced water and wastewater respectively. The solid wastes are also generated in production (e.g. drilling muds), transportation (e.g. sludge), and refining operations (e.g. spent mercury adsorbent. The primary opportunities for mercury emission to atmosphere include fuel combustion for process utilities and fugitive emissions from process equipment. Several approaches have been used to reduce mercury emissions from oil and gas production and processing which include mercury waste treatment, recycling and disposal. Mercury is considered as a serious toxic heavy metal to both humans and the ecosystem because of its high toxicity to the central nervous system and the tendency to bio-accumulate in a human body [1]. Mercury is a natural occurring element and could be presenting varying concentrations and of various species in oil and gas fields [2]. It is freely distributed throughout production, processing, transportation and consumption systems. Table 1 shows the range of variations of the mercury content in oil and gas [3]. Wilhelm and Bloom [4] reported that the concentration of mercury in crude oil and natural gas varies between 0.01 ppb and 10 ppm depending on the geologic location, which may exist in three different forms, namely elemental (Hgo), inorganic (HgCl2), organic ((CH3)2Hg), and organo-ionic (ClHgCH3) mercury compounds. Several mercury species shown in Table 2 were detected in natural gas, gas condensate and crude oil. The properties of mercury species are difference in terms of mobility, reactivity, toxicity and bioavaibility [5]. Table 1 Range of Mercury Content in Oil and Gas Fields in the World [3]. Component Mercury Concentration Oil 0.003 21 mg/kg Condensate Gas 0.01 . 10-6 14 000 . 10-6 g/m3 The existing mercury in oil and gas can cause problems during oil and gas exploration, processing and transportation. This mercury needs to be removed from oil and gas streams especially from natural gas, in order to get pure product as well as to protect the process equipment and catalyst used in the downstream processes. For instance, it may cause mechanical failure and gas leakage of cryogenic aluminium heat exchangers. The mercury in the natural gas can degrade the aluminium coldbox materials by three basic mechanisms [Wilhelm, 1994]: amalgamation with various metals (primarily Al, Au, Ag and Zn), amalgam corrosion, and also liquid metal embrittlement (LME) [Coade and Coldham, 2006; Wilhem, 1994]. Besides, reported by Phannenstiel [7], mercury is pointed as a caused of corrosion in gas-gathering system at Groningen field in Holland [8]. Table 2. Approximate Natural Abundance Mercury Compound in Natural Gas and Gas Condensate [2]. Mercury Element Natural Gas Gas Condensate Crude Oil Hg0 >50 of total mercury >50 of total mercury >50 of total mercury (CH3)2Hg HgCl2 Rarely detected (10-50) % (10-50) % HgS Rarely detected suspended suspended HgO Rarely detected Rarely detected Rarely detected CH3HgCl Rarely detected Mining activities such as exploration and processing could also generate mercury waste generate mercury waste in the form of produced water, refinery wastewater, drilling waste, and associated wastes. The mercury wastes need to be treated and disposed due to the environmental and safety considerations. The failure to monitor and control the existing mercury in oil and gas can caused contamination on process facilities and mercury emission to water, soil and atmosphere [U.S. EPA, 2001] Mercury Removal Process From Natural Gas Mercury removal systems are most often located at gas processing facilities that produce the feedstock materials for downstream chemical manufacturing plants. It is properly designed and operated, to make sure the removal systems can scavenge mercury from the feed gas and reduce the impact of mercury on downstream processes [2]. Table 3 summarizes several methods used for mercury removal in natural gas processing. All these methods have limitations that detract from their applicability to natural gas processing [El Ela et al., 2006; El Ela et al., 2008]. Table 3 Mercury Removal Systems for Natural Gas [Bingham, 1990; El Ela et al., 2008 ]. Method Comments Chemisorption on sulfur impregnated activated carbon Most used, cheap; disposal problems Adsorption on activated carbon Low saturation loading Chemisorption on iodine impregnated activated carbon Good for high mercury concentrations Adsorption by amalgamation with a metal: Silver impregnated alumina, silver zeolites, metal sulfides and metal oxides High investment costs, high removal capacity Acid absorption of mercury chromic acid and acidic permanganate Increased corrosivity, through system contamination, low saturations Oxidizing solutions permanganate, sodium hypochlorite, and sodium vanadates Regeneration problems, system contamination Chemical reaction with H2S Increased corrosivity, limited H2S access Condensation and separation Poor removal efficiency, liquid contamination Stripping through liquid hydrocarbons Poor removal efficiency, liquid contamination The basic requirements for successful mercury removal are economics of the process and the removal medium needs to be capable to reducing mercury concentrations to extremely low and acceptable levels. The medium must have a high capacity for an active bonding to mercury so that they can retain the mercury in a form that can be disposed. The examples of commercial mercury removal systems are shown in Figure 1 (c,d), where the Salam mercury removal system is the most efficient removal method ever reported [9]. It is loaded with 19 tons of catalysts PURASPEC Absorbent 1156 (pre-activated sulfide) [El Ela et al., 2008]. Figure 1 (a,b) shows the mercury removal unit located in Malaysia which is the successful systems used to remove mercury from raw condensate [Sainal et al., 2007]. Figure 1. Joint Delivery System (JDS) mercury removal system situated in Kerteh, Terengganu, Malaysia (a), Resak Delivery System (RDS) mercury removal system situated in Kerteh, Terengganu, Malaysia (b), Mercury removal unit at Salam gas processing plant (c), Vessel loading diagram of Salam mercury removal unit (d) [El Ela et al., 2008; Sainal et al., 2007 ] Mercury Waste Generation A wide variety of waste streams contains of mercury generates from oil and gas processing. The mercury in produced hydrocarbons may escape to the environment by several avenues which are generally categorized as wastewater, solid waste streams and air emissions. During exploration and processing, wastewater originates from the produced water, refinery wastewater, drilling waste, and associated wastes (Ahmadun et al., 2009; Frankiewicz et al., 2000; U.S. EPA 2001). Solid wastes are also generated in production (e.g. drilling muds), transportation, refining operations (Juvkam-Wold, 1976; U.S. EPA 2001). Air emissions originate from fuel combustion for process utilities and fugitive emissions in the process equipment (Wilhelm, 1999; U.S. EPA 2001. These are the possible avenues of mercury to be transferred from produced hydrocarbons to the environment (Mussig and Rothmann, 1997; US EPA, 2001). Table 4 shows a wide variety of waste streams that contain mercury generated in conjunction wi th petroleum production and processing (Wilhelm, 1999). Table 4 Petroleum Processing Mercury Waste Streams [Wilhelm, 1999]. Type Matrix Mercury Sludge Hg++ Hydrocarbon Hgo, XHgX, HgS Sludge Water HgS, Hg++ Cleaning Solutions Water Hg++ inorganic compounds Cleaning Solvents Hydrocarbon Solvent Hgo, XHgX Hg Sorbent Carbon, Sulfur HgS, S, Organic compounds. Hg Sorbent Metal Sulfide, Alumina Hgo, XHgX, HgS, Cu, Al2O3 Hg Sorbent Zeolite, Ag AgHg Hg Sorbent Carbon, KI HgI2 Dehydration Fluid Triethylene glycol Hgo, XHgX, Hg++ CO2 Removal Water Hgo, XHgX, Hg++ KCO3 Sour Gas Treatment DEA, TEA Hgo, XHgX, Hg++ amines Catalysts Metal Hg amalgam Filtration Material Clays, Fibers Hgo, XHgX, Hg++ Debris Hgo, XHgX Produced Water Generally, in oil and gas production operation one of the upstream activities involves a primary separation of water, gas and oil followed by treatment of the produced water for discharge or re-use. Produced water is the largest waste stream generated in association with oil and gas production operations which contains various organic and inorganic components. It originates from water that is trapped in permeable sedimentary rocks within the wellbore. The separated water is either disharged (to an ocean, lake or stream) or re-injecting back into rock formations from whence it originated [Hayward Gordon Ltd.; Gallup and Strong]. However, some of the produced water is fairly fresh and is readily re-used for specific purposes such as agricultural, industrial, or treated water use [Sullivan et al., 2004]. There are some major components containing in produced water such as hydrocarbons and organic compounds (e.g. oil, grease, benzene, dissolved organic compounds such as napthalene, toluene, phenanthrene, and pentacholorophenol), salts (e.g. chlorides and sulfides of Ca, Mg, and Na), metals (e.g. lead, chromium, nickel, barium, manganese, iron, strontium, zinc, silver, cadmium, lithium, copper, mercury, arsenic, selenium, and boron), radionuclides and production chemicals [Frankiewicz and Gerlach, 2000; Sumi, 2005]. Moreover, produced waters are typically more saline and have total solid dissolved concentrations from less 100 mg/l to over 300 000 mg/l compared to sea water [Stewart, 2008; U.S. EPA, 2001]. Research by United States Geological survey reported that conventional oil and gas wells produce produced water that increases over time [Sumi, 2005]. In some states in United States, surface discharges of produced water is allowed and is used for stock and watering an agriculture. However, it can be problematic to the environment due to its highly saline nature and contaminated with mercury. Neff [18] reported that, about 8 pounds per year of total mercury are discharged with produced water. The dominant forms of mercury available in produced water are suspended mercury sulfide (HgS) and elemental mercury (Hgo) [2,13]. Similar forms of mercury are also found in produced water associated with gas production in the Gulf of Thailand [Frankiewicz and Tussaneyakul, 1997]. A treatment process to remove mercury from produced water prior to overboard discharge has been developed consisting of a three-phase separator to remove the gas and also condensate [Gallup and Strong, ; Sullivan et al., 2004]. Refinery Wastewater Refinery wastewaters streams typically contain vary widely chemical compositions having a large volume of water (per barrel of oil processed). Moreover, it also contains many regulated organic and inorganic contaminants (soluble or insoluble form) that can restrict its use and disposal thereof. In refineries, wastewater that entering the water treatment system is a composite of water discharge from processing units with different types and functions. The water streams from process units, cooling water and leakage in the system may contain some contaminated hydrocarbons [Veenstra et al., 2008]. The amount of mercury in refinery wastewater cannot be stated in certainty because of very little information is availably reported. The refinery biological water treatment generates several mercury compounds with a wide range of concentrations. The amount less than 5 percent of the total mercury concentration exists as a monomethylmercury, less than 0.01 percent as a dialkylmercury, and less than 0.1 percent as elemental mercury. Moreover, in a range of 10 to 30 percent exits as suspended particulate mercury with less than 10 percent as a labile Hg2+ and between 60 and 90 as an organochelated Hg2+. Reported by Bloom and Falke [21] that the concentration of total mercury in effluents from sewage treatment facilities is in the range of 5 to 20 ng/L. Drilling Wastes The exploration for oil and gas produces the drilling wastes which primarily consist of extracted cuttings and drilling muds. During drilling process, the drilling muds (also termed fluids) which inject into the well bore are identified as the sources of toxic materials that may discharges into aquatic environment surrounding offshore drilling operations [2,22,23]. Drilling muds is generally a viscous, heavy fluid designed to perform a variety of functions such as to transport rock chips (cuttings) from the bottom of the well up and out of the well bore, where the cuttings are screened and removed, and the separated mud is re-used. In addition, the drilling muds act to cool the drill bit, to stabilize the wells walls during drilling process and to control formation fluids that may flow into the well [23]. Besides, it also functions to minimize reservoir damage and limits corrosion. Most drilling muds are engineered slurries made up from drilling fluids, liquid-based mud (such as water-based muds, oil-based muds and synthetic-based muds), barite (optional additives), low gravity solids and treatment chemicals (bentonite clay) [23,24]. The drilled formation cuttings and barite contribute to the existing mercury as a trace mineral in drilling discharges. The concentrations of mercury in barite ores can vary widely from as little as 0.05 ppm to as much as 31 ppm. Moreover, mercury in drilling discharges is completely made of inorganic mercury which is extremely insoluble in water and not readily converted into organic methylmercury. The methylation process, which bioconverted mercury to methylmercury is dependent on several variables including an anoxic environment, low pH, presence of organic materials, low salinity, and warm temperatures. Associated Wastes The process of producing, treating, storing and transporting of oil and gas generates low volumes of a variety of wastes such as sludges, cleaning fluids, process treatment fluids, spent catalysts, spent removal system sorbents, debris and soils [12]. These wastes commonly known as associated wastes which are produced less than 1% of total volume of waste generated by oil and gas exploration and production [2]. Sludge is a semi-solid material tends to aggregate with mixture of one and more liquids and suspended solids. In hydrocarbon processing facilities, sludges are removed from tanks and vessels during maintenance and inspection. Mercury in hydrocarbon sludge is usually higher than the process fluid in the process stream. Since mercury has higher solubility in higher molecular weight organic compounds, it tends to accumulate in the sludges and turn out to be contaminant [12]. Solid wastes such as spent materials (i.e. spent catalyst and spent adsorbents) contain a significant quantity of mercury. The catalysts used in oil refining and chemical manufacturing accumulate mercury during their operations. The spent adsorbent obtained from the separation system, which is designed to remove mercury from gas, liquid and condensate has very high mercury content. Mercury also exists and contaminates the solvent used to liquefy sludge deposit in the process equipment and in process treatment of fluids for dehydration and sweetening processes [12]. Mercury Emissions to Atmosphere Air pollution has been linked to a number of significant problems such as ozone depletion, global climate change, acid rain, environmental degradation, and health effects in humans, plants, and animals. It is created by a number of different of sources and exits in a number of different forms. The point sources in industrial activities include chemical plants, oil refineries, power plants, hazardous waste incinerators and, oil and gas processing. It was estimated that the annual mercury emissions from oil and gas industry to atmophere in US is about 6,300 kg/year [2]. In natural gas industry, the emissions of mercury to the atmosphere could be through a glycol-overhead-gas. In the dehydration process, absorption liquids like glycols are used to absorb water and also mercury. On the elevated temperature, the glycol is regenerated and mercury is evaporated together with water. Therefore, the glycol-overheads containing mercury are released directly to the atmosphere [11]. In oil refinery, volatile and particulate mercury emissions to the atmosphere are claimed to generate mostly from the fuel combustion that are used to fire refinery process heaters and some amount from fugitive emissions. The fuels also include mostly gas and coke [25]. In refinery processing, catalyst is regenerated by using gas and some of the catalyst collect mercury and released it when regenerated. The gas from regeneration process which may contain higher amount of mercury than other typical gas flares is sent to flare [2]. Mercury Contaminated Facilities Mercury enters into gas gathering and processing facilities through the feed gas, from instruments used to measure gas properties and in used-catalyst. Several problems occur due to the existing mercury during the restoration. Mercury contaminated on steel surfaces and creeps by adsorbs into the micro-crevices and pore, although the temperature and pressure are at below condensation and without forming amalgams [11]. The pigging operations of mercury contaminated pipelines can generate sludge and debris that have high in mercury content [11,12]. Furthermore, during maintenance and cleaning activities, spillage of mercury from instruments contaminates buildings and soil [11,12]. Mercury Waste Treatment, Recycling, And Disposal Due to the extreme threat of mercury pollution, several remediation technologies have been developed, aim to remove mercury from wastewaters, although some works have targeted for mercury removal in gas phase. Mercury removal systems that are now prevalent for many processes which employ to protect equipment and catalysts for such systems depend on their chemical properties and process location [10]. Moreover, mercury waste can be treated and disposed by recovery; physical and chemical treatments, incineration and thermal process. Physical, Chemical and Thermal Treatments Physical separation methods depend on elemental mercurys high density and surface tension. This could be achieved by allowing segregation process to taking place. In contrast, mercury compounds differ from elemental since it cannot be physically separated. One of the examples of physical treatment is by using filtration equipment which employs to remove solid mercury from the waste streams. Removal and segregate waste mercury through equipment decontamination, soil remediation, fluid decontamination or disposal sludge processing are accomplished by using chemical treatments, precipitation treatment for filtration and aqueous extraction treatment. In addition, the thermal process (refer to distillation process) is used to remove mercury from the most mercury-contaminated area of oil and gas industry [11,12,26]. Several treatment processes have been developed to remove contaminants (i.e. mercury) from produced water prior to overboard discharge. The treatment processes involved re-injecting produced water back into rock formations from whence it originated. Figure 2 shows the original water treatment process based upon a sequence of stages according to the influent oil and solid content [27]. The first stage is characterized by a de-oiling unit, where water leaves the bottom of the separator and passes through desanding and de-oiling hydrocyclones. The water then enters the chemical treatment process followed by addition of an oxidant (NaOCl), ferric ions and a flocculant sequentially to form a floatable sludge consisting of ferric hydroxide, chemisorbed mercury, ferri-arsenate, and hydrocarbons (known as flotation units). The oxidation-reduction potential of the water is controlled by oxidant addition to allow Hg in elemental form [15,16]. There are several commercial processes available to prevent the mercury contamination at processing facilities. Table 5 summarizes the mercury removal systems for hydrocarbons and water which involve adsorption, chemical precipitation, ion exchange, iron cementation, membranes separation, and activated carbon adsorption [12]. Figure 2 Typical Produced Water Treatment [27] Recycling and Restoration The recovery process known as recycling or reuse method which involve a common process such as gravity separation, filtration, distillation, solvent, and chemical regeneration [28]. Physical methods could be neutralization, precipitation or separation and detoxification (chemical). Equipment decontamination is accomplished using chemical cleaning solutions that selectively oxidize complex elemental mercury deposits. These cleaning solutions consist of aqueous base solution having iodine as a complexing agent and organic solution (alcohol). In the case of incineration, the mercury contaminated waste is burnt at medium or high temperatures. For soil, sludge and debris must be thermally processed to remove mercury. The thermal process uses a vacuum, inert gas, or air as a carrier medium. However, if air is used, sulfur existed in matrix is converted to SO2 and hydrocarbons are oxidized to CO2 and H2O. Anaerobic thermal systems employ selective condensation and/or adsorption to separate sulfur and hydrocarbons from mercury. Spent adsorbent materials are also thermally processed using strictly anaerobic conditions to avoid exothermal reaction involving carbon [12,28]. As described above, mercury contamination can be preventing by using appropriate treatment processes. However, at the end of life cycle of gas installations, it may remain abandoned and need to be restored. For steel factories, scrap materials (i.e. tubings, flowlines, and facilities contaminated mercury) were cleaned before scrapping and added to steel production. Therefore, in European steel factories, the steel has to be cleaned or re-melting if the mercury contamination exceeds 2 to 10 mg per kg steel. In other cases, there are some processes available to clean mercury contaminated in pipelines and equipment such as sand blasting, high pressure water jetting, chemical process, milling techniques and also thermal treatment. Besides, the restoration or intermediate remediation of soil contaminated area is available with several soil cleaning methods [11]. Table 5 Mercury Removal Systems for Hydrocarbons and Water [12]. Method Process Comments Adsorption (Activated carbon, Sulfur, iodine impregnated carbon ) Mercury (Hgo) physically adsorbs and reacts to form non-volatile mercuric sulfide. Low saturation loading. Most used cheap, disposal problems. Prevalent wet collection To bubble gas (contain Hg) through permanganate solution. All Hg species convert to mercuric ion. Accurate, reasonably sensitive, increased corrosivity. Sulfide precipitation Sulfide reacts with ionic forms of Hg to form the insoluble mercuric sulfide and separated by filtration Increased corrosivity Ion exchange To remove ionic Hg from some waste streams. Regeneration problems, system contamination. Reverse osmosis treatment (semi-permeable membranes) Produce a clear permeate and a concentrate containing mercury Effective in treating specialized water streams Iron cementation (metal replacement process) Dissolved mercury cemented in a active metal (Zn or iron) Carried out in acid solution Disposal and Storage Waste materials that contain mercury need to be identified and characterized. They must be treated prior to disposal to avoid the long-term liabilities of burial or storage. Practically, all the mercury and contaminated materials should be accounted and collected because of the potential impacts of mercury into the environments. Removal of mercury from complex mixtures can be accomplished by combination of physical, chemical, immobilization, thermal, electrolytic and in-situ vitrification treatment methods. Sludge is one of the more difficult waste materials to process for treatment and disposal due to the existing of hydrocarbon in the matrix of sludge [12,28]. In the case of drilling fluid, it is often disposed of when a well is completed, and fresh fluid is used for any adjacent wells. Filtration processes have allowed drilling fluid to be reconditioned, so that it can be used for multiple wells before being discarded. Other possible uses for used drilling fluids are to plug-in the productive wells or to spud in new wells. Reuse of oil-based and synthetic-based drilling fluids to drill additional wells is common because of the high cost of the base fluids [29]. Mercury Emission Regulations Mercury is released through emissions from manufacturing, use or disposal activities. Environmental laws and regulations have been introduced by various regulatory bodies in order to protect the environment. Several specific laws such as Mercury Export Ban Act of 2008 and Mercury-Containing and Rechargable Battery Management Act of 1996 have been subjected related to mercury. In the case of environmental statutes such as Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and Safe Drinking Water Act, EPA has the responsibility to develop regulations to control some mercury emissions to air, water, or from wastes and products. The stringent regulations were recommended to set an upper-bound limit on the amount of mercury for any facilities. Besides, it is require for every power plant in the country to adopt the maximum available control technologies (MACT). The possible approaches of these MACT are to achieve the reduction in mercury emissions by setting the uniform emissions limits for existing facilities and more restrictive limits for new ones; and the mandatory emissions reductions with an emissions credit trading system. Concluding Remarks Mercury is often present in oil and gas with various concentration and species. Mercury is toxic to both human health and the environment. It also leads to the potential of plant failure. Mercury emissions from oil and gas exploration, production, and processing into the environment could be via wastewater (produced water, refinery wastewater), solid waste (drilling waste, refinery waste) and contaminated facilities. The mercury emissions to atmosphere originate from gas processing plant, flared gas refineries, and fuel burning for process utilities. To minimize the amount of mercury emissions, several techniques for monitoring and removal of mercury have been developed. These include segregation, treatment, recovery, and disposal of mercury waste in the process. In treatment process, it involves physical, thermal, and chemical processes to remove the contaminated mercury. The waste materials that contain mercury are usually treated to remove mercury prior to the disposal and storage . Concluding Remarks The financial support from the MOSTI under the e-Science Research Program (Project No. 03-01-06-SF0464) is gratefully acknowledged. Amin-Nejad S., Smith J.S., and Lucas.J (2003). A Visual Servoing System for Edge Trimming of Fabric Embroideries by Laser. Journal of Mechatronics, Pergamon Press, New York. ISSN 0957-4158. 13(6): pp533-551.

Swagg

Sydney Kpundeh Professor Couch Introduction to Philosophy 1101 February 23, 2013 Artificial Intelligence The year is 2013 and technology dominates our day and age. Our society is turning to one that requires some sort of technology to survive. One may argue that a lot of people have cell phones or know how to use one. That can range from a ten year old child, to an eighty-five year old grandmother. One may also argue that most households have either a television or computer or even both in most cases.The use of technology in people’s lives is growing and therefore the demand for technological products. Children are addicted to playing games on their PlayStation or texting their buddies and their parents are busy sending emails and checking stocks on their iPads’. With this steady growth in usage of technology in people’s lives, the demand for these machines is also growing. Competitors selling these machines compete to make their products better than the rest of the sellers, constantly keeping them updated and in tune with what people would want to see in these machines and what they need from them.For example, let us look at â€Å"SIRI,† which is software developed by the company Apple. It is an intelligent personal assistant which is used in Apple products. Siri is given a woman’s voice and uses it to answer questions, make recommendations, and perform actions by delegating requests to a set of Web services. Most machines in this generation are equipped with this personal assistant ability or something very similar. This new recent development in machines has stirred a very interesting debate amongst philosophers.That debate is whether or not machines have the ability to think. Alan Turning, who was a computer scientist, wrote a 950 page paper in the 1950s, about a way to test whether machines can actually think. It became known as the Turning Test for Thinking Machines. In his paper Turning also outlines some objections peo ple had to machine intelligence. Christopher Evans was also a computer scientist and he also wrote a paper entitled, â€Å"Can Machines think† in which he summarizes Turnings objections, comments on them, and also gives his own opinion on the subject. In this paper, I will ocus on two of his objections to the thesis that machines can think that Evans considers and replies to, and I will explain my side on those issues. The first objection is the Theological objection—â€Å"Man is a creation of God, and has been given a soul and the power of conscious thought. Machines are not spiritual beings, have no soul and thus must be incapable of thought† (Evans 221). This argument objects to the thesis that machines can think. Evans leans on what Turning already pointed out in his paper, that this objection puts an unwarranted restriction on God. Why shouldn’t he give machines souls and allow them to think if he wanted to? † (Evans 221). Evan replies by sayin g that this is irrefutable. If we define thinking as something that only man can do and something that only God has the power to grant, then machines cannot think because God created man with the ability to think. Man created machines but since man does not have the same powers as God, they are not able to give these machines the ability to think. Therefore machines cannot think. I am a strong believer in God and I believe he created all living creatures on this earth, along with humans and the ground we inhabit.Everything else that we see now in the world is a byproduct of those 3 things and therefore not a creation by God. That means that they do not have the same functions as the things created by God. Thought is one of those functions. A building was created by man and nobody would argue that a building has the ability to even speak yet alone think. Machines, like computers, iPods, iPhones, PlayStations, etc. , were all created by Man. Therefore just like a building, there shoul d not even be a debate about whether or not they have the ability to think.Just like how building designs have become more sophisticated, machines have also had significant advances from when they were first created. However all of these new developments are additions by humans and they have nothing to do with the primary functions of the building or machine. Buildings are still made to keep things in and keep things out. Machines are made for entertainment and to help our lives as humans run smoother. Nothing has changed. I agree strongly with Evans on this point which rejects the idea that machines can think, and believe he makes a good argument.The second objection is the Unpredictability objection- â€Å"Computers are created by humans according to a set of rules and operate according to carefully scripted programs which themselves are sets of rules. So if you wanted to, you could work out exactly what a computer was going to do at any particular time† (Evans 223). That b eing said, computers therefore are totally predictable. Humans however, are unpredictable and do not operate according to a set of rules. Therefore because humans are unpredictable, they are capable of error, which cannot be said about the predictable machines.The fact that machines are incapable of error and every one of their moves are predictable means that they do not have the ability to think. Evans replies by rejecting this thought. He says that machines nowadays are more complex and dynamic that they can surprise us and make mistakes. Although they are programmed in most of their actions, some still have the ability to re-program themselves and therefore can be unpredictable. Consequently, Evans argues that in this aspect machines have the ability to think. I disagree with Evans on this reply because I do not think he makes a strong argument.I will use the Siri example mentioned earlier to help support my position. Siri was programmed by Apple and all of Siri’s functio ns and response have been thought out and tested, and therefore predictable. However, it is impossible to predict everything that Siri says. Siri can surprise people because its response, even though they are predicted, caters to the user’s personality, interest, and likes. Siri saves and takes a note of every action you perform on your phone, or Apple product. If you constantly search for close McDonalds in the area and then ask Siri for example, what do I feel like eating today? It is highly probable that Siri is going to respond McDonalds. That does not mean Siri is thinking. It just means that is was programmed to study your search habits and interests. Siri could also say Wendy’s, because it knows you like fast food and Wendy’s has the same type of food as McDonalds, but it knows you always eat McDonald’s and could use something different to eat. That again does not mean that Siri is thinking, it just means it is programmed to sort through your likes and habits, and decided to suggest something which was not what ost people would have predicted. This is just another reason why I believe machines cannot think. This debate is a very intriguing one. Previous generations probably would turn in their graves if they actually knew that we were spending time and money debating and researching the thought of machines having the ability to think. However now the time being the 21st century and with all the technology advances that comes with living in this age, it is a very plausible debate.The thesis and the common belief now is that these new machines, from phones to cars, think on their own but like Evans, I disagree with this argument. Although there can be valid cases for machines thinking on their own, and Evans even agrees with the norm on some occasions, there still is not enough evidence today to turn that claim into a fact. Evans makes very strong cases for why they still cannot think, cases that I have commented on above and s tated my view, but in the end it goes down to the fundamental definition of the word â€Å"think†.Webster’s dictionary defines the word think as –â€Å"have a particular opinion, belief, or idea about someone or something: â€Å"she thought that nothing would be the same again. † Based on that definition alone machines cannot have their own opinions or beliefs about something. A car cannot, for example, not feel like driving today so it refuses to start. Therefore machines cannot think and they will never gain the ability to think because you cannot give someone or something an opinion.

The Pitfall of Human Sexuality Essay Topics

The Pitfall of Human Sexuality Essay Topics The Birth of Human Sexuality Essay Topics Additional sexuality is an essential part of our personalities whether we know of it or not. Sexuality Sexuality may be an awkward topic for lots of people. It is a very big subject for teens and even children. Simply it is different from gender. For years people throughout the world has been trying to ascertain whether homosexuality is a resuly of nature, nurture or a mixture of both. Everything ought to be ideally polished. Others aren't able to experience healthy sexual relationships because of physical or emotional troubles. In spite of the fact that Gender Studies teach this subject too, it's concentrated on the difference between males and females. Gender socialization isn't biologically fixed, but it's ruled by the culture and frequently changes over time period. Human sexuality plays a significant part in everybody's life. Adolescent Sexuality Issues Sexuality is among the most significant areas for all adolescents. Or you might feel like not one of these. This scenario may not be changed, but they are able to change their bodies. Just make certain that it is something which you require, not just something that you want in the brief term. Thus, look for something which is comfortable but also something which suits your style. There's an immense variation in natural human sexual behavior, ranging for instance, from somebody who masturbates 30 times each day to somebody who masturbates once in 30 decades. Sexual liberation and evolution for this matter began with the very first wife who admitted having sex for the interest of pleasure instead of just to procreate. Because diversity is significant to colleges, it may influence your odds of getting into the college of your choice, especially if it's a top ranked university. Some asexual men are completely unable to acquire an erection and sexual activity is totally not possible for them. The Slightest level of nudity is shunned. Students have to bear in mind 3 key differences. For many this appears to be a touchy subject. The intensive study of one definite participant. The winner stands the opportunity to earn a lot of efficiencies and opportunities that are made by the open markets. Society has changed through the years and we need to adapt to the changes. Financial aid packages will also play a part in relation to the college's capacity to provide help to lower-income students. But actually, there are numerous distinct understandings of gender. Understanding intersectionality is essential for understanding and dismantling oppression. Many factors demonstrate that. More research is required to uncover the source of the increased rates of mental health trouble in the LGBT subpopulations. Some researchers believe asexuality needs to be considered a disorder, while some discover that it's normal. Academics rancorously dispute fundamental questions regarding the mechanisms of psychosexual improvement. The Awful Side of Human Sexuality Essay Topics Thus, we can readily deal with any of topics, and that means you submit your paper ahead of the deadline. It could refer to any form of paper. How do you make a research paper. This paper will learn more about the subject of human sexuality for a motivation. Read some current literature reviews to observe how they're organized. It's compulsory to introduce the topic to the target reader by explaining what's human sexuality and following that is is possible to center on the specific matter. The aim is to take a particular position on the subject. A literature review focusing on a specific question.

Assess the View That Gender Differences in Achievement Are...

10th April 2012 Assess the view that gender differences in achievement are largely the result of changes in the education system There is a lot of compelling evidence to support the view that changes in the education system has resulted in differences in educational achievement between males and females. There is no denying that the statistics show girls are outperforming boys at every level in education, but the question is whether this is largely related to changes in the assessment process and the way each of the genders is educated or whether there are other factors causing the differences. One change that occurred in the education system was the move from the tripartite schooling system to the comprehensive system which†¦show more content†¦A further possibility in explaining the differences in educational achievement in regard to educational system changes could be the phasing out of more practical subjects that have historically been advantageous for boys, the majority of whom are kinaesthetic learners and do better with this type of examination. In the past where subjects such as woodwork or design technology consisted of largely practical assessments (making or designing things); they now consist more of exams which probably do not suit boy as much as the practical, kinaesthetic way of learning and being assessed. This can be said for many other traditional subjects, such as the sciences, which used to contain more actual experimentation that students would be graded on, but has now become more exam based. Girls on the other hand learn better either throug h visualising or listening which could favour them in exams. This could be the reason why girls, when these sorts of subjects were more practical didn’t do as well as boys, but since the changes, have enabled them to do better than the boys. Arguing against Madsen Pirie on this matter are feminists that believe Madsen Pirie and other theorists that believe the gender differences are down to the factors mentioned above are just trying to find any reason to explain why boys are disadvantaged in the education system instead of just accepting that girls are doing better in education for other reasons asShow MoreRelatedDoes Social Inequality Exist in Jamaica3694 Words   |  15 Pagesideology and power combine to make one group of people feel inferior to another. From a sociological perspective people are able to assess both opportunities and constraints that characterize their lives as it relates to age, sex, gender, race and class and based on this, many ills that the world faces today are derived from some person’s blatant disregard for differences. A prejudice is a preconceived belief toward a particular group while discrimination is a behavior (an action), with reference toRead MoreSociology Essay20437 Words   |  82 Pages08. Copyright  © Guardian News Media Ltd 2008; Philip Allan Updates for material from, ‘Gender differences in education: The underachievement of boys, Sociology Review, Vol. 8, Issue 1, Sept. 1998; and ‘Figure 2 Marriages, divorces and remarriages, 1950–2005, In Focus, Sociology Review, Vol. 17, No. 2, Nov. 2007; Times Educational Supplement for an extract from C Dean, ‘Social class linked to results’, Times Educational Supplement, 18.04.97. 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