Manufacturing Industries

Industries cause economic growth of a nation but also result in degradation of environment. Industries are responsible for following type of pollutions:

1. Air pollution — Industries release undesirable gases like sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide etc. as well as dust particles, sprays and mist. Smoke is emitted by chemical factories, paper factories, brick kilns, refineries and smelting plants.
2. Water Pollution — It is caused by organic and inorganic industries wastes and affluents discharged into rivers. The main culprits in this regard are paper, pulp, chemical, textile and dyeing etc.
3. Thermal Pollution — When the hot water from factories and thermal plants is drained into rivers and ponds before cooling it raises the temperature of the water body resulting in thermal pollution. It adversely affects the aquatic ecosystem.
4. Noise Pollution — Noise of factories cause problems like blood pressure, hearing impairment, anger and other psychological issues. Industrial and construction activities, generators, drilling machines make a lot of noise.

Following are the steps that can be taken to minimise environmental degradation by industries:

1. Minimising use of water for processing by reusing and recycling it in two or more successive stages.
2. Harvesting of rain water to meet water requirements.
3. Treating hot water and effluents before releasing them in rivers and ponds. Treatment of industrial effluents can be done in three phases:
   1. Primary treatment by mechanical means. This involves screening, grinding, flocculation and sedimentation.
   2. Secondary treatment by biological process.
   3. Tertiary treatment by biological, chemical and physical processes. This involves recycling of waste water.
4. Legal regulation of overdrawing of ground water.
5. Use of smoke stacks, electrostatic precipitators, fabric filters, scrubbers and inertial separators can minimise air pollution.
6. Use of silencers in machines and other noise absorbing equipments.
7. Use of oil or gas instead of coal in factories to reduce smoke.

Production of goods in large quantities after processing from raw material to more valuable products is called manufacturing. It is the process of transformation of raw material to high value usable goods. For example, yarn is a raw material that is transformed to clothes.

Basic industry (also known as key industry) are those which supply their products as raw material to manufacture other goods. For example, iron and steel industry is the basic industry that provides raw material to manufacturing industry to produce goods like machines, automobiles, ships, etc.

Aluminium Smelting

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