CHAPTER 3

COMBUSTION
CALCULATION
 Self Exercise 3
Gaseous propane of 88 kg/hr is burned in a boiler with 10% excess air to
produce 1200 kg/hr of steam at 0.1 MPa and 150oC. The percent
conversion of the propane is 100%; of the fuel burned, 90% reacts to form
CO2 and the balance to form CO. The temperature of combustion air, fuel
and water entering the boiler is assumed at 25oC. The flue gas leaves the
boiler at 300oC (all the water formed will be vapour). In addition, a
substantial amount of heat is also lost through the boiler wall and other
uncounted sources.
Calculate the flue gas composition (both dry and wet basis) leaving a boiler.
Calculate the combustion efficiency of a steam boiler
Construct a Sankey diagram showing the heat balance analysis as a percent of
heat input.
 Combustion Calculation Terminology
1. Combustion Air
2. Theoretical/Stoichiometric Air Requirement
3. Excess Air
4. Mole method of calculation
 1. Combustion Air

For all practical purposes, dry air can be assumed to contain

21.0% by vol. of oxygen and 79.0% by vol. of nitrogen so that
the molar ratio of N2/O2 is 79/21 or 3.76
 2. Theoretical or Stoichiometric
Air Requirements
The quantity of oxygen theoretically required to ensure
complete combustion

As the composition of air is known, the Theoretical or

Stoichiometric Air can easily be calculated by multiplying the
stoichiometric oxygen by the molar ratio of 100/21 i.e. 4.76.

Please correct in the

notes page 39
 3. Excess Air
In almost all practical combustion systems it is necessary to use
more than the stoichiometric amount of air, to ensure complete
combustion.

This additional air is referred to as excess air, and is denoted as

a percentage or fraction over the stoichiometric amount.
 3. Excess Air
Excess air is important because it:-

• allows plant performance to be optimized on order that

running costs are minimised

• may have a significant influence on pollutant emission,

especially NOx, CO, particulates and soot. Hence formation
of these pollutants depends on excess air.

• affect the recorded value of emission due to dilution

 Calculation of the Air Requirement for
Complete Combustion of Fuel Gases
Example 1

Calculate the theoretical air-gas ratio at MSC of a fuel gas

manufactured by the ICI 500 process containing (by volume)

14.8% CO2
2.7% CO
48.9% H2
33.6% CH4
 (1) (2) (3) (4)
Constituent Volume Theoretical O2 (2) x (3)
fraction gas ratio O2 required
CO2
CO
H2
CH4

The air requirement for each fuel gas is given by the O2

requirement x 100/21 thus, The theoretical air-gas ratio =
0.93 x 4.76 = 4.43
 Fuel and Flue Gas Composition
Calculations
Gravimetric or weight or mass analysis…….. Mass fraction  xi
Volumetric analysis…….. Mole fraction  yi

Combustion products
Fuel CO2 , H2O , O2 , N2 , CO
Air Combustor H2 , CxHy , SO2 etc

Analysis
• Dry basis Without
• Wet basis water
 Fuel and Flue Gas Composition
Calculations
Conversion of gravimetric analysis to volumetric analysis and
vice-versa;

y i M Wi
xi 
M Wmix
 Example 2
The volumetric composition of a sample of gases fuel is the
following: H2 = 50%, CH4 = 20%, C2H4 = 2%, CO2 = 5%,
CO = 16%, N2 = 7%

1. Determine the molecular weight and the density of

the mixture at STP (15oC & 1 atm) if the total
pressure is 1 atm.

2. Determine also the gravimetric composition or

composition by weight

* Use Table in Chapter 2 page 19

 Dew Point of Flue Gas
The dew point of a gaseous mixture is the temperature at
which its water vapour starts condensing, i.e. the temperature
at which the saturation pressure of water equals the partial
pressure of water vapour in the gaseous mixture.
 Dew Point of Flue Gas

To determine the dew point temperature of the products, Tdp,

the partial pressure of the water vapor is required.

- Dalton’s law
n water
p water  y water PT and y water 
n products

If the total pressure of the products is assumed to be

atmospheric , i.e. 101.325 kPa , then from a steam table, find
T d.p = f (Pwater)
 Example 3
Find the dew point of a flue gas at 150oC being exhausted out
of chimney at atmospheric condition. The flue gas
composition is

CO2 13%,
SO2 0.05%,
O2 6.75%,
N2 75%
H2O 5.2%
 Combustion Efficiency
It is an indication of the burner’s ability to burn fuel. The
amount of unburned fuel, CO and excess air in the exhaust are
used to assess a burner’s combustion efficiency
Example 3a

Question 3
 In class group
homework 2

Discuss and prepare the solution of question no 5

page 64

All member must submit

Leader please make sure every member complete the

solution and compile before hand in today
Question?
 THE END

Thank You for the Attention

 Heat Loss
Heat loss in the products of combustion is a combination of
several parameters;

• Sensible loss i.e. the total enthalpy of the various

component gases (CO2, N2, O2, SOx, NOx) at the dry flue
gas temperature
• Heat losses due to sensible heat of the water vapour,
the latent heat at condensation and the sensible heat of
liquid water
• Potential losses, i.e. of available heat due to unburnt
combustible components
 Sankey Diagram
Latent
Potential + Radiation
Loss
+ Convection Losses

Heat Useful
Input Heat

Gross CV Net CV

Uncounted Losses
Sensible
e.g. opening, conveyor etc
Loss
Heat Losses due to the presence of
water in flue gas

L latent  ΔHsl  ΔH v  ΔHsv

.
ΔHsl  m H2 0 C pl (Tdp  Tref )
.
ΔH v  m H2 0 λ ......where λ  f(h fg at Tdp )
Tflu e
ΔHsv  n H
20 
Td p
C p dT
 Thermal Efficiency

It measures the ability of the exchanger to transfer heat

from the combustion process to processing heating medium
such as water or steam.

It also accounts for the effectiveness of the heat exchanger

as well as the radiation and convection losses.

useful heat
η 
thermal heat input
 Example 5
Methane is burned with air in a PA Hilton boiler to produce
hot water of 55oC. The fuel is fed at a rate of 7 kg/hr at 25oC ,
the air enters the boiler at a rate of 130 kg/hr at 42.5oC, and
the water enters the boiler at a flow rate of 1000 kg/hr at
10oC. The composition of the dry flue gas leaving the boiler at
700oC are found to be 0.9% O2, 9.7% CO2, 0.02% CO and the
balance N2
• Sketch a process flow diagram of the above process
• Construct a Sankey diagram showing the percentage of heat
available and losses from various sources
• Calculate the combustion and thermal efficiencies of the
above process
Analysis of Natural Gas Combustion
Product

To determine

i) fuel: air ratio

ii) combustion efficiency
iii) heat content of flue gases for energy balance
iv) thermal efficiency calculations and for measuring
the emission of pollutant or toxic gas.
Infra Red
 Infra Red
• Consist 2 platinum element – one is passivated and the
other one is catalyst coated
• The heat of combustion heats the catalytic filament, thus
increasing its electrical resistance.
• This in turn unbalances a bridge circuit which produces
a measurable voltage change.
• This voltage change is amplified and made proportional
to the total concentration of combustible gases present.
• The output signal usually is calibrated in percent of CO
or CO2.
• High accuracy
• Not suitable for field testing
Fyrite Analyzer
 Fyrite Analyzer

• turning the tube upside down and noting the change in

liquid level when it is returned to the upright position
• Several inversions are necessary until a constant reading
• is easy to operate
Draeger Tube Analyzer
 Draeger Tube Analyzer
• used for detecting carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide,
oxides of nitrogen and excess oxygen in the products of
combustion from appliances and furnaces.

• The concentration of the constituent gas is obtained

from the length of discolouration of the absorbent
chemical within the graduated tube.

• Simple and portable

• Suitable for both usage for field and laboratory testing

Question?
 THE END

Thank You for the Attention