COMBUSTION

- is an exothermic reaction.
FUEL is any substance, natural or artificial that will burn.

COMBUSTION is synonymous to oxidation and is the

union of oxygen with combustible materials.

Classification of Fuels

1. Solid Fuels such as coal, coke, wood, charcoal,

bagasse, coconut shells and briquetted fuels.
2. Liquid Fuels such as crude petroleum and its
distillates (gasoline, alcohol, kerosene, diesel, bunker,
and other fuel oils.
3. Gaseous Fuels such as natural gas, artificial gas,
blast furnace gas, liquified petroleum gas (LPG),
methane, acethylene, propane, etc.
4. Atomic Fuels susch natural uranium, thorium, and
artificially produced fuel like plotunium.
PROPERTIES OF FUELS

1. Analysis of Composition

a. Proximate Analysis is an analysis of the composition of fuel which gives on mass basis the relative amounts of
moisture content, volatile matter, fixed carbon and ash.
b. Ultimate Analysis is an analysis of the composition of fuel which gives on mass basis, the relative amounts of
carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur ash and moisture.

2. Specific Gravity
𝝆𝒇𝒍𝒖𝒊𝒅 𝝆𝒈𝒂𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆:
𝑺. 𝑮.𝒇𝒍𝒖𝒊𝒅 = 𝑺. 𝑮.𝒈𝒂𝒔 = 𝝆 = 𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒚
𝝆𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝝆𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝑺. 𝑮. = 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒄 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒚

3. API and Baume gravity units

𝟏𝟒𝟏. 𝟓 𝟏𝟒𝟎
°𝑨𝑷𝑰 = − 𝟏𝟑𝟏. 𝟓 °𝑩𝒂𝒖𝒎𝒆 = − 𝟏𝟑𝟎
𝑺. 𝑮. @𝟏𝟓. 𝟔° 𝑺. 𝑮. @𝟏𝟓. 𝟔°
4. Specific Gravity at temperature (t)

𝑺. 𝑮.𝒕 = (𝑺. 𝑮. @𝟏𝟓. 𝟔°𝑪 𝒐𝒓 𝟔𝟎°𝑭)(𝐂𝐅) 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆: 𝑪𝑭 = 𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓

𝑪𝑭 = 𝟏 − 𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟕𝟐(𝒕 − 𝟏𝟓. 𝟔)
𝑪𝑭 = 𝟏 − 𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟒(𝒕 − 𝟔𝟎)
PROPERTIES OF FUELS

5. Heating Value or Calorific Value

a. Higher Heating Value or Gross Calorific Value - is the heating value obtained when the water in the products
of combustion is in the liquid state.
b. Lower Heating Value or Net Calorific Value - is the heating value obtained when the water in the products of
combustion is in the vapor state.
Higher Heating Value of Fuels:
Dulong’s Formula:
𝑶 𝒌𝑱
𝑸𝒉 = 𝟑𝟑, 𝟖𝟐𝟎 𝑪 + 𝟏𝟒𝟒, 𝟐𝟏𝟐 𝑯 − + 𝟗, 𝟑𝟎𝟒 𝑺
𝟖 𝒌𝒈
ASME Formula for Petroleum Products
𝒌𝑱
𝑸𝒉 = 𝟒𝟏, 𝟏𝟑𝟎 + 𝟏𝟑𝟗. 𝟔(°𝑨𝑷𝑰)
𝒌𝒈
Bureau of Standards Formula
𝒌𝑱
𝑸𝒉 = 𝟓𝟏, 𝟕𝟏𝟔 − 𝟖𝟕𝟗𝟑. 𝟖 (𝑺. 𝑮. )𝟐
𝒌𝒈
Lower Heating Value of Fuels:`
𝒌𝑱 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒: 𝐻2 = 26 − 15 𝑆. 𝐺. 𝑖𝑛 %
𝑸𝒍 = 𝑸𝒉 − 𝟗𝑯𝟐 (𝟐𝟒𝟒𝟐)
𝒌𝒈
Conversion:
1 BTU/lb = 2.236 kJ/kg = 0.5556 kCal/kg
COMBUSTION OF FUELS

Combustion of Solid Fuels

Theoretical weight of air is the exact theoretical amount as determined from combustion
reaction of air needed to burn a unit amount of fuel.

Given an ultimate analysis of coal, the theoretical weight of air required to completely oxidize
the fuel can be calculated as:

𝑨 𝑶 𝒌𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒓
= 𝑾𝒕𝒂 = 𝟏𝟏. 𝟓𝑪 + 𝟑𝟒. 𝟓 𝑯 − + 𝟒. 𝟑 𝑺
𝑭 𝒕
𝟖 𝒌𝒈𝒇𝒖𝒆𝒍

Where:
Wta = ideal proportion of air to completely burn the unit of fuel.
C, H, O and S are proportions by weight of Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen and
Sulfur PER kg of fuel from the ultimate analysis
 When the ultimate analysis of coal is not available, an appropriate formula to obtain the
theoretical air-fuel ratio when the heating value of the fuel is known.

𝑨 𝑸𝒉 𝒌𝑱/𝒌𝒈 𝒌𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒓
= 𝑾𝒕𝒂 =
𝑭 𝒕
𝟑𝟏𝟕𝟕 𝒌𝒈𝒇𝒖𝒆𝒍

𝑨 𝑸𝒉 𝒌𝑪𝒂𝒍/𝒌𝒈 𝒌𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒓
= 𝑾𝒕𝒂 =
𝑭 𝒕
𝟕𝟒𝟓 𝒌𝒈𝒇𝒖𝒆𝒍

𝑨 𝑸𝒉 𝑩𝑻𝑼/𝒌𝒈 𝒌𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒓
= 𝑾𝒕𝒂 =
𝑭 𝒕
𝟏𝟑𝟒𝟎 𝒌𝒈𝒇𝒖𝒆𝒍
 Actual Weight of Air:
The weight of air supplied for combustion is necessarily in excess of what is theoretically
required.
The volumetric analysis of the dry flue gas can be used to calculate the actual weight of air.

𝑨 𝟏 𝑪𝒙𝑵𝟐 𝒌𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒓
= 𝑾𝒂𝒂 =
𝑭 𝒂
𝟑𝟐. 𝟕𝟐 𝑪𝑶𝟐 + 𝑪𝑶 𝒌𝒈𝒇𝒖𝒆𝒍

𝑨 % 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝒌𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒓

= 𝑾𝒂𝒂 = 𝑾𝒕𝒂 𝟏+
𝑭 𝒂
𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝒌𝒈𝒇𝒖𝒆𝒍
Where:
Waa = actual weight of air including the excess.
C = weight of carbon per kg of fuel from the ultimate analysis
N2, CO2, and CO are percentages by volume of component gases in the
flue gas obtained by Orsat Analysis.

The result of the analysis of the dry flue gas by volume from the gas
analyzer (Orsat apparatus) can be expressed by the equation:
CO2 + CO +O2 + N2 = 100%
The weight of the gaseous products liberated during the combustion of fuel with air

𝒌𝒈
𝑾𝒇𝒈 = 𝑾𝒂 + 𝑾𝒇
𝒉𝒓
The weight of the dry flue gas formed per kg of fuel burned:

𝑾𝒅𝒈 = 𝑾𝒂𝒂 + 𝟏 − (𝑺𝑶𝟐 + 𝑯𝟐 𝑶 + 𝑨𝒔𝒉 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒔)

Where:
Waa = actual air-fuel ratio in kgair/kgfuel
2𝑥%𝑆
𝑆𝑂2 =
100
9𝑥%𝐻
𝐻2 𝑂 =
100

% 𝐴𝑠ℎ
𝐴𝑠ℎ 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠 =
100
Percent Excess Air:
𝑊𝑎𝑎 − 𝑊𝑡𝑎
% 𝐸𝑥𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝐴𝑖𝑟 =
𝑊𝑡𝑎
COMBUSTION OF FUELS

Combustion of Hydrocarbon Fuels

Hydrocarbon fuels consist mainly of combustible elements Carbon and Hydrogen.

CnHm - is the chemically formula od hydrocarbons where subscripts n and m depends on the
hydrocarbon family.
Combustion of Hydrocarbon Fuels

Typical Combustion Reaction of Fuel with known Chemical Formula (CnHm):

Fuel + Air = Products of Combustion

𝑪𝒏 𝑯𝒎 + 𝒂𝑶𝟐 + 𝟑. 𝟕𝟔𝒂𝑵𝟐 = 𝒃𝑪𝑶𝟐 + 𝒄𝑯𝟐 𝑶 + 𝟑. 𝟕𝟔𝒂𝑵𝟐

𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆: 𝒂, 𝒃, 𝒄 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒏𝒐. 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒐𝒍𝒆𝒔

Composition of Air:
b𝑦 𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡: 23% 𝑂2 + 77% 𝑁2 = 100%
𝑏𝑦 𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒: 21% 𝑂2 + 79% 𝑁2 = 100%

Molal Ratio: is the ratio by volume of N2 to O2 in air when both gases are at the same temperature

𝑀𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑁2 79%
= = 3.76
𝑀𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑂2 21%
Combustion of Hydrocarbon Fuel with Theoretical Air

Combustion Reaction of Fuel with known Chemical Formula (CnHm):

Example Liquid Octane (C8H18) undergoes combustion with ideal proportion of air. Calculate the air-fuel
ratio by weight.

Solution:

𝑪𝟖 𝑯𝟏𝟖 + 𝒂𝑶𝟐 + 𝟑. 𝟕𝟔𝒂𝑵𝟐 = 𝒃𝑪𝑶𝟐 + 𝒄𝑯𝟐 𝑶 + 𝟑. 𝟕𝟔𝒂𝑵𝟐

Solution:
Material Balance:
C: 1(8) = b(1) ,b=8 kg-mol
H: 1(18) = c(2) ,c=9 kg-mol
O: a(2) = 8(2) + 9(1) , a = 12.5 kg-mol
N: 3.76(a) , = 47 kg-mol
Thus,
𝑪𝟖 𝑯𝟏𝟖 + (𝟏𝟐. 𝟓)𝑶𝟐 + 𝟑. 𝟕𝟔(𝟏𝟐. 𝟓)𝑵𝟐 = 𝟖 𝑪𝑶𝟐 + 𝟗 𝑯𝟐 𝑶 + 𝟑. 𝟕𝟔(𝟏𝟐. 𝟓)𝑵𝟐
Then,
𝑨 𝟏𝟐. 𝟓 𝟐 𝟏𝟔 + 𝟑. 𝟕𝟔 𝟏𝟐. 𝟓 (𝟐)(𝟏𝟒) 𝒌𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒓
= 𝑾𝒕𝒂 = = 𝟏𝟓. 𝟎𝟓
𝑭 𝒕
𝟖 𝟏𝟐 + 𝟏𝟖(𝟏) 𝒌𝒈𝒇𝒖𝒆𝒍
Combustion Reactions

1. For “chemically correct” or “stoichiometric condition” , the general combustion reaction for CnHm is:
𝒎 𝒎 𝒎 𝒎
𝑪𝒏 𝑯𝒎 + 𝟏 + 𝑶𝟐 + 𝟑. 𝟕𝟔 𝟏 + 𝑵𝟐 = 𝒏𝑪𝑶𝟐 + 𝑯𝟐 𝑶 + 𝟑. 𝟕𝟔 𝟏 + 𝑵𝟐
𝟒 𝟒 𝟐 𝟒

2. Combustion reaction with greater amount of theoretical air, is having a fuel-lean mixture.

3. Combustion reaction with lesser amount of theoretical air, is having a fuel-rich mixture.

Equivalence ratio for given mass of air:

𝐴 Where:
𝐹 𝑡 Ф = 1, for stoichiometric mixture
∅=
𝐴 Ф > 1, for fuel-lean mixture
𝐹 𝑎 Ф < 1, for fuel-rich mixture