Fuels

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Semester-I Course Scheme

2
ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY EXAM PATTERN

• Two Term Tests (Internal Assessment)

• Addition of two TT will be considered (30 Marks)

• Term-work comprises of Lab-work 15, Attendance,

and Assignments (25 Marks)

• Final Theory Exam (45 Marks)

• Total Marks 100 Marks

Modulewise Weightage
()
Module Weightage
(including options)

Fuels and Combustion 15

Corrosion 15

Alloys 12

INTRODUCTION TO POLYMERS 15

Introduction to Composites 12

Green Chemistry for sustainable 12

development
 MODULE I : Fuels and Combustion

Sr. No. TOPIC

1.
A) Fuel- definition and Characteristics of fuel

2.
B) Calorific Value- Definition

Types of Calorific value (HCV and LCV with the

formula explaining correlation between them.)

Dulong’s Formula: Theory with the Formula, HCV

and LCV.

Numerical on calorific value

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Sr. No. TOPIC

3. C) Coal- Analysis of coal

1) Proximate analysis, significance and
numerical
2) Ultimate analysis, significance and
numerical

4. D) Combustion of coal- Numerical

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 INTRODUCTION
A fuel is a combustible substance containing carbon as the main constituent which on
proper burning gives a large amount of heat that can be used economically for
domestic and industrial purposes.
(It is simply the reaction of substances with oxygen and converts chemical energy into
heat and light)
Fuel + O2 → CO2 + H2O + Energy)

For example: wood, coal, kerosene, petrol, diesel and water gas.

Combustion reaction of a fuel can be represented as follows:

CnH2n+2 + O2 → CO2(g) + H2O (g) + heat

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 Classification of fuel

Fuels can classify into 2 types.

1. Based on their occurrence.
2. Based on physical state of aggregation.

Based on occurrence, fuels are further divided into two types.

Natural or primary fuels :Fuels which are found in nature are called natural fuels. E.g.:
wood, coal, peat, petroleum and natural gas

Artificial or secondary fuels: fuels prepared artificially from primary fuels are called
artificial or secondary fuels. E.g.: Kerosene, petrol, coal gas, coke etc.

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 Classification of fuel

• Based on state of aggregation fuels are divided into solids, liquids

and gases.

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 Solid fuels, Liquid fuels and Gaseous fuels
Solid fuels
• The main solid fuels are wood, peat, lignite, coal and charcoal. In in additional to these certain
agricultural, and industrial wastes such as, rice husk, coconut and nut shells.

Liquid fuels
Liquid fuels are the important commercial and domestic fuels used these days. Most of the fuel are
obtained from the naturally occurring petroleum or crude oil called as primary fuel. Low boiling
fractions of petroleum are used in petrol engines and higher boiling points in diesel engines.

Gaseous fuels
• The gaseous fuels are most preferred because of their ease of storage, transport, handling
and ignition. It can also be classified in 2 types.

a) Primary fuels e.g., natural gas

b) Secondary fuels e.g., coal gas, producer gas, water gas, oil gas, blast furnace gas etc.

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 Characteristic of good fuel

A good fuel should have

• high calorific value
• moderate ignition temperature
• low moisture content
• low noncombustible matter content
• low cost and easy availability
• easy to transport and storage cost should be low
• products of combustion should not be harmful.
• burn in air without much smoke
• combustion should be easily controllable.
•Low Ash Content

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 Characteristic of good fuel

1. It should ignite easily. The temperature of the fuel at which ignition starts and continues
to burn without further addition of heat is called ignition temperature. It should be
moderate for a good fuel. Very low ignition temperature leads to fire hazard and very high
ignition temperature disfavors the starting of fi re.
2. It should give out a lot of heat, that is, its specific heat should be high.
3. It should have low smoke. This property depends on the nature of elements present in
the fuel.
4. Should not produce harmful product like CO, SO2,H2S which is poisonous and pollutes
air.
5. It should be inexpensive and readily available.
6. It should be easy to store and transport.
7. It should have low ash content. Ash reduces the calorific value of the fuel, causes
hindrance to the flow of air and heat, reduces the specific heat and leads to unwanted
 Calorific value

• Calorific value of a fuel is the total quantity of heat liberated when one unit of
fuel is burnt completely.
Calorific value: It is defined as the total quantity of heat liberated when
a unit mass of a fuel is burnt completely.
• Gross or Higher calorific value (G.C.V or H.C.V): It is the total quantity of
heat liberated when one unit (1g or 1kg) of fuel is burnt completely, and
products of combustion has been cooled to room temperature(180C).

• Net or Lower calorific value (N.C.V or L.C.V) ): It is the total quantity of

heat liberated when one unit of fuel is burnt completely, and products of
combustion has been permitted to escape.
L.C.V= H.C.V – Latent heat of water vapor formed
• Latent heat of steam= 587 cal/gm
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 Units of Calorific value

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 Theoretical calculation of calorific value
using Dulong’s formula
Calorific value of the fuel is the sum of calorific values of each element (heat
produced by the combustion of each element) present in the fuel.

H.C.V= [8080C + 34500(H - O/8)+ 2240 S]/100 kcal/kg

Were,
C= % of carbon in the fuel
H= % of hydrogen in the fuel
O= % of oxygen in the fuel
S= % of Sulphur in the fuel
Calorific value of carbon = 8080 kcal/kg
Calorific value of hydrogen = 34500 kcal/kg
Calorific value of Sulphur = 2240 kcal/kg
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latent heat of steam (vaporization of water) at 180C is 587 Kcal/Kg.
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 Numerical problems based on calorific value

Problem 1: In a sample of coal containing carbon 60%, hydrogen 6%, Sulphur

0.5%, Nitrogen 0.2% and ash 0.3%. Calculate the gross calorific value (G.C.V) or
Higher calorific value (H.C.V).

Problem 2: Calculate the gross calorific value (G.C.V) and net calorific value
(N.C.V) of a sample of fuel containing carbon 85%, hydrogen 8%, Nitrogen 2%
and Ash 4%. Remaining is Sulphur.
Latent heat of steam = 587 cal/g

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 Numerical problems based on calorific value

Problem 3: % Composition of hydrogen = 6.5% and GCV = 9450 cal /g.

Calculate the NCV for the sample. (9106.605 cal/g)

Problem 4: Determine NCV. Also find by how much amount the GCV of a
fuel exceeds NCV for the coal sample with 8.9% H and GCV is 9500 Kcal/Kg
. Latent heat of steam is 580 Kcal/Kg.(9035.42 kcal/kg and464.58 kcal/kg)

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