UNIVERSITY OF BATANGAS

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

FUELS

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT FOR THE

REQUIREMENT IN THE SUBJECT
ME11 ME LABORATORY I

SUBMITTED BY:
DAMIREZ, VON ERIC A.

SUBMITTED TO:
ENGR. GILBERT M. MENDOZA
INSTRUCTOR

JANUARY 2016

SOLID FUELS
Natural Soild Fuel
Coal is a combustible, sedimentary, organic rock, which is composed mainly of carbon,
hydrogen and oxygen. It is formed from vegetation, which has been consolidated between
other rock strata and altered by the combined effects of pressure and heat over millions of years
to form coal seams. Coal is a fossil fuel and is far more plentiful than oil or gas, with
around 110 years of coal remaining worldwide. Not only does coal provide electricity, it is also
an essential fuel for steel and cement production, and other industrial activities.
Anthracite coal is a form of coal that is almost made entirely of carbon. Anthracite coal is much
harder than other forms of coal such as bituminous, and is usually found in areas surrounding
mountains or deep valleys. Anthracite burns much cleaner than other forms of coal due to its
low pollutant content. In fact, anthracite may contain 91% to 98% pure carbon, leaving only 2%
to 9% of other elements. Anthracite coal is difficult to ignite and burns with a blue, smokeless
flame.

Semi Anthracite coal

Bituminous coal is the most abundant rank of coal. It accounts for about 50% of the coal
produced in the United States. Bituminous coal is formed when a sub bituminous coal is
subjected to increased levels of organic metamorphism. It has a carbon content of between 77
and 87% on a dry ash-free basis and a heating value that is much higher than lignite or sub

bituminous coal. On the basis of volatile content, bituminous coals are subdivided into low
volatile bituminous, medium volatile bituminous and high volatile bituminous. Bituminous coal is
often referred to as "soft coal," however this designation is a layman's term and has little to do
with the hardness of the rock.

Semi Bituminous
Sub bituminous coal is a lignite that has been subjected to an increased level of organic
metamorphism. This metamorphism has driven off some of the oxygen and hydrogen in the
coal. That loss produces coal with a higher carbon content (71 to 77% on a dry ash-free basis).
Sub bituminous coal has a heating value between 8300 and 13000 British Thermal Units per
pound on a mineral matter free basis. On the basis of heating value it is subdivided into sub
bituminous A, sub bituminous B and sub bituminous C ranks.
Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, is a soft brown combustible sedimentary rock formed
from naturally compressed peat. It is considered the lowest rank of coal due to its relatively low
heat content. Lignite is more accessible than other types of coal because lignite veins are
located relatively near the surface, eliminating the need for underground excavation in tunnels.

Peat is a heterogeneous mixture of more or less decomposed plant (humus) material that has
accumulated in a water-saturated environment and in the absence of oxygen. Its structure
ranges from more or less decomposed plant remains to a fine amorphic, colloidal mass. The
warmer the climate, the quicker the plant material will decompose. The rate of accumulating
plant material is greatest in areas where the temperature is high enough for plant growth but too
low for the vigorous microbial activity that breaks down the plant material. Such conditions are
found more frequently in the northern hemisphere.

Some renewable energy plants run on woody waste from many other sources as well including
wood, brush and stumps from clearing projects in town, unused pallets, trees that have been
damaged by storms or infested with insects, trees too small for lumber, and agricultural leftovers
such as rice hulls and evenin California fruit pits and grape skins. The easiest way to turn
sawdust or leftover wood into energy is to burn it something that lumber, pulp and paper
companies have been doing in their mills for a long time. Wood scraps can be chipped up or
compressed into pellets that can be shipped to utility companies where it is burned much like

coal. In fact, the pellets are often co-fired with coal. Pound for pound, wood pellets only pack
about 60 to 70 percent as much energy as coal, but thats still enough to spin a turbine and
generate electricity. Burning wood waste is a simple process, but getting the debris to the power
plant can be a logistical nightmare--and an extra cost, economically and environmentally in fuel
alone.

Bagasse is the matted cellulose fiber residue from sugar cane that has been processed in a
sugar mill. Previously, bagasse was burned as a means of solid waste disposal. However, as
the cost of fuel oil, natural gas, and electricity has increased, bagasse has come to be regarded
as a fuel rather than refuse. Bagasse is a fuel of varying composition, consistency, and heating
value. These characteristics depend on the climate, type of soil upon which the cane is grown,
variety of cane, harvesting method, amount of cane washing, and the efficiency of the milling
plant. In general, bagasse has a heating value between 3,000 and 4,000 British thermal units
per pound (Btu/lb) on a wet, as-fired basis. Most bagasse has a moisture content between 45
and 55 percent by weight.

Prepared or Manufactured Solid Fuels

Coke is the most important raw material fed into the blast furnace in terms of its effect on blast
furnace operation and hot metal quality. A high quality coke should be able to support a smooth
descent of the blast furnace burden with as little degradation as possible while providing the
lowest amount of impurities, highest thermal energy, highest metal reduction, and optimum
permeability for the flow of gaseous and molten products. Introduction of high quality coke to a
blast furnace will result in lower coke rate, higher productivity and lower hot metal cost.

Charcoal is a light, black residue, consisting of carbon and any remaining ash, obtained by
removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances.
Charcoal is usually produced by slow pyrolysis, the heating of wood or other substances in the
absence of oxygen (see char and biochar). It is usually an impure form of carbon as it contains
ash; however, sugar charcoal is among the purest forms of carbon readily available, particularly
if it is not made by heating but by a dehydration reaction with sulfuric acid to minimise the
introduction of new impurities, as impurities can be removed from the sugar in advance. The
resulting soft, brittle, lightweight, black, porous material resembles coal.

Briquetted Coal (or briquet) is a compressed block of coal dust or other combustible biomass
material such as charcoal, sawdust, wood chips, peat, or paper used for fuel and kindling to
start a fire. The term comes from the French language and is related to brick. They are a biofuel
substitute to coal and charcoal. Briquettes are mostly used in the developing world, where
cooking fuels are not as easily available. There has been a move to the use of briquettes in the
developed world, where they are used to heat industrial boilers in order to produce electricity
from steam. The briquettes are cofired with coal in order to create the heat supplied to the
boiler.

LIQUID FUELS
Natural Liquid Fuels
Crude petroleum, a complex volatile mixture of hydrocarbons with some sulfur, nitrogen,
oxygen, and trace metals, is the largest single source of energy in the world, accounting for
approximately 35-40% (in oil equivalents) of the energy consumed in the world. It is also the
building block for a large number of chemical products consumed globally.

Prepared or Manufactured Liquid Fuels

Fuel oil is a fraction obtained from petroleum distillation, either as a distillate or a residue at the
oil refinery. Broadly speaking, fuel oil is any liquid petroleum product that is burned in a furnace
or boiler for the generation of heat or used in an engine for the generation of power, except oils
having a flash point of approximately +40 C and oils burned in cotton or wool-wick burners. In
this sense, diesel is a type of fuel oil. Fuel oil is made of long hydrocarbon chains, particularly
alkanes, cycloalkanes and aromatics. The term fuel oil is also used in a stricter sense to refer
only to the heaviest commercial fuel that can be obtained from crude oil, heavier than gasoline
and naphtha.
Fuel oil in the United States is classified into six classes, according to its boiling temperature,
composition and purpose. The boiling point, ranging from 175 to 600 C, and carbon chain
length, 20 to 70 atoms, of the fuel increases with number. Viscosity also increases with fuel oil
number and the heaviest oil has to be heated to get it to flow. Price usually decreases as the
fuel number increases.
No. 1 fuel oil, No. 2 fuel oil (heating oil), and No. 3 fuel oil are referred to as distillate fuel oils,
diesel fuel oils, light fuel oils, gasoil or just distillate. For example, No. 2 fuel oil, No. 2 distillate
and No. 2 diesel fuel oil are almost the same thing. Diesel is different in that it also has a cetane
number limit which describes the ignition quality of the fuel. Distillate fuel oils are distilled from
crude oil.

Gasoline or petrol is a derivative product of crude oil/petroleum. It is derived during fractional

distillation process and has a translucent liquid form. It's not used in its crude form. Different
additives are added like ethanol to use it as fuel for passenger vehicles. In the US and Latin
countries, term gasoline is used, but in Europe and Asian countries it's called petrol. Majorly all
around the world gasoline is used as fuel for vehicles. It's one of the main products, which is
consumed heavily worldwide.

Kerosene is typically pale yellow or colourless and has a not-unpleasant characteristic odour. It
is obtained from petroleum and is used for burning in kerosene lamps and domestic heaters or
furnaces, as a fuel or fuel component for jet engines, and as a solvent for greases and
insecticides. Kerosene is widely used to power jet engines of aircraft (jet fuel) and some rocket
engines, and is also commonly used as a cooking and lighting fuel and for fire toys such as poi.
In parts of Asia, where the price of kerosene is subsidized, it fuels outboard motors on small
fishing boats. Kerosene lamps are widely used for lighting in rural areas of Asia and Africa
where electrical distribution is not available or too costly for widespread use.

Alcohol is any organic compound in which the hydroxyl functional group (OH) is bound to a
saturated carbon atom. The term alcohol originally referred to the primary alcohol ethanol (ethyl
alcohol), the predominant alcohol in alcoholic beverages. Some alcohols, mainly ethanol and
methanol, can be used as an alcohol fuel. Fuel performance can be increased in forced
induction internal combustion engines by injecting alcohol into the air intake after the
turbocharger or supercharger has pressurized the air. This cools the pressurized air, providing a
denser air charge, which allows for more fuel, and therefore more power.

Coal tar is a brown or black liquid of extremely high viscosity. Coal tar is among the by-products
when coal is carbonized to make coke or gasified to make coal gas. Coal tars are complex and
variable mixtures of phenols, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and heterocyclic
compounds. Coal tar was subjected to fractional distillation to recover various products,
including,

tar, for roads

benzole, a motor fuel
creosote, a wood preservative
phenol, used in the manufacture of plastics
cresols, disinfectants

GASEOUS FUELS
Natural gas is one of the cleanest, safest, and most useful forms of energy in our day-to-day
lives. Natural gas is a hydrocarbon, which means it is made up of compounds of hydrogen and
carbon. The simplest hydrocarbon is methane; it contains one carbon atom and four hydrogen
atoms. Natural gas can be found by itself or in association with oil. It is both colourless and
odourless and is in fact a mixture of hydrocarbons. While mainly methane, the other
hydrocarbons include ethane, propane, and butane. Water, oil, sulphur, carbon dioxide,
nitrogen, and other impurities may be mixed with the gas when it comes out of the ground.
These impurities are removed before the natural gas is delivered to our homes and businesses.

Prepared or Manufactured Gaseous Fuels

Blast furnace gas is a by-product of blast furnaces where iron ore is reduced with coke into
metallic (pig) iron. The gas has a very low heating value of around 0.9kWh/Nm^3, which on its
own is typically not high enough for combustion in a gas engine. There is the possibility to blend
this gas with other off gases and you should contact your local Clarke Energy office to discuss in
more depth. Blast Furnace Gas is generated at higher pressure and at about 100150 C (212
302 F) in a modern Blast Furnace. This pressure is utilized to operate a generator (Top-gaspressure Recovery Turbine - i.e. TRT in short), which can generate electrical energy up to 35
kwh/t of pig iron without burning any fuel. Dry type TRTs can generate more power than wet
type TRT.

Coke oven gas is an abundant by-product of coverting coal into coke used in steel production.
But the impurities it contains make it unsuitable for use as fuel or feedstock. It enables the
recovery of a wide range of other coal by-products, which, when marketed, make the production
of coke even more cost-effective. The main product of a dedicated gas treatment unit, the

treated coke oven gas, is used as fuel gas although it can also be used as a feedstock for the
production of chemical products.
Blue gas is not blue, but has a rather water-like color. It was stored in steel cylinders for
shipment and had the advantage that it possessed the highest specific energy of all artificially
produced gases, but unlike coal gas, it was free from carbon monoxide. It had several
advantages over liquid fuels such as gasoline. It was non-explosive, and because it weighed
approximately the same as air, burning it and replacing its volume with air did not lighten the
airship, eliminating the need to adjust buoyancy or ballast in-flight. Blue gas contains about 50%
olefins (alkenes), 37% methane and other alkanes, 6% hydrogen and the rest is air. The heat of
combustion is 122 MJ/m3

Producer gas is the mixture of combustible and non-combustible gases. The quantity of gases
constituents of producer gas depends upon the type of fuel and operating condition. The heating
value of producer gas vary from 4.5 to 6 MJ/m 3 depending upon the quantity of its constituents.
Carbon monoxide is produced from the reduction of carbon dioxide and its quantity varies from
15 to 30% by volume basis. Although carbon monoxide posses higher octane number of 106, it
s ignition speed is low. This gas is toxic in nature. Hence, human operator need to careful while
handling gas.