Liquid Fuels

Example
What is the air/fuel ratio and the
exhaust products when ethanol is
used as an engine fuel?

Solution
C2 H 6O + 3O2 + 11.28 N 2 11.28 N 2 + 2CO2 + 3H 2O
1(46) 3(32) 11.28(28) 11.28(28) 2(44) 3(18)
1 2.087 6.866 6.866 1.913 1.174
A / F = (2.087 + 6.866) / 1 = 8.95

Calculate the Stoichiometric Air ?

Calculate the theoretical CO2
content in flue gases ?

Heating Value Estimates for

Petroleum Fuels
Heating values are estimated from the
API gravity,
H g = 42,860 + 93 ( API 10 ) ( kJ / kg )
H n = 0.7190 H g + 10,000

( kJ / kg )

where Hg is the gross (high) heating value

and Hn is the net (low) heating value.

Properties of Liquid Fuels

Density
Ratio of the fuels mass to its volume at 15 oC,
kg/m3
Useful for determining fuel quantity and quality

Liquid Fuels
Specific gravity
Ratio of weight of oil volume to weight of same
water volume at a given temperature
Specific gravity of water is 1
Hydrometer used to measure
Table Specific gravity of various fuel oils

Fuel oil
type

LDO
(Light Diesel Oil)

Furnace oil

LSHS (Low Sulphur

Heavy Stock)

Specific
Gravity

0.85-0.87

0.89-0.95

0.88-0.98
7

Liquid Fuels

Viscosity
Measure of fuels internal resistance to flow
Most important characteristic for storage and use
Decreases as temperature increases

Flash point
Lowest temperature at which a fuel can be heated
so that the vapour gives off flashes when an open
flame is passes over it
Flash point of furnace oil: 66oC
8

Typical Units
Centipoise (cP) was the popular unit of
dynamic viscosity.
1 cP = 1 mPa s

Centistoke (cSt) was the popular unit of

kinematic viscosity.
1 cSt = 1 mm 2 / s

Reporting of Viscosity
Kinematic viscosity () is reported as,

where is absolute (or dynamic)

viscosity, and is the fluid mass density.

Table SAE Motor Oil

Classification

Cloud and Pour Points

Cloud point is the temperature at which
crystals begin to form in the fuel.
Pour point is the temperature at which the
fuel ceases to flow. Indication of
temperature at which fuel can be pumped
Cloud point are typically 5 to 8 C higher
than pour point,
Not an issue for gasoline.
Values are important for diesel.

Fundamental Definitions
Calorific value
Amount of heat librated by the combustion
of unit quantity of fuel. kcal/ kg , kcal / m3
Gross Calorific Value (G.C.V) or HCV
heating value measurement in which the
product water vapour is allowed to
condense
Net Calorific Value (N.C.V) or LCV
heating value in which the water remains a
vapor and does not yield its heat of
vaporization

HHV = LHV + (mwater /mfuel)water

Liquid Fuels
Calorific value
Heat or energy produced

Gross calorific value (GCV): vapour is fully

condensed
Net calorific value (NCV): water is not fully
condensed

Fuel Oil
Kerosene
Diesel Oil
Furnace Oil

Gross Calorific Value (kCal/kg)

11,100
10,800
10,500
14

Liquid Fuels
Sulphur content
Depends on source of crude oil and less on the
refining process
Furnace oil: 2-4 % sulphur
Sulphuric acid causes corrosion

Ash content

Inorganic material in fuel

Typically 0.03 - 0.07%

Corrosion of burner tips and damage to materials
15
/equipments at high temperatures

Liquid Fuels
Carbon residue
Tendency of oil to deposit a carbonaceous solid
residue on a hot surface
Residual oil: >1% carbon residue

Water content

Normally low in furnace oil supplied (<1% at

refinery)

Free or emulsified

form

Can damage furnace surface and impact flame

16

Four stroke cycle theory

Intake stroke
Piston moving down
Intake valve open
Exhaust valve closed

Four stroke cycle theory

Compression stroke
Piston moving up
Intake valve closed
Exhaust valve closed

Four stroke cycle theory

Power stroke
Piston moving down
Intake valve closed
Exhaust valve closed

Four stroke cycle theory

Exhaust stroke
Piston moving up
Intake valve closed
Exhaust valve open

Engine measurements
Bore
Diameter of cylinder
Stroke
Distance between TDC & BDC

Engine measurements
Displacement per cylinder
r S
Displacement for the engine
Disp per cylinder times the
Number of cylinders

Engine measurements
Compression ratio
D + CV
CV
To calculate clearance volume
D .
CR-1

Abnormal Combustion in SI Engine

Knock is the term used to describe a pinging noise emitted from a SI engine
undergoing abnormal combustion.
The noise is generated by shock waves produced in the cylinder when
unburned gas autoignites.

Knock in SI engines.

Octane Ratings
Octane is a measure of gasolines
resistance to knock.
Knock is the uncontrolled release of
energy when combustion initiates
somewhere other than the spark
plug.
Symptoms of engine knock include
an audible knocking or pining
sound under acceleration.

How to Reduce Engine

Knock
Use gasoline with higher octane
ratings these ratings are
associated with gasoline that has
few straight chain carbons have
longer ignition delay times.

Octane Rating Measurement

Procedure developed by the
Cooperative Fuels Research
Committee (CFR).
The committee proposed a single
cylinder SI engine to measure octane
the CFR engine has an adjustable
compression ratio.
Engine is driven at a constant speed
with an electric motor.

Octane Rating Measurement

Octane ratings are obtained by
comparing fuel in question to isooctane (Octane Rating of 100) and
heptane (Octane Rating of 0).
CR is adjusted until knocking is
detected with fuel being tested.
Blends of iso-octane and heptane
are tested until the same level of
knock is obtained.
Octane rating is % of iso-octane in
test blend.

Fuel Knock Scale

To provide a standard measure of a fuels ability to resist knock, a scale has
been devised by which fuels are assigned an octane number ON.
The octane number determines whether or not a fuel will knock in a given
engine under given operating conditions.
By definition, normal heptane (n-C7H16) has an octane value of zero and
isooctane (C8H18) has a value of 100.
The higher the octane number, the higher the resistance to knock.
Blends of these two hydrocarbons define the knock resistance of intermediate
octane numbers: e.g., a blend of 10% n-heptane and 90% isooctane has an
octane number of 90.
A fuels octane number is determined by measuring what blend of these two
hydrocarbons matches the test fuels knock resistance.

Octane Number Measurement

Two methods have been developed to measure ON using a standardized
single-cylinder engine developed under the auspices of the Cooperative Fuel
Research (CFR) Committee in 1931.
The CFR engine is 4-stroke with 3.25 bore and 4.5 stroke, compression
ratio can be varied from 3 to 30.
Research
Inlet temperature (oC)
Speed (rpm)
Spark advance (oBTC)
Coolant temperature (oC)
Inlet pressure (atm)
Humidity (kg water/kg dry air)

52
600
13

Motor
149
900
19-26 (varies with r)

100
1.0
0.0036 - 0.0072

Note: In 1931 iso-octane was the most knock resistant HC, now there are
fuels that are more knock resistant than isooctane.

Octane Number Measurement

Testing procedure:
Run the CFR engine on the test fuel at both research and motor conditions.
Slowly increase the compression ratio until a standard amount of knock
occurs as measured by a magnetostriction knock detector.
At that compression ratio run the engines on blends of n-heptane and
isooctane.
ON is the % by volume of octane in the blend that produces the stand. knock
The antiknock index which is displayed at the fuel pump is the average of
the research and motor octane numbers:
Antiknock index =

RON + MON
2

Note the motor octane number is always lower because it uses more severe
operating conditions: higher inlet temperature and more spark advance.
The automobile manufacturer will specify the minimum fuel ON that will resist
knock throughout the engines operating speed and load range.

Fig.

CFR Engine

Octane Ratings
CFR developed initial method (Motor Octane
Number MON).
ASTM developed a new method (Research Octane
Number RON).
RON octane ratings are 8 points low than MON
for most gasoline.
Most retailers report the Anti-Knock Index which
is an average of MON and RON.
Octane ratings of fuel are adjusted for elevation
lower atmospheric pressure reduces the tendency
for engine knock to occur.

Cetane Ratings
Cetane rating are an indication of the
fuels anti-knock resistance for CI
engines.
Fuels with high cetane ratings are
created by increasing the proportion
of long chain molecules, thereby
reducing the ignition delay.
Fuels with high Octane Rating have
low cetane ratings!

Cetane Ratings
CFR cetane rating process is similar
to the Octane process with a couple
of differences:
Cetane and Alpha methyl naphthalene
are the reference fuels.
Cetane is given a cetane number of
100. Alpha methyl naphthalene has
cetane rating of zero
Hyptamethylnonane has a cetane rating
of 15.

Effect of Cetane Rating

If cetane rating is too low, the
ignition delay results in hard starting
(combustion after piston is moving
downward) and characteristic white
smoke.
High cetane ratings start the
combustion process to soon, and
some of the fuel is not volatized and
does not burn.
Black smoke in heavily loaded
engines is a symptom of high cetane
ratings.
Minimum cetane rating for CI engines
is 40 according to SAE.

Cetane Ratings and CI

Engines
Octane rating is not a good way to predict
knock in CI engines.
Combustion in diesel engines consists of a
two part delay physical and chemical.
Physical - the fuel is injected and
atomized.
Chemical - process proceeds with a preflame chemical reaction, similar to that of
SI engines.

Altering Knock in CI Engines

Ignition delay controls the relative
release of energy between the two
phases of combustion a longer
delay results in more energy
produced in the pre-mix phase.
Since knock occurs when more
energy is released at the start of
combustion, it follows that knock is
reduced with short delay periods.

Fuel Viscosity
Viscosity is a measure of the flow
resistance of liquid.
Fuel viscosity must be high enough
to insure good lubrication of injection
pump mechanisms in CI engines.
Fuel viscosity must be low enough to
insure proper atomization at the time
of injection.

Fuel Impurities - Sulfur

Sulfur oxides can convert to acids
which corrode engine parts and
cause increased wear.
Assessed by immersing copper strip
in fuel for three hours, then
comparing corrosion to standard
strips.

Fuel Impurities - Ash

Ash small solid particles or watersoluble metals found fuels.
Defined as un-burned fuel residue
left behind.
Can cause accelerated wear of closefitting injection system parts.

Fuel Impurities Water and

Sediment
Moisture can condense in fuel
storage tanks, or seep in from
underground leaks.
Fuel should be bright and clear, and
visibly free of water and sediment.

Fuel Impurities - Gum

Gum can form in gasoline, leaves
behind deposits on carburetors.
Gum is dissolved by gasoline more
prevalent in gasoline that is made by
cracking.
Antioxidants are now added to both
diesel and gasoline to extend storage
life without gum formation.

Fuel Additives
Until 1970, gasoline contained TEL
(tetraethyl lead). TEL was used as
an octane booster.
MTBE (methyl tertiary butyl ether) is
often substituted as an octane
booster could be phased
out/banned soon.

Table 5.5: Gasoline

additives

Fuel Storage
Fuels classified according to
flammability gasoline is more
dangerous with a flash point of 40 C.
Major concern with regard to
environmental contamination

Lubricating Oil Additives