UNIT-IV – FUELS AND COMBUSTION

PART- A
1. Write the Characteristics (or) Requirements of a good fuel,
 It should be cheap and readily available.
 It should be safe and economical for storage and transport.
 It should not undergo spontaneous combustion.
 It should have low moisture content , higher calorific value and moderate ignition
temperature.
 The combustion should be easily controllable.
 The products of combustion should not be harmful.

2. What is Coalification (or) Metamorphism?

The process of conversion (or alteration) of vegetable matter to anthracite (coal) is called
coalification or metamorphism of coal.

3. Write briefly on the ranking of coal.

Coal is classified on the basis of its rank. The rank of coal indicates its degree of
maturity. Various types of coal are;

Bituminous Anthracite
Wood Peat Lignite
coal
From left to right,
Decrease in moisture, volatile, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and sulphur contents.
Increase in Carbon content, hardness and calorific value.

4. What are the differences between proximate and ultimate analysis

S.No Proximate analysis Ultimate analysis

1. It involves the determinations of
physical constituents like moisture,
volatile, ash and fixed carbon contents
in coal.
2. It gives the approximate composition
of the main constituents of coal.
It involves the determination of
chemical constituents like carbon,
nitrogen, and sulphur and oxygen
contents in coal.
It gives the exact composition of the
elementary constituents of coal.
5. What is the drawback of presence of sulphur in the coal?
a. The combustion products of sulphur, i.e., SO2 and SO3 are harmful and have
corrosion effects on equipments.
b. The coal containing sulphur is not suitable for the preparation of metallurgical
coke as it affects the properties of the metal.

6. How is coke superior to coal? (or) Distinguish between coal and coke.
 Percentage of fixed carbon and hence the calorific value of coke is high.
 Percentage of moisture, volatile and ash contents are higher in coal, whereas they
are low in coke.

7. All coking coals are caking coals but all caking coals are not coking coals explain.
When coals are heated strongly, the mass becomes soft, plastic and fused together to
large coherent masses. Such types of coals are called Caking Coals. But if the mass so
produced is hard, porous and strong then the coals are called Coking coals.
Coking coals possess lower volatile matter and are used for the manufacture of
metallurgical coke.
Thus all coking coals are caking coals but all caking coals are not coking coals.

8. What is metallurgical coke? Give the characteristics of metallurgical coke.

When bituminous coal is heated strongly in the absence of air, the volatile matter escapes
out and the mass becomes hard, strong, porous and coherent which is called metallurgical coke.
Characteristics:
 Purity: The moisture, ash, sulphur contents in metallurgical coke should be low.
 Porosity: It should be highly porous.
 Strength: It should have high mechanical strength.
 Calorific value: The calorific value of coke should be high.

9. What is meant by refining of petroleum?

The crude oil obtained from the earth is a mixture of oil, water and unwanted impurities.
The process of removing impurities and separating the crude oil into various fractions having
different boiling points is called refining of petroleum or crude oil.
10. Define the term ‘knocking’ of a petrol engine.
Knocking is a kind of explosion due to rapid pressure rise in petrol engine. This can be
reduced by adding TEL (Tetra Ethyl Lead).

11. Define octane number of petrol. How can it be improved?

Thus octane number is defined as ‘the percentage of iso-octane present in a mixture of
iso-octane and n-heptane’.
CH3 CH3

CH–CH2–C–CH3 CH3– CH2– CH2– CH2– CH2– CH2– CH3
 n- Heptane (Octane number = 0)
CH3 CH3
Iso-octane
(Octane number = 100)
Octane number can be improved by adding tetraethyl lead or aromatic phosphates to
gasoline.

12. What is leaded petrol? Why should leaded petrol not be used?
When the petrol is mixed with Tetra-Ethyl Lead (TEL), it is called leaded petrol.
a) Lead deposits on the spark plug and on the cylinder walls, which is harmful to
engine life..
b) This creates atmospheric pollution.

13. Define cetane number (or) cetane rating of diesel oil. How can it be improved?
The cetane number is defined as ‘the percentage of hexa decane(cetane) present in a
mixture of hexa decane and α-methyl naphthalene, which has the same ignition lag as that of
the fuel under test’ CH3

CH3–(CH2)14–CH3
n- Cetane
(Cetane number = 100)

α–methyl naphthalene
(Cetane number = 0)
Anti-knocking characteristics of diesel can be improved by increasing n-cetane (hexa
decane) value of the fuel.
Cetane value can be increased by adding dopes like ethyl nitrate, iso-amyl nitrate.
14. Distinguish between knocking in SI engines and knocking in CI engines.
S.No SI engines CI engines
1. Low boiling fraction of High boiling fraction of petroleum
petroleum contains C5-C9 contains C15-C18 hydrocarbons.
hydrocarbons.
2. Fuel is Petrol Fuel is Diesel
3. Anti – Knocking agent is Anti – Knocking agent is Ethyl nitrate
TEL
4. Knocking tendency is Knocking tendency is measured in
measured in Octane rating Cetane rating

15. What is CNG? Mention its calorific value.

When the natural gas is compressed, it is called Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). The
primary component present in CNG is methane. It is mainly derived from natural gas.
Composition

Constituents Percentage (%)

Methane 88.5
Ethane 5.5
Propane 3.7
Butane 1.8
Pentane 0.5 Calorific value: 12500
kcal/kg.

16. Mention the advantages of LPG over other gaseous fuels.

 LPG consists of hydrocarbons, so it burns cleanly without leaving any residue.
 Its calorific value is 7 times higher than coal gas and 3 times higher than natural gas.
 It is easy to manipulate.
 Comparatively it is less of health hazard, even in case of leakage.
17. Arrange LPG, water gas, bio gas and producer gas in the increasing order of their
calorific values.
 Producer gas (1300k.cal/m3) < Water gas (2800k.cal/m3) < Bio gas
<LPG(25000k.cal/m3).

18. What is power alcohol? Mention the advantages.

When ethyl alcohol is blended with petrol at concentration of 5-10%, it is called power
alcohol. In other words absolute alcohol (100% ethyl alcohol) is also called power alcohol. The
addition of ethyl alcohol to petrol increases its octane number. When ethyl alcohol is blended
with diesel it is called E- diesel.
Advantages:
1. It is cheaper than petrol.
2. If any moisture is present power alcohol absorbs it.
3. As ethyl alcohol contains oxygen atoms, complete combustion occurs, so emission of
CO, hydro carbon, particulates are reduced..

19. What is bio-diesel? Mention its advantages.

Vegetable oils comprise of 90-95% triglycerides with small amount of diglycerides, free
fatty acids, phospholipids, etc., Triglycerides are esters of long chain fatty acids, like stearic acid
and palmitic acid. The viscosity of vegetable oil is higher and their molecular weights are in the
range of 600 to 900, which are about 3 times higher than those of the diesel fuels.
Advantages:
1. Bio-diesel is bio-degradable.
2. It is prepared from renewable resources.
3. The gaseous pollutants are lesser than conventional diesel fuel.
4. It can be prepared from different types of vegetable oils.
5. Best engine performance and less smoke emission are achieved.

20. Define calorific value of a fuel. Mention its units.

The efficiency of a fuel is defined as “the total amount of heat liberated, when a unit
mass of fuel is burnt completely.”
Units:
 i) Calorie, (ii) Kilocalorie, (iii) British Thermal Unit (B.T.U), (iv) Centigrade Heat Unit
(C.H.U).

21. Define GCV and LCV of a fuel.

(i) Higher (or) Gross calorific value (GCV)
It is defined as “the total amount of heat evolved, when a unit mass of the fuel is
completely burnt and the products of combustion cooled to room temperature”.
Gross calorific value of fuel is calculated by Dulong’s formula.
1 %O
GCV (or) HCV = [8080 × %C + 34500 (%H – ) + 2240 × %S] kcal / kg
100 8
Where C, H, O and S represent the % of the elements present in the fuel respectively.
(ii) Lower (or) Net calorific value (NCV)
The net calorific value of fuel is defined as “the net amount of heat evolved, when a
unit mass of the fuel is completely burnt and the products of combustion are allowed to
escape”
NCV = GCV – Latent heat of condensation of water vapour produced
= GCV – Mass of hydrogen x 9 x Latent heat of condensation of Water vapour

23. State Dulong’s formula for GCV and NCV and explain the terms.
1 %O
GCV (or) HCV = [8080 × %C + 34500 (%H – ) + 2240 × %S] kcal / kg
100 8
Where C, H, O and S represent the % of the elements present in the fuel respectively.
9
NCV (or) LCV = [HCV – H × 587] kcal / kg
100

24. What is meant by ignition temperature (IT)?

It is defined as “the lowest temperature to which the fuel must be heated, so that it
starts burning smoothly”.
This temperature is a major determinant in setting the safety standards for low volatile
products such as lubricating oil, diesel oil and fuel oil.
Ignition temperature of coal is about 300oC. In the case of liquid fuels, the ignition
temperature is called the flash point, which ranges from 200-450oC. For gaseous fuels, the
ignition temperature is in the order of 800oC.
25. Define spontaneous ignition temperature (SIT).
It is defined as “The minimum temperature at which the fuel catches fire (ignites)
spontaneously without any external source of fire”.

If the ignition temperature of a fuel is low, it can catch fire very quickly. On the other
hand if the ignition temperature is high it is difficult to ignite the fuel.

26. Define explosive range of a fuel.

It is the range of concentration of a gas that will burn if an ignition source is introduced.
Before a fire or explosion can occur, some conditions must be met simultaneously. A fuel
and oxygen must exist in certain proportions, along with an ignition source, such as a spark or
flame. The ratio of fuel and oxygen that is required varies with each combustible gas or vapour.
The limits are commonly called the
(i)Lower explosive or Flammable Limit (LEL/LFL).
(ii) Upper explosive or Flammable Limit (UEL/UFL).