Chapter Two Fundamental of combustion Fuel & Energy Department

Combustion:

Defined as "rapid oxidation generating heat, or both light and heat,

slow oxidation accompanied by relatively little heat and no light.

Combustion modes & flames types:

Combustion can occur in either a flame or non-flame mode, and

flame in turn are categorized as being either premixed flames or non-
premixed flames (diffusion).

(2.1)Thermochemistry Properties For Ideal – Gas Mixture:

If there are several gases are mixed in a chamber, we can calculation the
some characterize composition as:

1. The mole fraction of species i ,

Ni N
i   n i ,
N1  N 2  .......  N n
 Ni i 1
(2.1)
where , N : number of moles

And mass fraction of species i,

mi m
Yi   n i (2.2)
m1  m2  .......  mn
 mi i 1

Note : the sum of all the constituent mole or mass fractions must be unity,
or :
n n


i 1
i 1 , Y  1
i 1
i (2.3)

Then, the relationship between mass fraction and mole fraction as:

MWmix MWi
 i  Yi & Yi   i (2.4)
MWi MWmix

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Chapter Two Fundamental of combustion Fuel & Energy Department

The mixture molecular weight MWmix is :

n
MWmix    i .MWi
i 1

or
(2.5)
1
MWmix  n
 Yi 
  
i 1  MWi 

2. The partial pressure of the ith species ( Pi )

n
PTotal   Pi or
i 1

Pi   i . PTotal
and (2.6)
R
Pi   i Ti
MWi

Where R  8.314 J /( mole K ) and,

 i  Yi  mix
or (2.7)
n
 mix   Yi  i
i 1

Note: for ideal gases mixture, many mass (or molar) specific mixture
properties are calculated as:
n
hmix   Yi hi (2.7)
i 1

The other properties can be find as above.

The enthalpy to be formed from two parts : sensible and chemical parte
as:
T
hi   Cpi dT   h of ,i (2.8)
To

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Chapter Two Fundamental of combustion Fuel & Energy Department

Where :  Cpi dT is sensible part and  h of ,i chemical parte

To

Table 2.1: Enthalpy and energy forms for species k.

Table 2.2: Formation enthalpies (gaseous substances) at To = 298.15 K.

The heat capacity at constant pressure of the mixture (kJ/kg) is:

n
Cpmix  Yi .Cp i (2.9)
i 1

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Chapter Two Fundamental of combustion Fuel & Energy Department

3. Calculation equivalence ratio

In a premixed combustor, fuel and oxidizer are mixed before they enter
' '
the combustion chamber. If vF and vO are the coefficients
corresponding to fuel and oxidizer when considering an overall unique
reaction of the type
'
vF F  vO
'
O2  products (2.10)

,the mass fractions of fuel and oxidizer correspond to stoichiometric

conditions when :
 YO  vO' MWO
   ' s (2.11)
 YF  stoich. vF MWF
This ratio s is called the mass stoichiometric ratio. The equivalence ratio
of a given mixture is then:
 YF 
 
 YF   YO  actual m
  s    s f (2.12)
 YO  actual  YF  mO
Y 
 O  stoich.

Most practical burners operate at or below stoichiometry. In

hydrocarbon/air flames, the fresh gases contain Fuel, O2 and N2 with
typically 3.76 moles of nitrogen for 1 mole of oxygen. Since the sum of
mass fractions must be unity, the fuel mass fraction is:
1
Yf  (2.13)
s MWN 2
1  (1  3.76 )
 MWO2

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Chapter Two Fundamental of combustion Fuel & Energy Department

Home Work 1: Calculate the value of stoichiometric ratio s and mass

fraction of fuel for all reaction shown in table 2.3 at Ф= 1.

Table 2.3 shows typical values of the stoichiometric ratio s and of

corresponding fuel mass fractions for stoichiometric mixtures (Ф= 1)
with air

(2.2) Stoichiometlry in premixed flames

In this section, we will develop simple relations that allow the

calculation of the ideal products of combustion (no dissociation
producing minor species) for both lean and rich conditions, nothing new
is involved as we need employ only atom balance; for rich combustion,
however, we employ a single equilibrium reaction CO  H 2 O  CO2  H 2 ,
the so-called water-gas shift reaction , to account for the simultaneous
presence of the incomplete products of combustion, CO and H2.

We can representation the combustion of an arbitrary hydrocarbon as:

C x H y  a(O2  3.76 N 2 )  bCO2  cCO  dH 2 O  eH 2  fO2  3.76aN 2 (2.14)

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Chapter Two Fundamental of combustion Fuel & Energy Department

To calculate the equivalence ratio for any reaction same reaction shown
in equation 2.16, we will be written as:

 mair 
 
m 
 f  stoic  A / F stoic
 
 mair   A / F act (2.15)
 
m 
 fuel  act

 A / F stoic  a . 4.76 MWair (2.16)

MW fuel

Which for lean or stoicometric conditions (Ф<=1)becomes:

C x H y  a(O2  3.76 N 2 )  bCO2  dH 2 O  fO2  3.76aN 2 (2.17)

And for rich conditions (Ф>1)becomes:

C x H y  a(O2  3.76 N 2 )  bCO2  cCO  dH 2 O  eH 2  fO2  3.76aN 2 (2.18)

Since the coefficient a represent the ratio of the number of moles of O2 in

the reaction to the number of moles of fuel, we can relate a to the
equivalence ratio as:

x y/4
a (2.19)


To find the mole fraction of all of the product species, we will study as :

 For lean combustion

The coefficient c and e are zero because there is sufficient O2 to

have all the fuel C and H react to form CO2 and H2O, respectively. The
coefficient b, d and f can be found by C, H and O-atom balance,
respectively; thus,

bx (2.20)
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Chapter Two Fundamental of combustion Fuel & Energy Department

c0 (2.21)

d  y/2 (2.22)

e0 (2.23)

1
f ( )( x  y / 4) (2.24)


The total number of moles of products (per mole of fuel burned) can be
found by summing the above coefficient together with 3.76a moles of N2.

x y/4
N Total  x  y / 2  ( )(1    3.76) (2.25)


The mole fractions are then determine by divided each of the coefficient
above by N Total :

co2  x / NTotal (2.26a)

co  0 (2.26b)

H 2 O  ( y / 2) / NTotal (2.26c)

H 2  0 (2.26d)

1
O2  ( )( x  y / 4) / N Total (2.26e)


N 2  3.76( x  y / 4) /(NTotal ) (2.26f)

 For rich combustion

For rich combustion (Ф>1), no oxygen appears, so the coefficient f

is zero. That leaves us which four unknowns (b, c, d and e). To solve for

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Chapter Two Fundamental of combustion Fuel & Energy Department

these, we employ the three element balances (C, H, and O) and the water-
gas shift equilibrium,

( Pco2 / P o ).( PH 2 / P o ) b.e

Kp   (2.27)
( Pco / P o ).( PH 2O / P o ) c.d

The use of equation (3.11) causes the system of equation for b, c, d and e
to be nonlinear (quadratic). Solving the element balance in terms of the
unknown coefficient b results in

c  x b (2.28a)

d  2a  b  x (2.28b)

e  2a  b  x  y / 2 (2.28c)

Substituting equations (3.13a-c) into equation (3.12) yields a quadratic

equation in b, the solution of which is

1/ 2
2a( K p  1)  x  y / 2 1 (2a( K p  1)  x  y / 2) 2 
b    (2.29)
2( K p  1) 2( K p  1)  4 K p ( K p  1)(2ax  x 2) 

Where the negative root is selected to yield physically realistic (positive)

values of b, and by using a numerically solution method (Newton-
Raphson method) to solve the above equation. Again,

NTotal  b  c  d  e  3.76a  x  y / 2  3.76a (2.30)

And the moles fractions are:

CO2  b / N Total (2.31a)

CO  c / NTotal  ( x  b) / NTotal (2.31b)

H 2 O  d / NTotal  (2a  b  x) / NTotal (2.31c)

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Chapter Two Fundamental of combustion Fuel & Energy Department

H 2  e / NTotal  (2a  b  x  y / 2) / NTotal (2.31d)

O2  0 (2.31e)

N 2  3.76a / N Total (2.31f)

After that, we can calculated the mass fraction of fuel in the fresh
gases(air-fuel mixture) as [ ]:

1
Yf  (2.32)
s MWN 2
1  (1  3.76 )
 MWO2

And, the mole fraction of species for fresh gases (unburnt mixture) by
known the type of fuel and the equivalence ratio as below:

From equation (3.1) the total number moles of reactant species(NTotal) is:

NTotal  1  a(1  3.76) (2.33)

Then the mole fractions for this species are:

O  a / NTotal ,  N  3.76a / NTotal ,  f  1/ NTotal

2 2
(2.34)

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Chapter Two Fundamental of combustion Fuel & Energy Department

Exercises:

Q1: For the reaction( vF' F  vO' (O2  3.76 N2 )  products )find the mass
fractions for fuel, O2 and N2 ?

Q2: For the reaction shown in Q1, if the equivalence ratio equal to 1.3,
determine the mass fraction for fuel, O2 and N2?

Q3: In some application, Methane is mixed with air as ratio 1/13 by

mass, then the mixture entering to combustion chamber then
ignition it. After complete combustion, estimate the production of
combustion as mole and mass fraction?

Q4: A small, low-emission, stationary bas-turbine engine operates at

full load (3950 kW) at an equivalence ratio of 0.286 with an air
flow rate of 15.9kg/s. The equivalent composition of the fuel
(natural gas) is C1.16H4.32. Determine the fuel mass flow rate?
Answer : 0.27kg/s

Q5: Calculate the equivalence ratio and the mole fractions of the
products of the complete combustion of isooctane (C8H18) with
200% theoretical air.
Q6: In a vessel of volume 1m3 there are 2 g of molecular H2, 6 g of
molecular O2 and 30 g of N2. What are the mole fractions, mass
fraction and concentrations of the hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen?
Q7: A steady flow 1 mol/s of CH4 and 2 mol/s of O2 enters a reactor
and become H2O and CO2. Write equation of the reaction. What is
the concentration of CO2 and H2O vapor density at the exit if the
density of gas exiting the reactor is 1 kg/m3?
Q8: Calculate (1) partial pressures, (2) mole fractions, (3)
Concentrations, (4) densities of the gaseous components in a
vessel, which contains 0.2 kg of H2, 3 mol of CO, amount of H2O

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Chapter Two Fundamental of combustion Fuel & Energy Department

vapor enough to give partial pressure of 1 bar (105 Pa). Pressure

and temperature of the perfect gaseous mixture in the vessel: P = 3
bar; T = 500 K.
Q9: CO is oxidized to CO2 in an excess of air in afterburner entering at
T0= 298 K. Assuming that air consists of 20% O2 and 80% N2 and
there is no dissociation find the required air/fuel ratio if the final
temperature is 1000 K.
Q10: In some application, there are used CxHy as a fuel to produce
energy, during analysis gases of production we found the mass
fractions as : 0.0301 CO2 , 0.09 CO, 0.2 H2O, 0.0099 H2 and 0.67
N2. Estimate type of fuel if equivalence ratio is 1.3?
Q11: After complete combustion in a furnace, the mass fraction of
exhaust gases are found as : 0.0156 O2, 0.0839 CO2, 0.1119H2O
and 0.7886 N2. Find the type of fuel and the equivalence ratio?

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