Fuel Gases

Different Classes of Fuel Gases:

 Natural gas - exists already formed in the earth, and is obtained by boring tube wells, similar to
petroleum wells. Its essential heat producing constituents are methane (CH4) and hydrogen. It is
the cheapest and most efficient of all fuels, when properly burned; but it requires a large amount
of air for its combustion, and special burners must be used.
o Contains undesirable water and hydrogen sulfide which must be removed before sent to
transmission lines, by four methods of gas dehydration:
 Compression – uses compressor followed by cooling system to condense water
vapors.
 Treatment with drying substances – usually uses glycols for their high affinity for
water and low solvent action for natural gas.
 Adsorption - For dew points in the range of -90 to 100 ℃ , molecular sieves are
used. Typically, alumina and bauxite, silica gel, sulfuric acid and concentrated
solutions of calcium chloride or sodium thiocyanate are used. (through a pack
tower; counter-current treatment of gas with reagent)
 Refrigeration
 Producer gas – made by passing air and steam through a bed of hot coal or coke. Reaction
temperature ranges from 980 to 1540 ℃ .
C+ air →C O 2+ N 2
C O 2 +C → 2CO
C+ H 2 O →CO + H 2
CO+ H 2 O →C O 2 + H 2
 Water gas (blue gas) – produced by the reaction of steam on incandescent coal or coke at
temperatures above 1000 ℃ .
C+ H 2 O →CO + H 2
CO+ H 2 O →C O 2 + H 2
 Synthesis gas (Syngas) - a fuel gas mixture consisting primarily of hydrogen, carbon monoxide,
and very often some carbon dioxide. syngas is produced by gasification of a carbon containing
fuel to a gaseous product that has some heating value. The gasification process is used to convert any
material that has carbon to longer hydrocarbon chains. Types of gasification systems are classified
according to gasifier bed type:
o Lurgi Process (fixed bed) –
o Winkler process (fluidized bed) -
o Koppers Totzek Process (entrained flow)

Industrial Gases
In the case of gases like NH3, Cl2, SO2 and CO2 whose Tc values are near and below the ordinary
temperatures, they can be liquefied easily by increasing the pressure alone at their respective Tc values.
Gases like H2, O2, N2 and He have very low Tc values and hence Joule Thomson effect may be applied
to bring in effective cooling.

 Linde’s method - This method makes use of Joule Thomson effect and is used to liquify air or
any other gas. Pure air or gas is first compressed to about 200 atm then the gas is allowed to
expand suddenly and gets cooled ad its pressure is reduced to about 50 atm. By repeating the
process of cooling and compression followed by expansion, the gas is liquefied and finally the
liquid air drops out.
 Claude’s method - This process is based upon the principle that when a gas expands adiabatically
against a piston in an engine, it does some external work, hence its internal energy falls and
consequently the temperature of the gas falls. This principle combined with the Joule-Thomson
effect, has been applied in the Claude’s process for liquefaction of air.