Fuel Energy and Environment Lab

Lab Report Group 5

Gas Burner Apparatus
Members:
1. Muhammad Hamza Riaz
2. Muhammad Hammad Asghar
3. Muhammad Faisal Afridi
4. Muhammad Furqan Rafaqat
5. Muhammad Mubashir Ibrahim
6. Muntazir Mehdi

Objective #1:
To study the effect of air-fuel ratio by visualizing the flame produced.

Theory:
Fuel - Air Ratio (FAR) is the ratio of the masses of fuel to air in a mixture of
the two. In order to obtain efficient burning, a certain FAR is required depending on the
type of fuel used as well as the burner port where the flame is generated. Determination
of the FAR is done by noting the flame characteristics: light blue flame burning steadily
without orange flames.

If the ratio of air to fuel is too large, the flame tends to die down as the
concentration of the fuel decreases whereas if the ratio is too small, the excess amount
of fuel burns inefficiently giving off more pollutants such as CO and VOCs and is
characterized by an orange, unsteady flame.

Start-up Procedure:

1. Install a 2.2 cm diameter burner port to the main flame stability unit
2. Switch on the main power
3. Switch on the compressor

Operating Procedure:
1. Open the air valve and allow the air to flow through the burner port for a few minutes
2. Open the fuel gas (LPG) valve and ignite the mixture using the spark gun
3. Adjust the air and fuel flow rates to obtain a light blue flame for most efficient burning
4. Repeat the experiment for a 1.8 cm diameter burner port
5. Record the average of the required air-fuel ratio for the most efficient burning for each
burner port

Observations:

Sr. No. Tube Air Flow LPG Flow Air - LPG Flame
Diameter Rate Rate Ratio Characteristics
(cm) (m^3/hr) (m^3/hr)

1 1.8 1.00 0.06 16.67 Light Blue,

Stable

2 1.8 1.50 0.05 30.00 Orange/Blue,

Unstable

3 1.8 2.60 0.15 17.33 Light Blue,

Stable

4 1.8 3.10 0.20 15.50 Light Blue,

5 2.2 1.00 0.05 20.00 Light Blue,

Stable

6 2.2 3.25 0.17 19.11 Light Blue,

Stable

7 2.2 3.00 0.13 23.08 Light Blue,

Stable

8 2.2 4.75 0.20 23.75 Light Blue,

Stable
Results:
Average Air - LPG Ratio for 1.8 cm burner
port: => 19.88 with anomalous reading
#2 => 16.50 without anomalous
reading #2

Average Air - LPG Ratio for 2.2 cm burner port:

=> 21.49

Discussion:
For the second reading, an unstable blue flame was noted likely due to
the lengthy time taken to perfect the flame resulting in the flame burning down in the
burner port rather than at the nozzle. This made reading the flame characteristics
difficult until an orange-blue flame could be seen by increasing the air flow rate,
otherwise the flame was largely hidden in the port. This resulted in an anomalous result
from the increased air flow rate and is subsequently withdrawn from the final ratio
reading of 16.50 for the 1.8 cm burner port.

Conclusions:
To determine the most efficient ratio of the air - fuel ratio of a
combustion process, the flame produced from the combustion must be a stable blue
flame without orange flames. For this reason, the two burner ports’ air and LPG flow
rates were noted once the flame achieved this state. The flow rates were divided to
obtain the required ratio for each burner port and it was found that the larger diameter
port required a higher ratio mostly to accommodate its larger area.

Objective #2:
Determine flame velocity of air and gas mixtures.

Theory:
• Reverse flame velocity:
Flame velocity is the measured rate of expansion
of the flame front in a combustion reaction.
• Application:
Flame velocity is generally used for a fuel, a related term is
explosive velocity, which is the same relationship measured for an explosive.
Combustion engineers differentiate between the laminar flame speed and
turbulent flame speed. Flame speed is typically measured in m/s, cm/s, etc.
Start-up Procedure:

1. Install a 2.2 cm diameter burner port to the main flame stability unit
2. Switch on the main power
3. Switch on the compressor

Operating Procedure:

1. Open the air valve and allow the air to flow through the burner port for a few minutes
2. Open the fuel gas (LPG) valve and ignite the mixture using the spark gun
3. Adjust the air and fuel flow rates to obtain a light blue flame for most efficient burning
4. Use a ruler measure the height of ruler.
5. Use imager software to calculate the size of triangle of flame.
6. Use Pythagoras theorem to find the angles.
7. Repeat experiment for 2 times and then similarly with 1.8 cm diameter burner port.

Observations:

Sr. No. Tube Air Flow LPG Flow Mixture Flame Speed Height
Diameter Rate Rate velocity SL= V sin A of cone
(cm) (m^3/hr) (m^3/hr) (m/sec) (m/sec) (m)

1 2.2 2.2 0.1 0.301 0.13 0.18

2 2.2 1 0.05 0.068 0.04 0.15

3 1.8 1.9 0.05 0.087 0.05 0.09

4 1.8 2 0.1 0.183 0.099 0.27

Calculations:
For 2.2 diameter tube:
1.
 Hypotenuse=C=0.2m
 Theta=sin^-1(Perpendicular/ hypotenuse)
 Theta=sin^-1(0.18/0.2)
 Sin A =180-90-64=26 degree
2.

 Hypotenuse=C=0.19m
 Theta=sin^-1(Perpendicular/ hypotenuse)
 Theta=sin^-1(0.15/0.19)
 Sin A =180-90-52=38 degree for 1.8 diameter tube:

3.

 Hypotenuse=C=0.19m
 Theta=sin^-1(Perpendicular/ hypotenuse)
 Theta=sin^-1(0.09/0.11)  Sin A =180-90-54=36 degree
4.

 Hypotenuse=C=0.32m
 Theta=sin^-1(Perpendicular/ hypotenuse)
 Theta=sin^-1(0.27/0.32)
 Sin A =180-90-57=33 degree

The average flame speed = (0.13+0.04+0.05+0.99)/4=0.3025 m/sec

Discussion:
Flame velocity used for differentiating the fuel either it is explosive or
not. The results we got for our experimentation of about our average flame gas and air
mixtures is 0.3025 meter per sec which shows it in laminar range. The fuel we used are
in rage of laminar as it can be used for our normal daily life activities because turbulent
range is > 1.9 m/s. So, in case of any mishap, it would not so much destructive and we
need to put just ordinary range of safety valves between flame and storage tank of our
fuel i.e., LPG.

Conclusions:
The results we got for our experimentation of about our average
flame gas and air mixtures is 0.3025 meter per sec it shows fuel is in laminar range or it
is not in destructive in nature.
Objective 3:
To Determine the propagation rate of flame front travel through a
pre-determined length of flame tube for different air-fuel mixtures.

Theory:
The flame speed is the measured rate of expansion of the flame front in a
combustion reaction. It depends on quality of fuel, air/fuel mixture ratio, combustion
efficiency, initial temperature inside the cylinder. in case of diesel engine, compression
ratio is the major factor that decides the initial temperature for combustion. Flame
propagation is the result of strong coupling between chemical reaction, transport
processes of mass diffusion & heat conduction and fluid flow.

Operating Procedure:
1) Install the wire of head burner 'gauze to the rubber hose and connect
it to mixing 2) Measure the hose diameter and its length.
3) Mark some points on the given pipe of known length.
4) Open the air valve and allow it for a few minutes. Then ignite the burner and
pushing ignition buttons present on apparatus.
5) Adjust it to get a stable flame (blue flame).
6) Record the flow rates of air and fuel.
7) At the same time/simultaneously turn off the burner main switch button and close
both air and fuel valves. After that, observe the fire movement inside the tube.
8) Record the flame propagation time inside the hose based on the required
distance since you have already marked some points, or you can measure across
whole length of your pipe if flame propagates to end of pipe.

Observations:

Sr Air Flow rate Gas Flow Mixture Length of Time Flame

No (m3/hr) rate (m3/hr) Flow Rate hose (m) (Sec) Speed
(m3/hr) (m/hr)

1 1 0.08 1.08 1 1.15 3130.4

2 2.7 0.12 2.82 1 1.06 3396.2

3 3.3 0.15 3.45 1 1.00 3600.0

Calculations:

Propagation rate of back flame= Area*velocity avg

A= πLr2
A=3.14*(2.5cm)2 1m
=4.90*10-4 m2
Flame Speed = 𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆/𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆

1- t = 1.15 s
Distance/ length: 1m
After Calculations using a Calculator,
V1 =3130.4 m/hr

2- t = 1.06 s
Distance/ length: 1m
After Calculations using a Calculator,
V2 =3396.2 m/hr

3- t = 1.00 s
Distance/ length: 1m
After Calculations using a Calculator,
V3 = 3600 m/hr

Average Velocity = 𝐕𝟏+𝐕𝟐+𝐕𝟑 = 3375m/hr

Propagation rate of back flame = Area*velocity avg

= 4.90*10-4 m2 * 3600 m/hr

= 1.767 m3/hr
Shutdown Procedure:
1) Tum off gas valves to extinguish the flame

2) Run air through system for few seconds

3) Turn off the unit, Cut off electrical supplies

4) Turn off the valve of cylinder.

Discussion and Conclusion:

In this experiment the average propagation rate was found to be 1.167m 3/hr. We
see that as the flowrate of Air and Gas was increased, the corresponding speed of flame
was also increased. The possible errors which could be in the calculation or observation
can be the personal errors in observing the flame height or the time measurement for
the back flame. Also, there was a fluctuation in the air flow meter which can also lead to
the wrong results.