Combustion

Combustion is the process of burning any combustible substance in the presence

of oxygen, which liberates energy in the form of heat and light. For efficient
combustion, it is essential that the fuel must be brought into intimate contact with
sufficient quantity of air or oxygen.

- Refers to the chemical process or a reaction between Fuel (Hydrocarbon) and

Oxygen. When this heat energy release it will also produce light in the form of a
flame. This is the visible part of the reaction, the flames. The general exothermic
reaction of combustion can be expressed as:

Hydrocarbon + Oxygen → Carbon Dioxide + Water + Heat Energy

History of the study of combustion

Combustion, fire, and flame have been observed and speculated about from earliest times.
Every civilization has had its own explanation for them. The Greeks interpreted combustion in terms
of philosophical doctrines, one of which was that a certain “inflammable principle” was contained in all
combustible bodies and this principle escaped when the body was burned to react with air.

- The English natural philosopher Sir Francis Bacon observed in 1620 that a candle flame has a
structure at about the same time that Robert Fludd, an English mystic, described an
experiment on combustion in a closed container in which he determined that an amount of air
was used up thereby.
- A German physicist, Otto von Guericke, using an air pump he had invented in 1650,
demonstrated that a candle would not burn in a container from which the air had been
pumped.
- Robert Hooke, an English scientist, in 1665 suggested that air had an active component that,
upon heating, combined with combustible substances, giving rise to flame. Another idea
ascribed the high temperature of flame to the fast motion of active air particles, and it was
learned that sulfur mixed with nitre can burn in the absence of air.
- From 1815 to 1819 English chemist Sir Humphry Davy experimented on combustion, including
measurements of flame temperatures, investigations of the effect on flames of rarefied gases,
and dilution with various gases

Despite these discoveries, the materialistic theory of combustion lacked a clear concept of
energy and, therefore, of the critical role that energy considerations play in an accurate explanation of
combustion.

For the complete combustion of a given quantity of fuel can be calculated by

considering the following point.

 Combustion of Carbon
C + O2 CO2

12 32 44 (by weight)

12 parts by weight-of carbon requires 32 parts by weight of oxygen for complete combustion.
'C' parts by weight of carbon requires == 32 C /12 == 2.67
C (H- 0/8) parts by weight of hydrogen requires = (H - O/8) X 32
4
= 8 (H- O/8
 Combustion of Hydrogen
When oxygen is present in the fuel, it always combines with hydrogen. The combined
hydrogen does not take part in combustion reaction. Therefore, the quantity of combined
hydrogen must be deduced from the total hydrogen in the fuel.
2H2 + O2 2H2O
2 32 36 (by weight)
 4 parts by weight of H2 requires 32 parts by weight O2 (or) 2 parts by volume of H2 require 1
part by volume of O2. Therefore ‘H’ parts by weight of hydrogen require 32x H parts by weight
of O2. 4

 Combustion of Carbon monoxide

CO + ½ O CO2
28 16 44 (by weight)
1 0.5 1.5 (by volume)
CO has 28 atomic weight requires 16 atomic weight equivalent in 16
1 volume of CO requires 0.5 volume of oxygen.

 Combustion of Sulphur
S + O2 SO2
32 32 (by weight)
1 1 (by volume)
1 volume of 'S' requires 1 volume of oxygen.

 Combustion of methane
CH4 + 2O2 CO2 + 2 H20
16 64 (by weight)
1 2 (by volume)

Types of Combustion

1. Complete Combustion - Complete combustion is also known as clean combustion. This type
occurs in an unlimited supply of air, oxygen in particular. Here the hydrocarbon will burn out
completely with the oxygen and leave only two byproducts, water, and carbon dioxide.

2. Incomplete Combustion - Incomplete combustion takes place when the air is in limited
supply. And as opposed to complete combustion it is otherwise known as dirty combustion.
Due to lack of oxygen, the fuel will not react completely. This, in turn, produces carbon
monoxide and soot instead of carbon dioxide.

3. Rapid Combustion - Another type of combustion is Rapid Combustion. Rapid energy needs
external heat energy for the reaction to occur. The combustion produces a large amount of
heat and light energy and does so rapidly. The combustion will carry on as long as the fuel is
available.

4. Spontaneous Combustion - As the name suggests the combustion occurs spontaneously.

This means that it requires no external energy for the combustion to start. It happens due to
self-heating. A substance with low-ignition temperatures gets heated and this heat is unable to
escape.

5. Explosive Combustion - Explosive Combustion happens when the reaction occurs very
rapidly. The reaction occurs when something ignites to produce heat, light and sound energy,
the simple way to describe is it to call it an explosion.

References:

https://www.toppr.com/guides/chemistry/combustion-and-flame/introduction-and-types-of-
combustion/

https://www.britannica.com/science/combustion/History-of-the-study-of-combustion