Chapter two Introduction P.P.E.

Department

Introduction
Combustion is one of the most complex subjects that involve
primarily such disciplines as physics, chemistry, thermodynamics and
fluid mechanics. Combustion has a wide variety of uses and it is used for
energy’s production in power plants, gas turbines and engines.
Combustion is a process of heat release in exothermal reactions, which is
accompanied by mass and heat transfer.

There are several classification of combustion as:

1) According to type of flame

i. Pre-mixed flame
ii. Diffusion flame
iii. Partially pre-mixed flame
2) According to type of flow
i. Laminar combustion
ii. Turbulent combustion
3) According to equivalence ratio
i. Lean combustion (Ф<1)
ii. Stochometric combustion (Ф=1)
iii. Rich combustion (Ф>1)

In pre-mixed flame the air and fuel are mixed before the burning occur.
But in diffusion flames the air and fuel is not mixed.

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Chapter two Introduction P.P.E. Department

PRACTICAL FUELS
Fuels can be classified according to their physical states under normal
conditions. Representative components of gaseous fuels are hydrogen
(H2), carbon monoxide (CO), and the light hydrocarbons (HC). Liquid
fuels are usually the heavier hydrocarbons and alcohols, and solid fuels
include carbon, coal, wood, metals, solid propellants, and so on. Among
all materials that can be used as fuel, hydrocarbons make up the bulk of
the fuel supply simply because the complete oxidation of a hydrocarbon
is usually accompanied by an appreciable amount of heat release. For
example, the stoichiometric oxidation of one -CH2- group in a typical
aliphatic fuel molecule,

releases about 156 kcal amount of heat per mole of CH2 consumed. The
extent of exothermicity represents one of the highest energy densities in
the discipline of chemistry.
Table below lists the bond energies of a variety of atomic pairs.
Note: 1Cal=4.187 J
Table Mean bond energies (kcal/mole bond)

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Chapter two Introduction P.P.E. Department

Alkanes (Paraffins): The molecules have open-chain, single-bond,

saturated structures with the general chemical formula CnH2n+2. The
smallest alkane compound is methane (CH4), which is the major
component of natural gas.
Alkanes can be further classified as normal alkanes with a straight-chain
structure (e.g., n-butane) and iso-alkanes with one or more branched
chains (e.g., i-butane, and 2,2,4-trimethylpentane, also known as iso-
octane, which is a desirable gasoline fuel for its anti-knock property).

The molecular structures shown above indicate only the bonding

structures of the molecules. They do not, however, reflect their true,
three-dimensional geometric structure. In fact, the carbon atoms in an
aliphatic compound are not connected in a linear fashion, but are
zigzagged, with a C-C-C angle of about 109 degrees. The C-C bonds in
an aliphatic compound can rotate nearly freely, allowing for a cyclic
structure to exist.
An alkyl radical is produced by breaking a C----H bond in an alkane
molecule For example, the methyl radical shown above is derived from
breaking one C----H bond in methane. Because the reactivity of a radical

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Chapter two Introduction P.P.E. Department

species depends on where the unpaired electron is in a molecule, it is

necessary to distinguish the radical isomers. For example, two isomers
can be derived from n-butane, that is, 1-butyl and 2-butyl,

where the dot specifies the position of the unpaired electron, with the
numerical number before the compound name indicating this position
closest to the end of the chain.With the increase in the molecular size of
the parent alkane, and depending on the number of branched chains, the
number of possible radical isomers can increase rapidly. The alkyl
radicals are of great importance in the oxidation process of alkanes.
Cycloalkanes (Cyclanes): These are single-bond, saturated, ring
structured compounds with the general formula CnH2n (e.g., cyclopropane
and cyclohexane). The cyclanes are almost as reactive as the linear
alkanes. Large compounds, say those larger than C10, are unstable and do
not exist naturally.

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Chapter two Introduction P.P.E. Department

Alkenes (Olefins): Themolecules have open-chain structures with one

double, C-C, bond, and with the general chemical formula CnH2n. The
simplest olefin compounds include, for example, ethene, which is
commonly called ethylene,

and the butene isomers,

Unlike a single C-C bond, a double C=C bond is rigid and does not allow
rotation about the bond. Consequently, the double-bonded C atoms form
a rigid planar structure along with its immediate neighboring atoms.
Similar to the alkanes, an alkene compound also has its corresponding
radicals. The simplest alkene-derived radical is vinyl,

Polyolefins: These are open-chain, highly unsaturated compounds with

more than one double bond, and with the general formula CnH2n−2(m−1),

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Chapter two Introduction P.P.E. Department

where m is the number of double bonds. The simplest polyolefin is 1,3-

butadiene,

Alkynes (Acetylenes): The molecules have open-chain structures with one

triple, , bond, and with the general chemical formula CnH2n−2.The
simplest acetylenic compounds are ethyne, which is commonly called
acetylene, and propyne,

Aromatics: These belong to the ring-structured, planar or nearly planar

hydrocarbon family, with the ring containing mostly six carbon atoms.
The simplest aromatic compounds are benzene (C6H6)

and toluene, the latter obtained by substituting an H by a methyl group in

the benzene structure. The above ring structure can be written in either of
the following simplified forms:

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Chapter two Introduction P.P.E. Department

Although unsaturated, the double bonds in benzene are not distributed

within the ring in an alternate fashion, but are rather distributed evenly
over the entire ring structure. Such a behavior is called resonant
stabilization.
Larger aromatics can be classified into two categories, those with
condensed and uncondensed ring structures. Condensed ring structures
have one or more C-C bonds shared by aromatic rings, and the
uncondensed compounds have two or more individual aromatic rings
loosely connected by C----C bonds. For example, the simplest condensed
and uncondensed polycyclic aromatic compounds are naphthalene
(C10H8) and biphenyl (C12H10), respectively:

Alcohols: The general formula is ROH, where R is a general functional

group attached to the hydroxyl group OH. Examples are methyl alcohol
(CH3OH) and ethyl alcohol (C2H5OH), also known as methanol and
ethanol, respectively. Compared to hydrocarbons, RH, alcohols have
lower heats of combustion per unit mass because a fuel containing
oxygen in its molecular structure is carrying unnecessary mass for
oxidation in air.
Other Fuels: There are, of course, other important fuels for specialized
application. Examples are ammonium perchlorate (NH4ClO4) for solid
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Chapter two Introduction P.P.E. Department

propellant rockets, hydrazine (N2H4) for liquid propellant rockets,

hydrogen and fluorine for chemical lasers, and all substances that can
burn in air as hazardous materials causing fires and explosions.

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