FUELS

ENERGY RESOURCES
>Classified into 2 types :
a. Renewable energy resources.
b. Non-renewable energy resources.
A. Renewable energy resources :-
>Come from sources that can be regenerated as fast as they’re consumed and
are continuously available.
>Include :
a. Hydropower — produced by capturing the potential & kinetic energy of wa-
ter usually for generating electricity in hydroelectric plants.
b. Geothermal energy — energy available as heat from cin earth’s crust.
— usually in form of hot water or steam.
c. Wind energy — K.E. of wind—converted—electricity in wind turbines.
d. Solar energy — solar radiation—exploited—generating heat or electricity.
e. Biomass — Is the organic, non-fossil material of biological origin.
— used in heat production or electricity generation.
— Includes wood, wood waste, biogas, and biofuels.
B. Non-renewable energy resources :-
>Are the energy sources which once removed from the earth will deplete or w–
illn’t be replenished for thousands or even millions of yrs.
>Fossil fuels — main non-renewable energy resources.
— produced by decaying of plants & animals existed millions of y—
ears ago.
— carbon-based.
— burned to form energy and electricity.
— coal + petroleum — widely used fossil fuels.
>Nuclear energy — power generated from the energy stored in nuclei of atoms
— mainly produced by harnessing the large quantities of ene—
gy produced by forced splitting of uranium nuclei.
— uranium is a non-renewable resource, ∴ nuclear energy is
 also non-renewable resource.

CLASSIFICATION OF FUELS
>Any combustible material which is obtainable in bulk and on burning w/ oxyg—
en produces heat that can be used economically for domestic and industrial p–
urposes for heating and generation of power, is k/a fuel.
>Fuels, may be classified on the basis of their
a. Origin b. Physical state.
1. On the basis of origin, fuels are of 2 types :
(i) Primary fuels :- Fuels occur as such in nature are c/d primary fuels.
- used w/o processing or w/ little processing which doesn’t ch-
ange their composition.
- wood, peat, coal, petroleum, and natural gas — 1fuels.
(ii) Secondary fuels :- Fuels that are derived from 1fuels by chemical processing.
- Examples– coke, charcoal, kerosene, coal gas, producer —
gas, etc.
2. On the basis of physical state, fuels are of 3 types :
(i) Solid fuels
(ii) Liquid fuels
(iii) Gaseous fuels.

A. SOLID FUELS :-
>Main solid fuels — wood, diff. types of coal, charcoal, and coke.
>Agricultural & industrial wastes like bagasse, rice husk, coconut shells, nut sh—
ells are also used as fuels.
→ Advantage :
>Solid fuels — cheap + easily available.
→ Disadvantages :
 1. Solid fuels — storage + handling + transportation — difficult.
– Therefore, the liquified and gaseous products derived from coal are manu—
factured near the coal sites.
2. Solid fuels burn slowly and continuously require air while burning.
– control of combustion — difficult.
3. After burning, ash produces, hence there is problem of ash disposal.
4. Handling needs labour.
5. Can’t used in internal combustion engines.
6. Solid fuels — low thermal efficiency .

B. LIQUID FUELS :-
>Petroleum, petroleum products, tar, and alcohol are impt. liquid fuels.
>Petroleum — largest source of liquid fuels.
>Some liquid fuels — synthetically obtained — coal.
>Used extensively in domestic and industrial fields.
→ Advantages :
1. Liquid fuels — storage + handling + transportation — easy.
– require less storage compared to solid & gaseous fuels.
– transported to far places through pipelines.
2. Needs lesser air supply than solid fuels.
3. Control of combustion — very easy.
– Rate of combustion — controlled as per requirement and max. temp. can be
attained soon unlike that in case of solid fuels.
4. After burning, don’t leave ash, hence there is no problem of ash disposal.
5. Combustion process — cleaner than in solid fuels.
6. Supply of liquid fuels — maintained through pipes and doesn’t require man-
ual feeding as in case of solid fuels.
– Hence, lesser cost is involved in using liquid fuels.
→ Disadvantages :
1. Unpleasant odour, especially on incomplete combustion.
2. More costlier than solid fuels.
3. Danger of loss due to evaporation or leakage.
 4. Inflammable and volatile liquid fuels carry a risk of hazards during any ope—
ration.
C. GASEOUS FUELS :-
>Impt. commercially used gaseous fuels — natural gas, LPG, coal gas, coke gas,
producer gas, water gas, and refinery gas.
→ Advantages :
1. Gaseous fuels can be very easily transported through pipelines.
2. Clean fuel and produce no smoke and don’t leave any residue on combus—
tion.
3. Control of combustion process — best.
– rate of combustion — controlled easily by regulating the supply of gas.
4. Miscible w/ air so require less air than in case of liquid & solid fuels. This m—
akes the operation cost effective.
5. Both oxidising and reducing flames can be obtained by adjusting the supp-
ly of air during combustion.
→ Disadvantages :
1. Gaseous fuels — highly inflammable, therefore need special supervision to
avoid free accidents.
2. Require large space for storage.