Fuel - Any substance used to produce heat or power by

combustion.
Combustion Any chemical process accompanied with
evolution of heat and light

Fuel + Oxygen Combustion products + Heat

Fossil fuels coal, oil, Natural gas

 Solid fuel : Characterized by its mass,
composition, specific heat, combustion
residue & other thermal properties
Liquid fuel - Characterized by its

composition, specific heat, density, viscosity

& other thermal properties
Gaseous fuel - Liquid fuel - Characterized by

its composition,volume, pressure and

thermal properties
Solid fuel
Require excess of air for combustion &
process cannot be controlled easily.

During combustion they block air circulation

& corrode the furnace

Flue gases released during combustion

contain dust & soot particles
 Liquid
fuel Require
special
High cost of burners for
production
Combustion

Cannot be Offensive odor

stored easily
 Gaseous
fuel
Highly
High cost of inflammable
production

High risk of
Cannot be
stored easily fire hazard
 Primary or natural fuels exist naturally

Solid wood, peat, lignite, coal

Liquid Crude petroleum, Natural

gasoline

Gas Natural gas

 Secondary or prepared fuels- Synthesized from
naturally occuring primary fuels

Solid Charcoal, Briquettes, coke

Liquid- Tar
Petroleum distillates : Gasoline, Kerosene, Gas
oils
Petroleum residues, Fuel oils, Alcohol

Gaseous Producer gas, water gas, CNG

 Easy ignition, moderate ignition
temperature

Should give lot of heat high specific heat

Low smoke & combustible matter (ash)

Free from harmful combustible products

Inexpensive & readily available

Easy to store & transport

Ignition temperature temperature of the fuel at
which ignition starts & continues to burn
without further addition of heat.

Low ignition temperature creats fire hazard

High ignition temperature is not good for

starting of fire

Ash reduces calorific value, causes hinderence

to the flow of air & heat, reduces specific heat
& leads to unwanted disposable problems
 Amount of heat obtained from fuel

UNITS
British thermal unit (BTU) : 1/180 of the
amount of heat necessary to raise 1lb of
water from 32 deg. F to 212 deg. F

Calorie : 1/100 of the amount of heat

necessary to raise 1g of water from 0 deg. C
to 100 deg. C
 1 BTU = 252 cal
1 Kg-cal = 1000 cal

Heating value of solid & liquid fuel is given in

heat units per unit of weight

BTU/lb or cal/g
1cal/g = 1.8 BTU/lb

Heating value of gaseous fuels BTU/ft3 at 60

deg.F & 30 inches Hg
Gross calorific value (GCV) total amount of heat
liberated when 1 unit of fuel is burnt completely &
combustion products are cooled to room temp.
Net calorific value (LCV) amount of heat liberated
when 1unit of fuel is burnt completely &
combustion products are allowed to escape.
Net calorific value = GCV latent heat of vapor
formed
NCV = GCV (wt. Of Hydrogen x 9 x latent heat
of steam)
 1
GCV = 8080 C + 34,500 H-O/8 +2240 S K cal/ kg
100
 Net Calorific GCV - 9/100 H X 587K cal/ kg
value =
 Internal combustion engines

Spark ignition
Compression
Engine ignition
engine
Petrol Diesel
In IC spark engine petrol & air are mixed &
compressed to 1/10th of its volume then
spark is produced to burn the fuel
Energy produced by burning gives smooth
thrust to piston which moves the wheel

Compression ratio Ratio of cylinder

volume at the end of downstroke to the
volume at the end of upstroke of the piston

Higher CR Higher engine efficiency

Rapid compression of fuel air mixture heats
the engine & detonates without spark being
passed resulting in violent jerk to the piston
giving a metallic rattling sound

KNOCKING

Reduces efficiency of engine

Knocking tendency

Aromatics < Cycloalkanes < Olefins

<Branched
Straight chain alkanes >chain
alkanes
The percentage by volume of isooctane in the
isooctane heptane mixture that matches the
knocking characteristics of the fuel being tested
Octane number

n-heptane Isooctane

Zero Hundred
 Knocking can be prevented by adding
Tetra ethyl lead (TEL), Pb(C2H5)4 saving
money & energy

1-1.5 ml 1 L Petrol
TEL
Leaded Petrol
TEL get transformed in to lead oxide particles &
reacts with H2O2 molecules & prevent their
oxidation hence improper combustion
 TEL 60%

Ethylene
bromide Antiknock
26% Fluid
Ethylene
chloride
9%
Red dye-2%
 Harmful to environment

Lead oxide deposits on the engine affect its

functioning in longer period

Presence of sulphur compounds decreases its efficiency

Ethylene bromide can be added which converts lead in

to lead bromide which expelled with exhaust gases
preventingdeposition of lead oxide
Diesel engine
Air is compressed to 1/20th of its volume
This raises temp to 3000 C & diesel
ignites without spark
Diesel should ignites below compression
temperature
short induction lag desirable
Diesel consists of straight longer chain
hydrocarbons with minimum content of
branched & aromatic HCs.
Diesel engine
Air is compressed to 1/20th of its
volume
This raises temp to 3000 C & diesel
ignites without spark
Diesel should ignites below
compression temperature
short induction lag desirable
 Diesel consists of straight longer chain
hydrocarbons with minimum content of
branched & aromatic HCs.

Diesel should have low spontaneous

ignition temperature

Seperate scale is required for grading

can not be rated on octane scale

 Cetane number - used for rating diesel oil

It represents spontaneous ignition temperature

of
diesel fuel

Cetane n-Hexadecane ignites more rapidly

than any other diesel fuel assigned cetane no.
100
CH3(CH2)114CH3
n-Hexadecane
methyl naphthalene ignites slowly than any
other fuel assigned cetane no. - 0
 Cetane number mixture of n-Hexadecane &
methyl naphthalene forms a standard scale
for spontaneous iginition temperature of diesel
fuel

Cetane number is defined as the percentage of

cetane present in a mixture of cetane &
methyl naphthalene which matches the fuel
under test in ignition property

A diesel fuel said to have a cetane number 80

- matches in ignition property to 80% cetane &
20% methyl naphthalene
 Petrol and diesel, one of the most precious
thing of todays life.
These are the non-renewable resources
provided to us by nature in limited amounts.
To find a solution, we must come up with
other alternatives and biodiesel is one of
them.
These alkyl esters hold promise as
alternative diesel engine fuels.
 Biofuels- solid, liquid & gaseous fuels
derived from living organisms and their
waste products
Solar
Energ + CO2 Biomass
y

Harvesting

CO2 Pre-processing

Cellulose
Biofuel
Enzymes

Microbial Fermentation
Ethanol Sugars
 Biomass - Accumulation of organic waste
matter
produced by living things

Biomass Sources Wood , agricultural

residue, saw
mill waste, sugar refinery
waste,
municipal refuse etc.
Utilization of biomass - Two Ways

1. Direct Combustion Burn biomass directly

to obtain energy
For DC moisture should be > 15%
Drying required before combustion
Combustion produces steam used in
industries & for the generation of electricity
Utilization of biomass - Two Ways

Anaerobic fermentation
2. Bio mass Ethanol

Advantages
Environment friendly
Low initial investment

Disadvantages-
Cost of energy is higher in urban areas
Collection & transportation of biomass is
expensive
 Biodiesel - long chain of fatty acid alkyl esters

It is derived from renewable vegetable oils ,

animal fats , algae and various low-value
materials such as used cooking oils, greases
and soap stocks

Pacific biodiesel became one of the first

biodiesel plant in U.S. in 1996.
 Renewable resource of energy
Do not increase level of greenhouse gases, a
blend of 20% biodiesel fuel reduces net CO2
emission by 15.66% .
Can produced domestically, hence reduces
petroleum imports.
Biodegradable
Waste products like used oils, soap stocks,
greases can be utilized
Low toxicity
Negligible sulphur content and lower exhaust
emission
Oils or fats + Alcohol catalyst Ester
+Glycerol

catalyst
 Hydrolysis
Transesterification

Esterification.
Hydrolysis
Fats or oil water free fatty acids+ glycerol

Esterification catalyst

free fatty acid + alcohol catalyst ester + water

Overall Transesterification
Fats or oil + alcohol catalyst fatty acid alkyl +glycerol
 Enzymatic transesterification is better than
chemical transesterification as the recovery
of glycerol is easy.
It involves the use of enzyme as a catalyst
to carry out transesterification.
Lipase an enzyme is effective for
transesterification, is obtained from fungus.
Fungus species Aspergillus, Rhizopus are
used to carry out transesterification and
produce biodiesel.
 Use of whole cell biocatalyst instead of
purified lipase cuts the cost of isolation,
purification and immobilization of pure
lipase.
Aspergillus sp., Rhizopus sp. have been
used.
Different oils (Cottonseed, Jatropha,
Karanj ) are used as carbon source for
growth as well as whole cell catalyzed
transesterification.
 ester
Oil

Free fatty acids

Biogas
produced by degradation of biological matter
by bacterial action in absence of free oxygen

Natural gas biogas results after long period

of
decay of animal & vegetable matter by
bacteria under high pressure & optimum temp.

Gobar gas biogas produced by anaerobic

fermentation of cattle dung
Advantages of gobar gas over heating dried
cattle dung directly

produces more useful energy

provides high device efficiency

free from dust & smoke & environment friendly

used as domestic fuel as well as illuminant

Petrol blended with 5-10 % of ethanol is
called power alcohal

Addition of ethanol increases octane

number

E-diesel Diesel blended with ethanol

Used as fuel for small aircrafts in place of

leaded gasoline
1. By fermentation- Slow decomposition of
complex organic compounds in to simpler
ones by enzymatic action
Yeast
C6H12O6 2C 2H5OH +CO2
2. Using Molasses : Dark brown mother liquor left
after crystallization of cane sugar from sugar
cane juice. It contains 50 % fermentable sugar
Invertase (Yeast)
C12H22O11 +H2O C 6H12O6 +
C6H12O6 Glucose
Fructose
Zymase ( Yeast)
C6H12O6 2C2H5OH +2CO2
 Ethanol can also be obtained from starchy
materials e.g. Potatoes, barley, maize or
saw dust

Hydrolysis
Starchy materials Sugar
Enzymatic
Fermentatio
n

Ethanol
 Ethanol Good antiknocking agent

Octane number (PA) 90; Petrol - 65

Moisture get absorbed by alcohal

Ethanol contains oxygen which helps in complete

combustion of power alcohal

Polluting emissions of CO, HC & particulatesare

reduced

Cheaper than petrol

 Calorific value (Ethanol) 7000 cal/g
Calorific value (PA) 11500 cal/g
Specially designed engine with higher
compression ratio
Output of power generated is reduced up to 35%
PA- High surface tension, difficult atomization at
low temp - causing starting trouble
It may undergo oxidation to form corrosive acetic
acid
Modified carburetor & engine required as less air
is required for combustion
 Mixture of alkanes with composition resembling to
petrol
Obtained artificially from coal
Methods of preparation Bergius process, Fischer-
Topsch process
Bergius process

catalyst (4500C, 200 atm)

Coal dust + H2 Mixture of

hydrocarbons
H2 / Cracking

Crude oil
 Conversion of chemical energy into
electrical energy.
Battery is combination of cells either in

series or parralel or both in order to get

required amount of electrical energy.
Types of batteries:
Primary cells
Secondary cells
Primary cells
The chemical energy is converted into
electrical energy as long as chemical
component is active.
Can not be recharged or regenerated

Secondary cells:
The redox reaction that convert chemical
energy into electrical energy can be
reversed by passage of current.
Can be recharged and regenerated
 A cell is a battery packed with active material at
anode and cathode.
As anode and cathode are connected to load
redoc reaction occur.
Electrons liberated at anode flow to cathode
throgh external wire and part in reduction
reaction.
This process is called discharging
Active material is converted to inactive material.
Cell become inactive once active material is
consumed.
 Cell Reaction is reversed if external current is
passed in reverse direction.
Process of conversion of inactive material to
active material is called Charging.
 Metal Air Batteries: are the batteries which
breathe air ie they use oxygen directly from
the air to bring electrochemical reaction.

Alkaline batteries in which cathodic active

material is not stored in the cell.
 Anode is composed of Granulated Zn powder
mixed with aq. 30% KOH and gelling agent to
immobilize the material.
Cathode is composed of mixture of C and
catalyst (oxide of Manganese).
Gelling agent held on Ni-coated steel matrix.
Several hydrophobic, gas permeable, thon
layer of Teflon are provided to steady air
entry.
Electrolyte contain 30% KOH.
 Vents for entry of O2 into cell
Container is made up of glass and has a
separator made of nylon.
Cell represented as
Zn 30% KOH/Air,C
 Reaction involved in cell are:
at anode: Zn Zn2+ + 2e-
Zn2+ + 2OH----> ZnO + H2O

Zn + 2OH- ---> ZnO + H2O +2e-

At Cathode:
H2O + O2 + 2e- ---> 2OH-
Overall Cell reaction:
Zn + O2 ---> ZnO
 These are light and have high energy
density
These are relatively eco-friendly and have
unlimited capacity.
Have low energy cost

Applications in hearing aids, medical devices,

and military radio receivers.
 Li is light metal with low electrode potential
and good conductivity.
Group of batteries where Li is used as anode
are known as Lithium Batteries.
Li-MnO2 batteries
1. Anode is composed of Li.
2. Cathode is composed of heat treated MnO2

3. Electrolyte contain mixture of LiCl, LiBr,

LiAlO4, LiClO4 dissolved on Organic solvents
 At anode: Li Li+ +e-
At cathode: MnO2 + Li+ +e- LiMnO2

Overall cell reaction:

Li + MnO2 LiMnO2
The offers EMF of 3.0 V
Charaterstics:
1. These are light in weight and Compact
2. Known for low maintainance and have high energy
density
Applications:
Memory backups, automatic Cameras, Calculators etc.