Fuels & Combustion

CLASSIFICATION OF FUELS

Primary fuels – fuels which occur naturally such as coal, crude

petroleum and natural gas. Coal and crude petroleum, formed
from organic matter many millions of years ago, are referred to
as fossil fuels, and
Secondary fuels – fuels which are derived from naturally
occurring ones by a treatment process such as coke, gasoline,
coal gas etc.

Both primary and secondary fuels may be further classified

based upon their physical state as
[i] solid fuels [ii] liquid fuels and [iii] gaseous fuels.

The quality of fuels depends upon

i. The amount of heat liberated per unit quantity of the fuel
(calorific value)
ii. The efficiency in combustion
iii. The nature of the product of combustion and
iv. Safe storage
Fuels are substance which liberates heat on its
combustion,fuels are nothing but Hydrocarbon,mainly
containing Hydrogen & Carbon.
Types of fuels
1.Solid-Coal
2.Liquid- Petrol ,Diesel,F.O
3.Gaseous- Methane,ethylene

 Advantages of gaseous fuel over solid & liquid fuel.

 Analysis of fuel

1.Proximate analysis
2.Ultimate analysis
 Alternative Fuels
1.Bagasse

2.Bio gas

3. LPG

4.CNG
Fuel+Air =Heat +Products of combustion
Composition of Air
By Mass:77% N2 & 23% O2
By Volume: 79%N2 & 21% O2
Molecular weight:29 (approx.)
Element Molecular Weight
C 12
S 32
N2 28
O2 32
H2 2
CH2 16
H2O 18
CO2 44
CO 28
 Laws of Combustion
1.Law of conservation of mass.
2.Law of conservation of energy.
3. law of combining weights
4.Ideal gas law
5.Avogadro law
6.Dalton’s law of partial pressure
 Chemical Equations:
1.C+O2 =CO2
12 kg of carbon+32 kg of oxygen= 44 kg of CO 2
1 kg of carbon + (32/12) kg of O2= (44/12) of CO2
1 mole of C+ 1 mole of O2 = 1 mole of CO2
2.H2+0.5xO2=H2O
2Kg of H+16 kg of O2= 18 Kg of H2O
3.S+O2 = SO2
32 kg of S+ 32 Kg of O2=64 kg of SO2
4.C+0.5xO2=C0
12 kg of C+ 16 kg of O2 = 28 kg of CO
Mass fraction

Mole Fraction

Equivalence ratio
 Minimum air OR theoretical required for
complete combustion of unit mass of fuel
 It is also called as Stiochiometric air OR Chemically
correct air & is calculated as:
ma = (100/23)x {8/3xC+8(H-O/8)+S} kg of air/kg of fuel
On volume basis
ma = (100/21) x{0.5 x CO+0.5 H2+2xCH4} kg/m3 of fuel

 Excess air = Actual air supplied -minimum air required

% Excess air air = (Actual air -minimum air) / minimum air x100
 Products of Combustion
Exclude the mass of H2O for Dry products of
combustion.
Products of combustion are:
CO2=11/3 x mass of carbon
H2O= 9 x mass of H
SO2 =2 x mass of S
N2= 0.77 x mass of actual air + mass of N2 in
fuel( if given)
Excess O2= 0.23 x mass of excess air
 %Mass analysis to %Volumetric
analysis
Constituent % by Molecular Proportionate % by
mass weight (b) volume volume
(a) (c)=a/b (d)=
[c/Σc[ x 100
CO2 C 44 C/44
H2O H 18 H/18
N2 N 28 N/28
SO2 S 64 S/64
Excess O2 O 32 O/32
 Volumetric to mass analysis
Constituent % by Molecular Proportionate % by volume
volume weight (b) mass (c)=a*b (d)= [c/Σc[ x
(a) 100

CO2 C 44 Cx44
H2O H 18 Hx18
N2 N 28 Nx28
SO2 S 64 Sx64
Excess O2 O 32 Ox32
Calorific value
• Heat or energy produced
• Gross calorific value (GCV): vapour is fully
condensed
• Net calorific value (NCV): water is not fully
condensed
 Calorific Value
Units of CV
KJ/Kg for solid & liquid fuel
KJ/M3 for gaseous fuel
HCV or GCV
LCV or NCV
Relation between HCV & LCV
LCV = HCV-Mw x hfg for solid & liquid fuel
LCV= HCV- (Mw/V0)hfg for gaseous fuel
Mw= 9x H
 Type of Fuels

Liquid Fuels
Calorific value

Fuel Oil Gross Calorific Value (kCal/kg)

Kerosene 11,100
Diesel Oil 10,800
L.D.O 10,700
Furnace Oil 10,500
LSHS 10,600
Bomb Calorimeter
 Calculation of HCV & LCV
mf x Cv= mwx Cpw x(tw2-tw1)
Gas calorimeter
Orsat Appratus
 Chemical Method: Orsat Apparatus
• The principle of Orsat’s operation is absorption of respective
gases.
• A burette of 100 ml is filled with sample gas, which is
exposed to solutions of potassium hydroxide, potassium
pyrogallate and ammoniacal cuprous chloride for the
absorption of CO2, O2 and CO respectively.
• The volume decreases after each absorption is directly
proportional to the concentration of that gas by volume.
• Errors arise from the reading of the burette levels, the
leveling of the absorption solutions and the difficulty in filling
the system with undiluted sample gas.
• The analysis time of 10 minutes per sample together with the
limited accuracy makes this method unattractive.