FUELS AND COMBUSTION

What’s a fuel?
• A fuel is any material that can be made to react with other
substances so that it releases energy as heat energy or to be
used for work. The concept was originally applied solely to those
materials capable of releasing chemical energy but has since also
been applied to other sources of heat energy such as nuclear
energy (via nuclear fission and nuclear fusion).
 Types of fuels
Fuels are of three main types. They are:
 Solid fuels:Eg: Wood, coal, charcoal, etc.
 Liquid fuels: Eg: petrol, kerosene, diesel, etc.
 Gaseous fuels:Eg: CNG, LPG, biogas, hydrogen,etc
What’s Combustion?
Combustion is a chemical process in which a substance reacts rapidly with oxygen and gives off
heat. The original substance is called the fuel, and the source of oxygen is called the oxidizer
NATURAL GAS
Components of NATURAL GAS:
 TYPES OF COMBUSTION
COMPLETE INCOMPLETE RAPID COMBUSTION
COMBUSTION COMBUSTION
• TYPES OF COMBUSTION

• 1. Complete Combustion
• Complete combustion requires a combination of fuel and oxygen. During the
combustion process, the reactant is completely burned in oxygen, leaving a
limited amount of by product.
• 2. Incomplete Combustion
• Incomplete combustion occurs when there is not enough oxygen for the fuel
to fully react. In this case, the byproducts, carbon dioxide and water, are not
produced.
• 3. Rapid Combustion
• When rapid energy requires external heat energy for a reaction to occur, it is
classified as rapid combustion. This reaction will continue to remain live until
all of the fuel is burned up.
What does the fire triangle represent?
• The fire triangle is a simple way of understanding the elements of fire.
The sides of the triangle represent the interdependent ingredients
needed for fire: heat, fuel and oxygen.