Combustion Engineering

"Chemical engineers have the know-how and

experience to get the job done".

Lecture No. (3)

Combustion of Fuels

Prepared by
Professor Dr.
Khalid Hamid Rashid

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Combustion of Fuels
Combustion of fuels can be defined as “a chemical combinationbetween
O2 in the air and hydro-carbons of the fuel.
It is usually expressed in:
1. Qualitatively
2. Quantitatively

By using equations known as chemical equations which expressed upon

the nature of chemical reaction taking place.

Complete combustion:

In order to get a complete combustion of fuel, it necessary to supply

adequate quantity of O2 in order to obtain maximum amount of heat from a
fuel.

Combustion of fuels is accomplished by mixing fuel and air at

elevated temperature.
Combustion process is simply expressed as follows:
Fuel + Air = Products of combustion + heat liberated

The oxygen contained in the air can be unites chemically with

carbon, hydrogen and other elements in fuel to produce heat. The amount
of heat liberated during the combustion process depends on the amount of
oxidation of the constituents of fuel and the nature of fuel (chemical
combustion of fuel).

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Combustion efficiency

In order to get high efficiency of combustion of fuel,

following conditions must be needed:
1. The amount of supplied air should be sufficient to burn
the fuel completely. Complete combustion of fuel means
complete oxidation of all the combustible material in the
fuel. A little of air causes incomplete combustion of fuel
which results in considerable unburnt fuel being
discharged from the furnace, whereas too much supply of
air simply dilutes the gases and cools the furnace.

2. The air and the fuel should be thoroughly mixed so that each
combustible particle comes in intimate contact with the oxygen
contained in the air.

3. The fuel should remain in the furnace for sufficient time till get
burnt completely.

4. The temperature in the furnace should be high enough to ignite

the incoming air- fuel mixture.

Products of Combustion

The complete combustion of fuel produces various gases such as

carbon dioxide (CO2), Sulpher dioxide (SO2), water vapors, Nitrogen
(N2), and Oxygen (O2).
A. Nitrogen comes from air supply and
B. Oxygen comes from excess air.
C. Water vapors is produced from the following three sources:
1. Moisture originally contained in the coal.
2. Combustion of hydrogen
3. Atmospheric humidity

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 If all the carbon present in the fuel does not get burn completely,
then carbon monoxide (CO) is also produced.
The flue gas will have considerable amount of carbon monoxide in
them if the oxygen supply is less. While large excess of air would mean
that a large amount of sensible heat would be lost in flue gases.

Typically, the fuel is carbonaceous, such as gasoline, wood, or

coal, and the oxidant is the oxygen in air, although there are non-
carbonaceous fuels, notably hydrogen. While such processes are rare,
combustion can take place without using air to provide the oxidant.
The heat generated by combustion is typically used for cooking,
heating, or producing power.
The main products of hydrocarbon fuel combustion are carbon
dioxide (CO2) and water.
However, combustion can lead to emissions of other compounds
due to impurities in the fuel, the presence of nitrogen in air, or incomplete
combustion.
Specific sources of potentially carcinogenic air pollutant emissions
that involve combustion include internal combustion engines (ICEs) (e.g.
diesel, gasoline, and turbine), external combustion, boilers (as used for
electricity generation), cement kilns, biomass burning (for cooking,
heating, land management, and unplanned fires), waste combustion, and
more.

Oxygen (O2)

It is one of the most common elements on earth making up 20.9%

of our air. Rapid fuel oxidation results in large amounts of heat. Solid or
liquid fuels must be changed to a gas before they will burn. Usually heat
is required to change liquids or solids into gases. Fuel gases will burn in
their normal state if enough air is present.

Nitrogen (N2)

It is most of the 79% of air (that is not oxygen), with traces of other
elements. Nitrogen is considered to be a temperature reducing dilatant
that must be present to obtain the oxygen required for combustion.

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 Nitrogen reduces combustion efficiency by absorbing heat from the
combustion of fuels and diluting the flue gases. This reduces the heat
available for transfer through the heat exchange surfaces.
It also increases the volume of combustion by-products, which
then have to travel through the heat exchanger and up the stack faster to
allow the introduction of additional fuel air mixture.
This nitrogen also can combine with oxygen (particularly at high
flame temperatures) to produce oxides of nitrogen (NOx), which are
toxic pollutants.

Carbon (C), Hydrogen (H) and Sulphur(S)

There are in the fuel combine with oxygen in the air to form carbon
dioxide, water vapors and sulphur dioxide, releasing 8084 kCals, 28922
kCals & 2224 kCals of heat respectively. Under certain conditions,
Carbon may also combine with Oxygen to form Carbon monoxide, which
results in the release of a smaller quantity of heat (2430 kCals/kg of
carbon) Carbon burned to CO2 will produce more heat per pound of fuel
than when CO or smoke are produced.

C + O2 → CO2 + 8084 kCals/kg of Carbon

2C + O2 → 2 CO + 2430 kCals/kg of Carbon
2H2 + O2 → 2H2O + 28,922 kCals/kg of Hydrogen
S + O2 → SO2 + 2,224 kCals/kg of Sulphur
Each kilogram of CO formed means a loss of 5654 kCal of heat.(8084-
2430).

Three T’s of Combustion

During combustion, the fate of organic fuel molecules is largely

determined by the local conditions (e.g. temperature, abundance of
oxygen, and time).

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 The objective of good combustion is to release all of the heat in
the fuel. This is accomplished by controlling the “three T’s” of
combustion which are
(1) Temperature high enough to ignite and maintain ignition of the fuel,
(2) Turbulence or intimate mixing of the fuel and oxygen, and
(3) Time sufficient for complete combustion.

Commonly used fuels like natural gas and propane generally

consist of carbon and hydrogen. Water vapor is a by-product of burning
hydrogen. This robs heat from the flue gases, which would otherwise be
available for more heat transfer.

Natural gas

Natural gas contains more hydrogen and less carbon per kg

than fuel oils and as such produces more water vapor. Consequently,
more heat will be carried away by exhaust while firing natural gas.

Too much, or too little fuel with available combustion air may
potentially result in unburned fuel and carbon monoxide generation.

A very specific amount of O2 is needed for perfect combustion and

some additional (excess) air is required for ensuring complete
combustion.
However, too much excess air will result in heat and efficiency losses.

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 Not all of the heat in the fuel are converted to heat and absorbed by
the steam generation equipment.

Usually all of the hydrogen in the fuel is burned and most boiler
fuels, allowable with today’s air pollution standards, contain little or no
sulfur. So the main challenge in combustion efficiency is directed toward
unburned carbon (in the ash or incompletely burned gas), which forms
CO instead of CO2.

The lowest temperature at which a substance catches fire is called its

ignition temperature.

Types of Combustion

1. Rapid Combustion.

Bring a burning matchstick or a gas lighter near a gas stove in the

kitchen. Turn on the knob of the gas stove.
We find that the gas burns rapidly and produces heat and light. Such
combustion is known as rapid combustion.

2. Spontaneous Combustion
There are substances like phosphorus which burn in air at room
temperature.
The type of combustion in which a material suddenly bursts into
flames, without the application of any apparent cause is called
spontaneous combustion
Spontaneous combustion of coal dust has resulted in many
disastrous fires in coal mines. Spontaneous forest fires are sometimes due
to the heat of the sun or due to lightning strike.
However, most forest fires are due to the carelessness of human
beings.
Explosion Combustion
We generally have fireworks on festival days. When a cracker is
ignited, a sudden reaction takes place with the evolution of heat, light and

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sound. A large amount of gas formed in the reaction is liberated. Such a
reaction is called explosion.
Explosion can also take place if pressure is applied on the cracker.

Types of Combustion Systems

1. Liquid injection incinerators

– Horizontal fire box
– Vertical Down-fired
2. Rotary kiln incinerators
3. Fixed and multiple hearth incinerators
4. Fluidized bed incinerators
5. Solid/liquid boilers
6. Cement Kilns (CKs) and
7. Light Weight Aggregate Kilns (LWAKs)
8. Material recovery furnaces – i.e., Halogen Acid Furnaces or HAFs
9. Specialty incinerators
– Munitions
– Agent
As mentioned in the previous module, here are a broad range of
combustion system types that operate under Subpart EEE regulations.
These include several different types of incinerators, liquid and solid fuel
boilers, cement and lightweight aggregate kilns that burn waste, material
recovery furnaces and specialty incinerators that burn conventional and/or
chemical agent munitions and weapons

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Fuel
What is a Fuel?
• Fuel is a material that carries energy in chemical form.
• When the fuel is reacted (e.g. through combustion), most of the energy
is released as heat
• Though sometimes e.g. in fuel cells or flow batteries it can be released
as electric power
• Fuels have much higher energy densities than other ways of carrying
energy. Very convenient for transportation.
• The energy is released via chemical reactions. Each fuel undergoes
different reactions, with different rates. Chemical details matter.

Recall that the sources of heat energy for domestic and industrial
purposes are mainly wood, charcoal, petrol, kerosene etc. These
substances are called fuels.
A good fuel is one which is readily available. It is cheap. It burns
easily in air at a moderate rate. It produces a large amount of heat. It does
not leave behind any undesirable substances.

Note:
There is probably no fuel that could be considered as an ideal fuel.
We should look for a fuel which fulfills most of the requirements for a
particular use.
Fuels differ in their cost. Some fuels are cheaper than others.

Fuels differ in their cost. Some fuels are cheaper than others.

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What properties do we desire in a fuel?

• Prefer not to carry more than one reactant on vehicle: take second
reactant from the atmosphere.
• Air is 78% N2, 21% O2, 1% Ar. N2 is poor reactant (N≡N bond too
strong), Ar is unreactive, leaves O2.
• Fuel should have highly exothermic reaction with O2
• Fuel should be abundant in nature or easy to make. And cheap.
• We need millions of tons every day.
• Fuel itself should be environmentally benign
• Prefer to dump exhaust so we don’t have to carry its weight. Exhaust
should be environmentally benign (even if we carry it: we are making
Mtons/day!)
• Both fuel & exhaust must be liquids or gases: no solids handling!

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