Combustion

Saturday, January 11, 2025 10:45 PM

Fuel - any substance, natural or artificial which upon combustion releases heat energy.

Combustion - synonymous to oxidation and is the union of oxygen with combustible materials.

Classification of Fuels
1. Solid fuels - coal, coke, wood, charcoal, bagasse, coconut shells, rice husk, and briquetted fuels
2. Liquid fuels - crude petroleum and its distillates (gasoline, alcohol, kerosene, diesel, bunker, and other fuel oils).
3. Gaseous fuels - natural gas, artificial gas, blast furnace has, liquified petroleum gas (LPG), methane, acethylene, propane,
butane
4. Atomic fuels - natural uranium, thorium, and artificially produced fuel like plutonium.

Properties of Fuels
• Analysis composition
a. Proximate analysis - an analysis of the composition of fuel which gives on mass basis, the relative amounts of moisture
content volatile matter, fixed carbon and ash
b. Ultimate analysis - an analysis of the composition of fuel which gives on mass basis, the relative amounts of carbon,
hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, ash, and moisture

Proximate analysis
Sample No. Moisture (%) VM (%) Ash (%) FC (%) GCV
CL1 5.00 28.60 15.00 51.40 5630
CL2 6.00 30.00 15.00 49.00 5521
CL3 7.00 30.00 20.10 42.90 4830
CL4 6.10 28.00 23.00 42.90 4920
CL5 4.50 31.10 20.00 44.40 5280

Ultimate analysis
Sample No. N2 (%) C (%) H2 (%) S (%) O2 (%)
CL1 1.76 62.81 3.88 0.22 16.33
CL2 1.71 60.84 3.84 0.33 23.84
CL3 1.17 55.37 4.86 0.92 21.08
CL4 0.72 51.18 3.40 0.39 29.31
CL5 1.42 40.46 2.82 0.70 28.36

• Specific Gravity
○ SG = Density of fluid / density of water
• API and Baume gravity units
○ °API = 141.5 / SG @ 15.6 °C - 131.5
○ °Baume = 140 / SG @ 15.6 °C - 130
• Specific gravity at temperature (t):
○ SGt = (SG @ 15.6)(Correction Factor)
▪ Correction Factor = 1 - 0.00072 (t-15.6); temperature is in °C
▪ Correction Factor = 1 - 0.0004 (t-60) ; temperature is in °F
• Heating value or calorific value
○ Higher heating value or Gross calorific value is the heating value obtained when the water in the products of
combustion is in the liquid state.
○ Lower heating value or net calorific value is the heating value obtained when the water in the products of combustion
is in the vapor state

Higher Heating Value of Solid Fuels:

Dulong's Formula:
Qh = 33,820 C + 144,212 (H-O/8) + 9,304 S (kJ/kg)

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 ASME Formula for Petroleum Products:
Qh = 41,130 + 139.6 (°API) (kJ/kg)

Bureau of Standards Formula:

Qh = 51,176 - 8793.8 (SG)2 (kJ/kg)

Lower Heating Value of Solid Fuels:

QL = Qh - 9H2 (2442) (kJ/kg)
Where: = 26 - 15

COMBUSTION OF SOLID FUELS

• Theoretical Weight of Air is the exact theoretical amount as determined from the combustion reaction of air needed to burn a
unit amount of fuel.
○ Ultimate analysis is available:
○ (A/F)t = 11.5 C + 34.5 (H - O/8) + 4.3 S (kgair/kgfuel)
Where: C, H, O, and S are proportions by weight of Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, and Sulfur per kg of fuel from the
ultimate analysis.

○ Ultimate analysis is not available:

○ (A/F)t = Qh (kJ/kg)/3117 (kgair/kgfuel)
○ (A/F)t = Qh (kcal/kg)/745 (kgair/kgfuel)
○ (A/F)t = Qh (BTU/lb)/1340 (kgair/kgfuel)

• Actual Weight of Air is the weight of air supplied for combustion is necessarily in excess of what is theoretically required. The
volumetric analysis of the dry flue gas can be used to calculate the actual weight of air.
○ (A/F)a = (C x N2)/[32.72(CO2 + CO)] (kgair/kgfuel)
○ (A/F)a = (A/F)t x (1+ % excess air/100) (kgair/kgfuel)

❖ A bituminous coal has the ff compositions:

C = 71.5%, O = 7%, S = 3.6%, W = 3.4%, H = 5%, N = 1.3%, Ash = 8.2%
Calculate for the theoretical weigh of air required in (kgair/kgfuel)?

❖ It is required to find the theoretical volume of air at 20C and 100 kPa absolute pressure to burn 1 kg of franklin county coal. The
ultimate analysis of coal-as-fired is as follows:
C = 65.65%, O = 18.61%, S = 1.51%, W = 3%, H = 5.87%, Ash = 5.36%

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ANALYSIS OF FLUE GAS
Gaseous products are analyzed using gas analyzer known as the Orsat apparatus. The combustion products contains CO 2, SO2, N2,
O2, CO, and water vapor

Analysis of dry flue gas by volume:

CO2 + CO + O2 + N2 = 100%

The weight of gaseous products liberated during the combustion of fuel with air:
Wfg = Wa + Wf kg/hr

The weight of dry flue gas formed per kg of fuel burned:

Wdg = Wa + 1 - (SO2 + H2O + Ash loss)
Where:
Wa = actual air fuel ratio in kgair/kgfuel
SO2 = 2x(%S)/100
H2O = 9x(%H)/100
Ash loss = %Ash/100

Percent Excess Air:

%Excess = (Wa - Wt)/Wt

COMBUSTION OF HYDROCARBON FUELS

Hydrocarbon fuels consist mainly of combustible elements carbon and hydrogen. The chemical formula of hydrocarbons C nHm, where
the value of the subscripts "m" and "n" depends on the hydrocarbon family.

Typical combustion reaction of fuel with known chemical formula

Fuel + Air = Products of Combustion
CnHm + aO2 + 3.76xN2 = yCO2 + zH2O + 3.76xN2
Where: x, y, and z represents no. of moles

COMPOSITION OF AIR
By weight: O2 = 23% N2 = 77%
By volume: O2 = 21% N2 = 79%

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MOLAL RATIO or the ratio by volume of nitrogen to oxygen in air when both gases are at the same temperature.
Moles N2/Moles O2 = 79%/21% = 3.76

❖ Liquid Octane (C8H18) fuel is burned with ideal proportion of air.

a) Calculate the ideal air-fuel ratio by weight.
b) Calculate the ideal air-fuel ratio by weight with 20% excess air..

COMBUSTION OF GASEOUS FUELS

Almost the same to hydrocarbon fuels

❖ A furnace burns natural gas with a volumetric analysis as follows: Methane = 85%, Ethane = 12%, Propane = 3%. The gas flow
rate is 0.50 m3/s and 25% excess air is required for complete combustion. Combustion air is supplied to the furnace at 25°C and
1 atm pressure. Find the molal air-fuel ratio and the volume flow rate of the flue gas in m3/s.

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SAMPLE PROBLEMS
❖ Fuel oil in a day tank for use of an industrial boiler is tested with hydrometer. The hydrometer reading indicates a SG = 0.924
when the temperature of the oil in the tank is 35°C. Calculate the higher heating value of the fuel.
❖ A fuel oil is burned with 50% excess air. What is the volume flow rate of flow in m3/min of the wet products at a pressure of 102
kPa and a temperature of 350°C when the fuel is burned at the rate of 45 kg/min? Assume that the combustion requirements of
the fuel oil are similar to C12H26.
❖ The following is an analysis of coal in percent:
C = 74; H2 = 6; O2 = 8; N2 = 1.6; S = 1; Ash = 9.4
If burned in a boiler, the coal produces the following Orsat analysis in percent
CO2 = 12; CO = 0.1; O2 = 6.5
The refuse contains 0.008 kg of carbon per kg of coal burned. Determine the percentage of excess air used.
❖ A coal fired steam boiler uses 3000 kg of coal per hour. Air required for combustion is 15.5 kg per coal at a barometric pressure
of 98.2 kPaa. The flue gas has a temperature of 285°C and an average molecular weight of 30. Assuming the ash loss is 11%
and the allowable gas velocity is 7.5 m/s, find the diameter of the chimney.

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