Introduction to Power

Plant Engineering

CHAPTER THREE
PART 2
Combustion
1

Prepared by: Mehiret W. (MSc.)

Nov,2021
 Outlines

Definition

Classification of combustion

Stoichiometry

Determining Heating value of fuel

2
 1. Term definition
 1.1 Combustion:
• A Chemical reaction whereby fuel is oxidized
to release energy.

3
 Cont’d
• Air is mostly used because:
• It is readily available
• Oxygen is expensive and difficult to extract
oxygen from air thus used in specialized
applications only.

• On a mole (volume) basis dry air is composed of

• 20.9 % oxygen, 78.1 % nitrogen and other trace
gases
• Dry air can be approximated as 21% oxygen and
79% nitrogen 4

𝟏 𝒌𝒎𝒐𝒍 𝐎𝟐+𝟑 . 𝟕𝟔 𝑲𝒎𝒐𝒍 𝑵 𝟐 → 𝟒 . 𝟕𝟔 𝐊𝐦𝐨𝐥 𝐚𝐢𝐫

 
 Cont’d
• Nitrogen is inert gas and does not react with any of fuel element, it
leaves the chamber as it is but with higher temperature.

• Its presence is desirable because it maintains the combustion

chamber temperature with its high chemical energy holding
ability.

• At very high temperatures, such as those encountered in internal

combustion engines, a small fraction of nitrogen reacts with
oxygen, forming hazardous gases such as nitric oxide.

• Air that enters a combustion chamber normally contains some

water vapor (or moisture), which also deserves consideration.

• For most combustion processes, the moisture in the air and the
H2O that forms during combustion can also be treated as an inert
gas, like nitrogen. 5
 Cont’d
Conditions need to be met to start & Maintain combustion

1. The temperature of the combustion chamber should at all

times be above ignition temperature of the fuel.

2. The fuel to air mixing temperature must be in proper range:

natural gas does not burn in air if concentrations is less than 5
percent or greater than about 15 percent

3. There must be enough Mixing or turbulence between the air

and fuel

4. There must be sufficient time be for combustion to prevail

and proceed to
completion.

N.B: If fuel type is known all these data can be obtained from its 6
manual or literatures.
 2. Classification of Combustion
Complete
Combustion
Incomplete

• A combustion process is complete if all the carbon in the fuel

burns to CO2, all the hydrogen burns to H2O, and all the sulfur
(if any) burns to SO2.

C+O
  2 →C O 2

  O

S  +O 2 → S O2
7
  + O+
 Cont’d

• A combustion process is incomplete if combustion

products include any unburned components as C,
H2, CO, or OH.

  + O + + CO + OH + C +

N.B: at very high temperature O dissociates in

to OH and Thus getting hydrogen and OH is
not determinant to label a process incomplete.

  + + OH 8
 Cont’d
Causes of incomplete combustion
• Limited oxygen or air supply
• Insufficient mixing
• Dissociation of compounds at high temperature
• Oxygen has more tendency to combine with
hydrogen than carbon leaving hydrogen in the
fuel burn to completion forming water even if
there is less more oxygen available for burning
carbon. This leaves CO or plain C in the product.

N.B: To achieve complete combustion an

excess air is supplied than what is needed.
9
 3. stoichiometry
• Stoichiometry: Measurement of quantities within a chemical
reaction.
• Stoichiometric air: is the minimum supply of air needed for
complete combustion. Also termed theoretical air.
• Air supply below this value yield incomplete combustion.
• It is quantized as 100% theoretical air.
 

• If 90 % theoretical air is supplied there is 10% deficient

air
 

• If 150% theoretical air is supplied then 50% excess air is

added to combustion chamber.
10
 
 Cont’d

• Stoichiometric combustion : ideal combustion process where

fuel is completely burned with stoichiometric air.

N.B : The total number of atoms is conserved in a chemical

reaction but number of mole is not conserved.

11
 Target Questions
 How to determine amount of air needed to bring complete
combustion?

How to determine products of combustion and amount of a given

fuel constituent?

How to determine heating value of a fuel?

12
 3.1 Determination of theoretical air
• Majorly used fuels are hydrocarbons aside to coal. The
amount of theoretical air for complete combustion is
obtained:

1. Balancing chemical equation

A. For hydrocarbons the following formula can be
used

  α H β Oγ + α + β γ β β γ
C ( ) ( )
− ( O 2+3.76 N 2 ) → αC O 2 + H 2 O+3.76 α + − N 2
4 2 2 4 2

The total moles of a mixture is equal to Air needed by mol =

 
the sum of moles of each component

• If fuel contains multiple component

13
balance a fuel mixture to first develop stoichiometry relations for multiple
fuels individually; multiply the individual stoichiometry equations by the
mole fractions of the fuel components and add.
 Cont’d
B. For coal : The combustible elements are C, S and H

C+O
  2 →C O 2 S  +O 2 → S O 2   O

Oxygen needed by mass= 2.66 C + 8 H + 1 S - O

Air contains 21% oxygen by volume and 23 % oxygen by mass

Air needed by mass= (100/23)(2.76 C + 8 H + 1 S) - O

It is necessary to supply excess air for complete combustion of the fuel.

 The percentage of excess air varies between 15 and 30% for most large
utility boilers.

• The excess air to be supplied depends on the type of fuel and the firing
system.
 5 - 10% for natural gas 14
 5 - 20% for fuel oil
 15 - 60% for coal
 3.2 Determination of products of
combustion

• If combustion products are known, fuel composition

and amount of air supplied can be indirectly known
from balancing chemical equation.
• There are different instruments used to measure
amount of each product:
A.Orsat analyser,
B.Haldane apparatus,
C.Infra-red gas analyzer,
D. Gas chromatograph

• Orsat gas analyzer is very simple, portable and most frequently

used .
15
• It measures the volume or mole fractions of C02, CO and 02 in the
dry flue gas.
 Cont’d The graduated burette is
surrounded by a water-jacket
to keep the temperature of the
gas constant during the
experiment.

Flue gas is passed through fused Calcium

16
Chloride which absorbs the water vapor
present due to its hygroscopic properties.
 Cont’d
Dew point temperature

17
 Essential variables in stoichiometry
• In practice, fuels are often combusted with an amount of air different
from the stoichiometric ratio.
• To describe the mixture(fuel rich, fuel lean), it is convenient to
quantify the combustible mixture using one of the following
commonly used methods:
β γ β β γ
C  α H β Oγ + α +
( ) (
− ( O2+3.76 N 2 ) → αC O 2 + H 2 O+3.76 α + − N 2 )
4 2 2 4 2

12/14/2021
 Fuel-Air ratio(FA) 𝐦𝐟  Equivalence Ratio
• The fuel-air ratio, f, is given by 𝐟  = • Normalizing the actual fuel-air ratio by the stoichiometric fuel air
𝐦𝐚
ratio

Mair = 28.84   𝐟 = 𝐦 𝐚𝐬 = 𝐍 𝐚𝐬 = 𝐍 𝐎𝐬 =
𝛟=
𝟏𝟎𝟎
• The range of f is bounded by zero and ∞. 𝐟 𝐬 𝐦𝐚 𝐍 𝐚 𝐍 𝐎 % 𝑬𝑨 +𝟏𝟎𝟎

• The range of is bounded by zero and ∞.

 Lambda( Note that
• It is a normalized quantity that provides the information regarding the
• AFR is frequently used by combustion
content of the combustion mixture.
engineers
 Percent Excess Air:
• The amount of air in excess of the stoichiometric amount is
18
• a mixture with %EA=50 contains 150% of the theoretical
(stoichiometric) amount of air.
 β γ β β γ
Examples C  α H β O γ + α +
( 4 2 ) 2 ( )
− ( O 2+3.76 N 2 ) → αC O 2 + H 2 O+3.76 α + − N 2
4 2

A. Determine the stoichiometric air needed?

B. Determine theoretical Air to fuel ratio on a molar and
mass basis

2. Write combustion equation for octane with 120%

theoretical air?

3. Propane gas C3H8 is reacted with air such that the dry product
gases are 11.5% CO2, 2.7% O2, and 0.7% CO by volume.
A. What percent theoretical air was supplied?
B. What is the dew point temperature of the products if the
product pressure is 100 kPa? 19
4. An unknown hydrocarbon fuel, CXHY is reacted with air
such that the dry product gases are 12.1% CO2, 3.8% O2,
and 0.9% CO by volume.

A. What is the average make-up of the fuel?

20
3.3 determination of heating value of
fuel
• heating value of a fuel is the difference in the
enthalpies of the reactants and the products
Q
  rxn=H p − H R

  - = H chemical rxn + H state change + H phase change

• The standard enthalpy of formation, , quantifies the chemical

bond energy of a chemical species at standard conditions.

• The enthalpy of formation of a substance is the energy needed for

the formation of that substance from its constituent elements at
STP conditions (25C and 1 atm).

• Elements in their most stable forms, such as C (graphite) , H2, O2, and
N2, have enthalpies of formation of zero. 21
• A departure from standard conditions is accompanied by an
enthalpy change.
3.3 determination of heating value of
fuel
• heating value of a fuel is the difference in the
enthalpies of the reactants and the products
Q
  rxn=H p − H R

  - = H chemical rxn + H state change + H phase change

Qnet  H P  H R
  e f T )]e 
N [h o

Products
 ( h  h o
 i f T )]i
N [h o

Reactants
 ( h  h o
22
 Cont’d
  Example:
 Butane gas C4H10 is burned in theoretical air as shown below. Find
the net heat transfer per kmol of fuel.

Fuel CO2
Reaction Chamber
C4H10 H2O
 
Theoretical N2
Air
Reactants Products
TR = 298K,PR = 1 Qnet TP = 1000K,PP =1atm
atm

 Balanced combustion equation:

 The steady-flow heat transfer is

23
 Cont’d
Comp Nr

kmol/kmol fuel kJ/kmol kJ/kmol kJ/kmol kJ/kmol fuel

C4H10 1 -126,150 - - -126,150
O2 6.5 0 8,682 8,682 0
N2 24.44 0 8,669 8,669 0
HR   N [h
Reactants
i f
o
 (hT  h o )]i

kJ
 126,150
kmol C4 H10
Np
Comp
kmol/kmol fuel kJ/kmol kJ/kmol kJ/kmol kJ/kmol fuel

CO2 4 -393,520 42,769 9,364 -1,440,460

H2O 5 -241,820 35,882 9,904 -1,079,210

N2 24.44 0 30,129 8,669 +524,482

HP   N [h
Products
e f
o
 (hT  h o )]e
Qnet  H P  H R 24
kJ kJ
 1,995,188  1,869,038
kmol C4 H10 kmol C4 H10
 Cont’d
Adiabatic Flame Temperature
 The temperature the products have when a combustion process
takes place adiabatically is called the adiabatic flame temperature.
Example:
 Liquid octane, C8H18(liq) is burned with 400% theoretical air. Find
the adiabatic flame temperature when the reactants enter at 298 K,
0.1 MPa and the products leave at 0.1MPa.

Fuel CO2
Combustion
C8H18
Chamber O2
400%
Theo. Air H2O

Reactants Products
N2
Qnet = 0
TR = 298 K TP = ?

PR = 0.1 MPa PP = 0.1MPa

25
C8 H18  4(12.5) ( O2  3.76 N 2 ) 
8 CO2  37.5 O2  9 H2 O  188 N 2
 Cont’d
Qnet  H P  H R
 N
Products
e [h fo  ( hT  h o )]e   N [h
Reactants
i f
o
 ( hT  h o )]i

 0 ( Adiabatic Combustion)

HP   N [h e f
o
 (hTP  h o )]e
HR  Nh i
o
f i
Products
Reactants
 8( 393,520  hTP  9364) CO2
 1( 249,950)  4(12.5)(0)  4(12.5)( 3.76)(0)
kJ  9( 241,820  hTP  9904) H2 O
 249,950
kmol C4 H10  37.5(0  hTP  8682) O2
 188(0  hTP  8669) N 2

H P  ( 7,443,845  8hTP , CO2  9hTP , H2 O

kJ
 37.5hTP , O2  188hTP , N 2 )
kmol C4 H10

8hTP , CO2  9hTP , H2O  37.5hTP , O2  188hTP , N 2  7,193,895 26

 Cont’d
242.5hTP , N 2  7,193,895
kJ
hTP , N 2  29,6655
.
kmol N 2
Tp  985 K

Ne

CO2 8 40,607 41,145

H2O 9 34,274 34,653
O2 37.5 29,991 30,345
N2 188 28,826 29,151
7,177,572 7,259,362

27
 Cont’d
 Closed System Analysis:
Example:
 A mixture of 1 kmol C8H18 gas and 200% excess air at 250C, 1 atm is
burned completely in a closed system (a bomb) and is cooled to 1200
K. Find the
 Heat transfer from the system
 System final pressure.

1 kmol C8H18 gas

200% Excess Air

T1 = 25oC

P1 = 1 Atm

T2 = 1200 K

28
 Cont’d
•  The balanced combustion equation for 200% excess (300%
theoretical) air

Qnet  8( 393,520  53,848  9,364  8.314(1200)) CO2

 9( 241,820  44,380  9,904  8.314(1200)) H2 O
 25(0  38,447  8,682  8.314(1200)) O2
 141(0  36,777  8,669  8.314(1200)) N 2
 1( 208,450  h298 K  h o  8.314(1200)) C8 H18
 25(0  8,682  8,682  8.314(1200)) O2
 141(0  8,669  8,669  8.314(1200)) N 2
kJ
 112
.  106
kmol C8 H18 29
 Assignment
1. Liquid octane, C8H18(liq) is burned with excess air. The adiabatic
flame temperature is 960 K when the reactants enter at 298 K, 0.1
MPa and the products leave at 0.1MPa. What percent excess air is
supplied?
2. A certain natural gas has the following volumetric analysis: 72 percent
CH4, 9 percent H2, 14 percent N2, 2 percent O2, and 3 percent CO2. This gas
is now burned with the stoichiometric amount of air that enters the
combustion chamber at 20°C, 1 atm, and 80 percent relative humidity.
Assuming complete combustion and a total pressure of 1 atm, determine
the dew-point temperature of the products, the mass of water vapor
formed, air fuel ratio, the mass of air supplied, the mass of dry flue gases
formed.

30
 Assignment
3. During a boiler trial a partial analysis of dry flue gas showed
13.2%CO2 and 3.2% O2 by volume. Some CO was probably present, but
its percentage was not measured. The analysis of the coal burnt was
88% carbon, 4.4% hydrogen and 7.6% ash by volume. The moisture in
the fuel was nil. Assuming that all the carbon and hydrogen have been
burnt, estimate
a) Write the actual and the theoretical balanced equation,
b) The complete volumetric composition of the dry flue gas,
c) The actual amount of air supplied per kg of fuel,
d) The percentage excess air supplied,
e) Dew point temperature of the flue gas and 31
f) The mass of water vapor formed per kg of fuel.