Combustion

Process
Introduction

Burning a fuel is called combustion, the fuel can be

a solid, liquid, or gas

Combustion is a complex sequence of chemical

reactions between a fuel and an oxidant

Combustion produces heat or both heat and light

in the form of either a glow or flames.
Introduction (cont.)

Combustion accounts for approximately 85 percent

of the world’s energy usage

Combustion converts chemical energy to thermal energy or

propulsive force

Spacecraft and aircraft propulsion,

electric power production,
home heating,
ground transportation,
materials processing all use
 Introduction (cont.)

 For combustion to occur three things must be

present: a fuel, a source of oxygen, and a
source of heat.

 As a result of combustion, exhausts are

created and heat is released.

 You can control the combustion process by

controlling the amount of the fuel available,
the amount of oxygen available, or the source
of heat.
Introduction (cont.)
 During combustion, new chemical substances are
created called exhaust or products of combustion.

 The temperature of the exhaust is high because of the

heat that is transferred to the exhaust during
combustion.

 Because of the high temperatures, exhaust usually

occurs as a gas, but there can be liquid or solid
exhaust products as well .

 Soot ,for example, is a form of solid exhaust that

occurs in some combustion processes.**
Examples of combustion applications

• Gas turbines and jet engines

• Rocket propulsion
• Piston engines
• Guns and explosives
• Furnaces and boilers
• Flame synthesis of materials (fullerenes,
nano-materials)
• Chemical processing (e.g. carbon black
production)
• Forming of materials
• Fire hazards and safety
Combustion Process

Combustion process is a complex interaction of :

• physical processes

- fluid dynamics,
- heat and mass transfer

• chemical processes
- thermodynamics,
- chemical kinetics
Combustion Process(cont’d):

• The transport of energy, mass, and momentum are

the physical processes involved in combustion.

• The conduction of thermal energy, the diffusion of

chemical species, and the flow of gases all follow
from the release of chemical energy in the exothermic
reaction.
Combustion Process(cont’d):

The subject areas most relevant to combustion in

the fields of thermodynamics, transport

phenomena, and chemical kinetics can be

summarized as follows:
Thermodynamics of Combustion:
(Stoichiometry):
Properties of gases and gas mixtures

Heat of formation

Heat of reaction

Equilibrium

Adiabatic flame temperature

Heat and Mass Transfer:

Heat transfer by conduction

Heat transfer by convection

Heat transfer by radiation

Mass transfer
Fluid Dynamics:

Laminar flows

Turbulence

Effects of inertia and viscosity

Combustion aerodynamics
Chemical Kinetics:

Application of thermodynamics to a reacting system

gives us
-equilibrium composition of the combustion
products,

- maximum temperature corresponding to this

composition, i.e. the adiabatic flame
temperature.

• However, thermodynamics alone is not capable of

telling us whether a reactive system will reach
equilibrium.

•
Chemical Kinetics (cont.):

If the time scales of chemical reactions involved in

a combustion process are comparable to the time
scales of physical processes (e.g. diffusion, fluid
flow) taking place simultaneously, the system may
never reach equilibrium.

• Then, we need the rate of chemical reactions

involved in combustion.
 Combustion
Thermodynamics
Stoichiometry :
In the large majority of the real world uses of
combustion, the oxygen (O2) oxidant is obtained from
the ambient air,,

Ambient air contains 21% oxygen and 79%

nitrogen,

For each mole of oxygen will be associated with 3.76

moles of nitrogen
 Stoichiometry (cont’d):

In reality, combustion processes are never perfect -

or complete.

In flue gases from combustion of carbon or carbon

compounds both unburned carbon and carbon
compounds will be present.**
Stoichiometry (cont’d):
For example:

A simpler example can be seen in the combustion of

hydrogen and oxygen , which is a commonly used
reaction in rocket engines:

The result is simply water vapor. **

Stoichiometric or Theoretical
Combustion
 It is the ideal combustion process during which a
fuel is burned completely.

 A complete combustion is a process which burns all

the carbon (C) to (CO2), all hydrogen (H) to
(H2O) and all sulfur (S) to (SO2).

 If there are unburned components in the exhaust

gas such as C, H2, CO the combustion process is
incomplete. **
Air-Fuel Ratio

 It is frequently used in the analysis of the

combustion process

 It is usually expressed on a mass basis, i.e.

AF=(mass of Air)/(mass of Fuel) **

Air Fuel Ratio (cont.)
C3H8 + 5(O2 + 3.762N2) → 4H2O+3CO2 + 18.81N2

• (A/F)stoich=air-to-fuel ratio (mass)= (mass of

air)/(mass of fuel)

• (A/F)stoich = [5(32+3.762*28)]/(44)

= 15.6 **

•
 Chemical equation.
Generally, the Chemical equation for burning a
hydrocarbon in oxygen is as follows:

For example, the burning of propane is:

The simple word equation for the combustion of a

hydrocarbon in oxygen is:
 Chemical equation (Cont. ).
If the combustion takes place using air as the oxygen source, the
corresponding equations are:

For example, the burning of propane is:

The simple word equation for the combustion of a hydrocarbon in

air is:
 Excess Air
 It is defined as the amount of air in excess of the
theoretical amount.

 It is common to use more air than the stoichiometric

amount in the combustion chamber.

 It increases the chances of complete combustion.

 Excess air can also be used to control the temperature of

combustion chamber.

 Excess air factor = ( Actual air -- Theoretical air )/

Theoretical air
**
Equivalence Ratio (Φ)

 It is defined as the ratio of the theoretical

air fuel ratio to the actual air fuel ratio.

Φ = theoretical air fuel ratio / actual air

fuel ratio

= Af)th / Af)ac **
Equivalence Ratio (Φ) (cont’d):

• Φ = 1: stoichiometric combustion

• Φ < 1: lean mixture, lean combustion

• Φ > 1: rich mixture, rich combustion

• European convention (and to a certain extent

Japanese) is to use Air equivalence ratio, λ:

λ = 1/Φ **
The first law of thermodynamic
applied to combustion.

 The application of the first law of thermodynamics on the

chemical reactions is basically to determine the quantity
of heat which may be librated in particular combustion
process.

 The base (zero level) energy is chosen so that the energy

of all element is zero at 25 C and 1atm. **
The first law of thermodynamic
applied to combustion (cont.)
Enthalpy formation :-

 The energy of the compound at this reference

Q = Hp – Hr
Where

Hr = enthalpy of reactants.
Hp = enthalpy of products
Q = heat liberated **
 Endothermic reaction :-

 The chemical reaction needs addition of heat.

Exothermic reaction :-

 The chemical reaction which liberates heat .**

 The Total Molal Enthalpy

 On the basis of the above mentioned reference state the

total molal enthalpy at any temperature (T) may be
defined as

H (t) = hf + (h (T) – h (25)

 If the energy is determined for the combustion of a fuel

with theoretical air, in the standard conditions (1 atm
and 25°C) it is usually called the

 enthalpy of reaction or internal energy of reaction.

**
 Higher Heating Value (HHV).

 The maximum energy released from a combustion process

will be obtained when all water in products is in the liquid
phase.

Lower Heating Value (L.H.V)

 A lower heat of reaction will be experienced when all the

water in the products due to combustion is in vapor phase.

H.H.V = L.H.V + Latent heat of evaporation of H2O. **

 Adiabatic flame temperature :-

 If the combustion process is allowed to proceed

adiabatically, the final temperature which the products
of combustion will attain is called the adiabatic flame
temperature.

 For this adiabatic process all the heat of reaction is

converted in to internal energy and is manifested in
the form of high temperature of the products of
combustion. **
Adiabatic flame temperature (cont.):-
 For constant volume adiabatic combustion
Up = Ur.

 For constant pressure adiabatic combustion

Hp = Hr.
 Notice :-

 The adiabatic flame temperature decrease as a

result of incomplete combustion or using excess
air also, the maximum adiabatic flame temperature
is achieved when complete combustion occurs with
the theoretical amount of air.
**
Entropy change of reaching system :
The thermodynamic analysis of combustion process
is not yet complete , without the examination of
second law aspects :

irreversibility
reversible work

Both are related to entropy

 Entropy change of reacting system :
 For a closed system the entropy balance relation
for a reacting process takes the following form:

Sp – Sr = ∫δq / T + Sgen.sys.

Entropy transfer Entropy generation

Entropy change
with heat Within the system
As a result of
irreversibilities
Entropy change of reacting system
(cont) :

T is the temperature of the part of the

system where Q crosses the boundary

δq is positive if added to the system or

negative if rejected from the system
 Entropy change of reacting system(cont.) :
For a control volume :
Reactants Reacting chamber Products
Sr Ssys. Sp

Q
Surroundings

Sgen. = ∆ Ssys. + ∆ Ssurr. ≥ 0

∆ Ssys. = Sp - Sr
Where :
= N p S p - Nr S r

∆ Ssurr =∑ Qr / Tr
Entropy change of reacting system 9cont.) :
If the system exchanges heat with its
surroundings only at To then ,

∆ Ssurr. = Q surr./ To

For adiabatic process Qsurr. =0

Sgen. = Ssys. = Sp - Sr ≥ 0
 Entropy change of reacting system (cont.)
 :
The above mentioned relations for entropies involve the
entropies of the components and not an entropy difference.
 There are a common based should be taken for all substances.

 Thethird law of thermodynamics helps in solving this

problem by stating that:

The entropy of a pure crystalline substance at

absolute zero temperature is zero.

This is used as the base for determining the entropy

of all substances.
 Entropy change of reacting system (cont.) :
 If the reactants and products are considered ideal gases the
determination of their entropies will be much easier as follows:

О
Si(T , Pi) = Si (T , Pо) – Ru ln(Pi/ Pо)

-T temp. of the mixture of gases.

- P the partial pressure of the component.

Pi = (ni/nt)pm Pm = total pressure.

Second Law Analysis Of Reacting System:
 The irreversibility [wasted work potential] “ I ” can be
determined as follows:

I =Tо Sge n

Tо = absolute temp. of the surroundings.

 The change in availability of a system during a

process is called reversible work “ Wrev. ” which
represents the maximum work which can be done
during a process.
Second Law Analysis Of Reacting
System(cont.):
 For combustion process neglecting K.E & P.E and
assuming that heat is transferred to the surrounding
[at To] only , the reversible work takes the following
form:

- - - - - -
Wrev. = Nr [hf + h – hо – Tо s]r – Np [hf + h – hо – Tо s]p

 If heat is transferred with a reservoir at Tr the value

Qr [1 – Tо/Tr] should be subtracted from Wо .
Second Law Analysis Of Reacting System(cont.):

 If both reactants and products are at the same

temperature as surroundings “Tо” then:

- -
Wrev. = Nr gor – Np gop
- - - - - -
= Nr[gf + gTо – gо]r – Np[gf + gTо – gо]p

о о
For elements at 25 c & 1 atm gf = 0
For the very special case Tp = Tr = Tо = 25оc
Second Law Analysis Of Reacting
System(cont.):

о
For elements at 25оc & 1 atm gf = 0

For the very special case Tp = Tr = Tо =

25оc

- -
Wrev. = ∑ Nr gfr - ∑ Np gfp
Second Law Analysis Of Reacting System(cont.):

 The second law analysis of the combustion

process indicates that for adiabatic combustion
the availability of hot combustion gases is less
than the availability of reactants , which means
that there is a lost work potentiol.

 In other words the 2nd law suggests that there

should be a less irreversible way of converting
chemical energy to work. [fuel cells]
 Thank you
Prof. Dr . Mahmoud A. El Kady