Combustion

Source of energy
•We know that, in most of the world
today, wood is not the main source of
fuel.
•We generally use natural gas or oil in
our homes.
•We mainly use oil and coal to heat the
water to produce the steam to drive the
turbines for our huge power generation
systems.

•Coal, oil, and natural gas are often

referred to as fossil fuels.
3 Requirements:

 Combustible Material

Substance that supports

combustion ( oxygen)

Kindling Temperature
Combustion Reactions:
C + O2 → CO2

C + O2 → CO
H2 + O 2 → H2O
S + O2 → SO2
S + O2 → SO3
Types of Fuel:
• Gaseous Fuel
Methane, ethane, propane, etc.

The most environment friendly

• Liquid Fuel
Gasoline, kerosene, bunker
fuel, fuel oil, etc.

• Solid Fuel
Coal, wood, etc.
 air/oxygen

fuel combustion Stack /flue

chamber gas
C, H, O, N, S,
ash

Unburnt fuel, ash

 Gaseous/
Liquid Fuel air/oxygen

fuel combustion Stack /flue

chamber gas
Unburnt fuel
C, H, O, N
CO2
CO
O2
N2
Balance: H2O

C in fuel = C in unburnt fuel + C in CO2 + C in CO

H in fuel = H in unburnt fuel + H in H2O
O2in fuel + O2 in air = O2 in unburnt fuel + free O2 + O2 in H2O

N2in fuel + N2 in air = N2 in unburnt fuel + free N2

Analysis of Flue Gas
means to determine the
efficiency of the boiler
• Complete or Wet Analysis

water is reported and is part of

the % composition

• Dry or Orsat Analysis

water is not reported and is not part of
the % composition
 mole Wet Analysis Orsat( Dry)
Analysis
CO2 30 30% 33.33%
CO 10 10% 11.11%
O2 5 5% 5.56%
N2 45 45% 50.00%
H2O 10 10%
total 100
1. Ethane is burned with 50%
excess air. The percentage
conversion of ethane is 90%; Of
the ethane burned, 25% reacts to
form CO and the balance reacts to
form CO2. Calculate the molar
composition of the stack gas on a
dry basis and the mole ratio of
water to dry stack gas.
3. A mixture of 75% mole propane and 25% mole
hydrogen is burned with 25% excess air.
Fractional conversion of 90% of the propane and
85% of the hydrogen are achieved. Of the
propane that reacts, 95% reacts to form CO2 and
the balance reacts to form CO. (a) Calculate the
concentration of CO (in ppm) in the stack gas
3. A mixture of 75% mole propane and 25% mole
hydrogen is burned with 25% excess air.
Fractional conversion of 90% of the propane and
85% of the hydrogen are achieved. Of the
propane that reacts, 95% reacts to form CO2 and
the balance reacts to form CO. (a) Calculate the
concentration of CO (in ppm) in the stack gas
A liquid fuel analyzing 90% C and 10% H by weight
is burned with 20% excess air. Only 90% of the
carbon burns to CO2 and the rest to CO. Per 100 kg
of fuel used, find the flow velocity of the
combustion gases flowing through the stack 20cm
in diameter if it is at 200°C and 10 cm H2O draft.
A gas with the following composition is burned
with 50% excess air in a furnace: 60% CH4, 20%
C2H6, 5% CO, 5% O2 and 10% N2. What is the
composition of the flue gas by percent assuming
complete combustion? B. If 85% of the
carbons burns to form CO2 and the rest to CO,
what is the Orsat analysis of the flue gas?
 Assign

A fuel gas supplied at 25°C and 1000 mm Hg

analyzes 20% H2, 5% CO, 35% CH4, 10% C2H6, 20%
C3H8 and 10% N2. It is burned completely with 25%
excess air ( 755 mm Hg, 30°C). For every 100 m3 of
the fuel, calculate the volume of the flue gas (
800°C, 4 cm H2O draft) produced and the volume of
the air used.
Assign
Toluene is burned with 30% excess air.
A bad burner causes 15% of the carbon
to form soot (pure C) deposited on the
walls of the furnace. What is the Orsat
Analysis of the gases leaving the
furnace?
2. Pure carbon is burned in
oxygen. The flue gas analysis
is: 75% (n) CO2, 14% CO and
11% O2. What was the %
excess oxygen used
1. A hydrocarbon fuel is burned with
excess air. The Orsat analysis of the flue
gas shows 10.2% CO2, 1% CO, 8.4% O2 and
80.4% N2. Determine (a) atomic ratio of H
to C in the fuel (b) % excess air used.
4. The analysis of a flue gas from a fuel gas
containing no nitrogen is 4.62% CO2, 3.08%
CO, 8.91% O2 and 83.39% N2. Calculate a.
% excess air used b. If the fuel gas is a
mixture of methane and ethane, what is the
% of ethane in the fuel?
. Burning a fuel consisting only of carbon and
hydrogen results in gas analyzing 11.72%
CO2, 1.3% CO, 4.32% O2 and 82.66% N2.
From this data, determine (a) % excess air
used (b) empirical formula of the fuel.
A gas containing only CH4 and N2 is
burned with air yielding a flue gas that
has an Orsat Analysis of 8.7% CO2, 1%
CO, 3.8% O2 and 86.5% N2. Calculate
the % excess air used in the combustion
and the composition of the CH4 – N2
mixture.
A flare is used to convert unburned
gases to innocuous products such as
CO2 and H2O. If a gas of the following
composition is burned in the flare – 70%
CH4, 5% C3H8 15% O2 and 5% N2 – and
the flue gas contains 7.73% CO2, H2O ,
O2 and N2. what is the % excess air
used?
Ethylene oxide (C2H4O) is a high volume chemical intermediate that is used
to produce glycol and polyethylene glycol. Ethylene oxide is produced by
the partial oxidation of ethylene (C2H4) using a solid catalyst in a fixed-bed
reactor:
C2H4 + ½ O2 → C2H4O
In addition, a portion of the ethylene reacts completely to CO2 and H2O.
C2H4 + 3 O2 → 2 CO2 + 2 H2O
The product gas leaving a fixed-bed reactor has the following water free-
composition: 20.5% C2H4O, 72.7% N2, 2.3% O2 and 4.5% CO2. Determine
the % excess air used based on the desired reaction, and the lb/h of
ethylene feed required to produce 100,000 tons/yr of ethylene oxide.
 SOLID FUELS

air % by mole

% by mass % by mole

Furnace
Fuel (coal) Flue gas

Contains ash +
moisture
% by mass

Refuse (solid)
Ash + unburnt coal
Solid Fuel

A coal analyzing 65.4% , 5.3% H, 0.6% S, 1.1% N,

18.5% O and 9.1% ash is burned so that all
combustible is burnt out of the ash. The flue gas
analyzes 13% CO2, 0.76% CO, 6.17% O2, 0.87% H2,
and 79.2% N2. All of the sulfur burns to SO2, which is
included in the CO2 in the gas analysis ( CO2 + SO2 =
13%) Calculate:
a. pounds of coal fired per 100 lbmol of dry flue gas
analyzed
b. Ratio of moles of total combustion gases to moles
of dry air supplied
c. Total moles of water vapor in the stack gas per 100
lbs of coal if the entering air is dry
d. % excess air
 A local utility burns coal having the following composition on a dry
basis ( Note that the coal analysis below is a convenient one for
our calculations, but is not necessarily the only type of analysis
that is reported for coal. Some analyses contain much less
information about each element)
Component Percent
C 83.05
H 4.45
O 3.36
N 1.08
S 0.70
ash 7.36

The average Orsat analysis of the gas from the stack during a 24-
hour test was Moisture in the fuel 3.9% and the air on
Component Percent the average contained 0.0408lb
CO2 + SO2 15.04 water/pound dry air. The refuse showed
CO 0 14% unburned coal with the remainder
O2 4 being ash. What is the % excess air
N2 80.6 used?