Combustion

a) Introduction
b) Types of Combustion
c) Combustion Stoichiometry
d) Three T’s of Combustion
e) Energy Efficiency Opportunities
f) The Chemistry of Coal Combustion
g) Coal Combustion Systems

QA 2
 Introduction
■ Combustion is the sequence
of exothermic chemical
reactions between a fuel and
an oxidant accompanied by
the production of heat and
conversion of chemical
species.

The release of heat can produce

light in the form of either glow
or a flame.

QA 3
 ■ Complete combustion is almost impossible to achieve.

■ As actual combustion reactions come to equilibrium, a

wide variety of major and minor species will be present,
such as carbon monoxide, hydrogen and even carbon
(soot or ash).

■ Additionally, any combustion at high temperatures in

atmospheric air, which is 78% N2, will also create small
amounts of several nitrogen oxides, commonly referred
to as NOx.

QA 4
 THE FIRE TRIANGLE

Oxygen Heat
FIRE

Fuel

QA 5
 Phases of Combustion
■ Pre-ignition
■ Ignition
■ Combustion
■ Extinction

QA 6
What Factors can Increase Heat
Transfer?
Types of Combustion
 Complete Combustion
■ In complete combustion, the reactant burns in
oxygen, producing a limited number of products.

■ When a hydrocarbon burns in oxygen, the

reaction will primarily yield carbon dioxide and
water.
When elements are burned, the products are primarily
the most common oxides.
■ Carbon will yield carbon dioxide, sulfur will yield sulfur
dioxide, and iron will yield iron(III) oxide.

QA 10
 Incomplete Combustion
■ Incomplete combustion will occur when there is
not enough oxygen to allow the fuel to react
completely to produce carbon dioxide and water.

■ It also happens when the combustion is

quenched by a heat sink, such as a solid surface
or flame trap.

QA 11
 Rapid combustion
■ Rapid combustion/explosion is a form of
combustion, otherwise known as a fire, in which
large amounts of heat and light energy are
released, which often results in a flame.

■ This is used in a form of machinery such as

internal combustion engines and in weapons.

QA 12
 Spontaneous combustion

Self heating (increase in temperature

due to exothermic internal reactions)

Thermal runaway (self heating which

rapidly accelerates to high
temperatures)

Ignition

QA 13
 Combustion in Turbulent Environment
■ Combustion resulting in a turbulent flame is mostly
used for industrial application (e.g. gas turbines,
gasoline engines, etc.) because the turbulence helps
the mixing process between the fuel and oxidizer.

Micro-combustion
■ Combustion processes which happen in very small
volumes are considered micro-combustion.

QA 14
 Combustion in Microgravity
Environment
■ Combustion processes behave differently in a
microgravity environment than in Earth-gravity
conditions due to the lack of buoyancy.

Flame in Earth’s Flame in Micro-Gravity

atmosphere
QA 15
 Combustion Stoichiometry

QA 16
 Combustion in Oxygen
⎛ m⎞ m
Cn H m + ⎜ n + ⎟O2 → nCO2 + H 2O
⎝ 4⎠ 2

1. Can you balance the above equation?

2. Write the reactions (balanced equations) for combustion of
methane and benzene in oxygen, respectively.

Answer:

CH 4 + 2O2 → CO2 + 2 H 2O

C6 H 6 + 7.5O2 → 6CO2 + 3H 2O

QA 17
 Combustion in Air
⎛ m⎞ m ⎛ m⎞
Cn H m + ⎜ n + ⎟(O2 + 3.78 N 2 ) → nCO2 + H 2O + 3.78⎜ n + ⎟ N 2
⎝ 4⎠ 2 ⎝ 4⎠

1. Can you balance the above equation?

2. Write the balanced chemical reactions for combustion of
methane and benzene in air, respectively.

Answer:

CH 4 + 2(O2 + 3.78 N 2 ) → CO2 + 2 H 2O + 7.56 N 2

C6 H 6 + 7.5(O2 + 3.78 N 2 ) → 6CO2 + 3H 2O + 28.35N 2

QA 18
 Combustion in Air (Cont.)
■ Nitrogen is considered to be a temperature reducing
diluter that must be present to obtain the oxygen required
for combustion.

■ Nitrogen reduces combustion efficiency by absorbing heat

from the combustion of fuels and diluting the flue gases.

■ 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.

QA 19
 Air-Fuel Ratio
■ Air-Fuel Ratio

■ Fuel-Air Ratio

■ Air-fuel Molal Ratio

QA 20
 Air-Fuel Ratio (Cont.)

■ Rich Mixture
More fuel than necessary

■ Lean Mixture
More air than necessary

Most combustion systems operate under lean

conditions. Why?

QA 21
 Formation of NOx in Combustion

■ Thermal NOx
Oxidation of atmospheric N2 at high temperatures
N 2 + O2 ↔ 2 NO
NO + 12 O2 ↔ NO2
Formation of thermal NOx is favorable at higher
temperature

■ Fuel NOx
Oxidation of nitrogen compounds contained in the fuel

QA 22
 Formation of CO in Combustion
■ Incomplete Combustion
■ Dissociation of CO2 at high temperature

CO2 ↔ CO + 12 O2

QA 23
 Three T’s of Combustion

QA 24
 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
3. Time, sufficient for complete combustion

QA 25
 (a) (b)

(c)

(a) Perfect, (b) Good &

(c) Incomplete
combustion

QA 26
 Energy Efficiency
Opportunities

QA 27
 Pre-heating of the Combustion Oil
■ The entire tank may be preheated.
In this form of bulk heating, steam coils are placed at
the bottom of the tank, which is fully insulated

■ The oil can be heated as it flows out with an

outflow heater.

QA 28
 Temperature control of Combustion
Oil
■ Thermostatic temperature control of the oil is
necessary to prevent overheating, especially
when oil flow is reduced or stopped.
The temperature at which oil can readily be pumped
depends on the grade of oil being handled.

■ Oil should never be stored at a temperature

above that necessary for pumping as this leads to
higher energy consumption.

QA 29
 The Chemistry of Coal
Combustion

QA 30
 Coal is burned in three ways:
1. As large pieces in a fixed bed or on a grate
2. As smaller or crushed pieces in a fluidized bed
3. As very fine particles in suspension

■ Particle size is found to be the most important

parameter with respect to the dominant reaction
mechanism and other thermal behavior (i.e., rate
of heating)

QA 31
 Combustion Process

1. As the coal particles are heated, moisture is driven

off the coal particles.
2. The coal particles undergo devolatilization and
release volatile organic constituents.
3. The volatile matter is combusted in the gas phase
(homogenous reaction).
This can occur prior to and simultaneously with step 4
4. Combustion of the char particles
A surface (heterogeneous) reaction

QA 32
 CHAR COMBUSTION

QA 33
 ■ Char combustion is a slow process and therefore
determines the time for complete combustion in a
furnace

■ The combustion of the char begins with

chemisorption of oxygen at active sites on char
surfaces. The decomposition of the resultant surface
oxides mainly generates carbon monoxide (CO)

■ Fresh reaction sites are continuously exposed as the

surface oxides are decomposed.

QA 34
 The combustion of char involves at least four carbon–
oxygen reactions

Along with the oxidation of non-carbon atoms

Which may be followed by

QA 35
 Coal Combustion Systems

QA 36
 The manner in which coal is burned and the devices
in which it is burned are primarily determined by:

■ The desired unit size or capacity (i.e., required

hourly steam production or electricity
generation)
&
■ Coal type and quality

QA 37
 Fixed-Bed Combustion

a) Overfeed

b) Underfeed

c) Crossfeed

QA 38
 Fluidized Bed Combustion
■ Circulating Fluidized Bed

■ Bubbling Fluidized Bed

QA 39
 References:
■ Thermal Equipment: Fuels and Combustion
■ Glassman, I. and R. A. Yetter, Combustion,
Elsevier Science USA. 2008
■ Miller, B. G., Coal Energy Systems, Elsevier
Academic Press. 2005
■ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combustion

QA 40