Lecture 6

Fuels

Department of Chemistry
Chemistry for Engineers | Gonzaga College of Science and Mathematics
University of Southern Mindanao
Lecture Outline

• Fuels
• Classification
• Energy Content
• Solid Fuels
• Wood, charcoal, peat
• Coal
• Formation
• Analysis
• Composition
• Classification by Rank
• Calorific Value/Heating Value
• HHV/LHV

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Fuels

• Fuel is a substance that produces heat when burned. Thus,

fuels necessarily contain one or more combustible elements:
carbon, hydrogen, sulfur, etc.

• To utilize the energy from the fuel in its most usable form, it is
required to transform the fuel from one state to another, i.e.
solid to liquid state, liquid to gaseous state. This is to convert
its chemical energy to some other form of energy.

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Classification of Fuels

(a) according to the

physical state –
solid, liquid, or gas

(b) according to the

mode of
procurement –
natural or
manufactured

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Energy Content of Fossil Fuels

Fossil Fuel Energy Content

Bituminous and anthracite coal 30.2 MJ/kg
Lignite and subbituminous coal 23.2 MJ/kg
Crude oil 38.5 MJ/L
Natural-gas liquids 25.2 MJ/L
Natural gas 38.4 MJ/m3

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SOLID FUELS
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Solid Fuels
ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES

• Easy to transport • High ash content

• Convenient to store without • Large heat losses
risk of spontaneous • Combustion cannot be easily
explosion controlled
• Low production cost
• Moderate ignition
temperature

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Wood

Wood has been one of the first fuels used – traditional biofuel.

However, at present, it is not an important industrial fuel.

Nevertheless, it is still used in some rural and underdeveloped
areas.

Typical higher heating values are 20 MJ/kg for oven-dried

hardwood and 20.9 MJ/kg for oven-dried softwood.

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Charcoal

Charcoal is the residue from the destructive distillation of wood.

It absorbs moisture readily, often containing as much as 10-15%
water.

The heating value of charcoal is about 27.9 to 30.2 MJ/kg.

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Peat

Peat is partially decomposed plant mater that has accumulated

in a water-saturated environment.

It is a precursor to coal but is not classified as coal. It was used

extensively as a fuel primarily in Ireland and the former Soviet
Union. In the United States, its main use is in horticulture and
agriculture.

Typical high-grade peat has 90% water, 3% fixed carbon, 5%

volatile matter, 1.5% ash, and 0.10% sulfur. The moisture-free
heating value is approximately 20.9 MJ/kg.
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Coal

Coal is the generic term applied to fossil fuels which range from
lignite (which is basically a matured or modified peat) to meta-
anthracite which is around 98% carbon).

Actions of heat, pressure, and other physical phenomena

metamorphosed the peat to various ranks of coal.

Because of the various degrees of metamorphic changes, coal

is not a uniform substance. No two coals are ever the same in
every respect.

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Possible route of coal formation

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Coal Composition

Ultimate Analysis Proximate Analysis

is the determination by is the determination by

prescribed methods of the ash, prescribed methods of
carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, moisture, volatile matter, fixed
sulfur, and oxygen carbon, and ash

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Coal Composition
• Moisture
• Moisture in coal consists of inherent moisture (aka equilibrium moisture) and
surface moisture. Free moisture is the moisture lost when coal is air-dried under
standard low-temperature conditions.

• Volatile matter
• It is the portion of coal which is liberated as gases and vapors when coal is heated
in the absence of air under prescribed conditions.

• Fixed carbon
• It is the residue left after the volatile matter is driven off.

• Ash
• It is the inorganic residue that is left when coal is burned. It is composed mainly of
compounds of silicon, aluminum, iron, and calcium, and; minor amounts of
compounds of magnesium, sodium, potassium, phosphorus, sulfur, and titanium.

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 Source:
American
Society for
Testing and
Materials
(ASTM)
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Heating Value or Calorific Value

Heating value or calorific value is the heat produced at

constant volume by the complete combustion of a unit quantity
of coal.

When determining the calorific value of fuel is determined,

hydrogen is converted into steam. Gross heating value or
higher heating value (HHV) includes the latent heat of
vaporization of water in the combustion products, i.e. water is
in the form of a liquid. That is, the products of combustion are
condensed to the room temperature thus the latent heat of
condensation of steam also gets included in the measured heat.
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Heating Value or Calorific Value

Otherwise, when the water is not condensed, i.e. is in the form

of a vapor, it is called the net heating value or lower heating
value (LHV). That is, when the water vapor and moisture are
not condensed and escape there is a lesser amount of heat
available.

Higher heating value, HHV/Gross calorific value, GCV

Lower heating value, LHV/Net calorific value, NCV

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Heating Value of Coal

The heating value of coal can be estimated within about 3% from the
Dulong formula (in Btu/lb):

/
!!" = 14,544( + 62,028 ! − + 4,0500
8
1!" = !!" − 92.04!
where C, H, O, and S are the weight fractions of carbon, hydrogen,
oxygen, and sulfur, respectively.
N.B.: 1 kJ/kg = 2.326 Btu/lb

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Example 6.1

Use the Dulong formula to calculate the higher heating value of

the coal sample with the analysis below:
Component Percent
C 71.0
H2 5.6
N2 1.6
Net S 2.7
Ash 6.1
O2 13.0
Total 100.0

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Example 6.2

Calculate the lower heating value of the coal sample from

Example 6.2:
Component Percent
C 71.0
H2 5.6
N2 1.6
Net S 2.7
Ash 6.1
O2 13.0
Total 100.0

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Example 6.3

Calculate the HHV and LHV of a coal

with the analysis: 80.00% C, 0.30% H,
0.50% O, 0.60% S, and 18.60% ash.

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Example 6.4

Which of the following coal samples will have a higher HHV?

% Component Coal A Coal B

C 80.0 85.0

H2 4.1 1.0

O2 8.2 3.0

N2 1.6 3.0

Ash 6.1 8.0

Total 100.0 100.0

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