Department of Petrochemical Engineering

College Of Technical Engineering

University Of Polytechnic-Duhok

Subject: petroleum refinery

Report Number: 2

Group number : B

Title: smoke point

Reporter Name: Waleed Adnan Tahir

Date Of Submits: 27/10/2020

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Observation
HK 1036 manual smoke point tester for kerosene conforms to the ASTM D 1322
standard test method for smoke point of kerosene. Under the prescribed
conditions, the sample burn in the standard lamp. The change of the fiery height
is reflected in the background of the mm graduation ruler, rising the lamp wick to
the position of flame with smoke, then reducing to the point of smoke tail just
disappeared. This point namely to be the smoke point of the sample.

 First we measured the smoke point of (20ml) kerosene sample

 Second we measured the smoke point of mixture (10ml) kerosene and (5ml)
water.

 Third we measured the smoke point of mixture (10ml) kerosene and (5ml)
diesel.

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Result and calculation
In this experiment we have to record the height of the flame, when we raise the
candle until a smoky tail appears then lower the flame slowly until the smoky tail
disappears, To eliminate errors due to parallax, the eye of the observer shall be
slightly to one side of the centerline, so that a reflected image of the flame is seen
on the scale on one side of the central vertical white line. We have recorded the
following records:
For kerosene:
We putted (20ml) of kerosene in candle
The smoke point of kerosene sample is 25.5mm

For kerosene and water:

We putted (10ml) of kerosene and (5ml) of water in candle
The smoke point of kerosene and water sample is 27mm

For kerosene and diesel:

We putted (10ml) of kerosene and (5ml) of diesel in candle
The smoke point of kerosene and diesel sample is 25mm

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 Discussion
1. Compare between the results of the three samples and discuss the
reasons the cause this different?
In this experiment we have used three different samples, they are
(Kerosene), (Kerosene and Water) and (Kerosene and Diesel).
for kerosene we have got 25.5 mm smoke point thus low smoking
tendency, this values due to the low aromatic contents of kerosene
compared with lower distillation fractions (Gas oil , Diesel , light gas oil and
heavy gas oil), the higher the paraffinic contents the higher the smoke point
and lower smoking tendency, and the inversely is correct.

And for Kerosene and Water we recorded 27mm smoke point which is
higher than smoke point of kerosene sample, this different is due to the
mixing of kerosene and water will separate the immiscible liquids into two
distinct layers depending on their densities. The heavier liquid forms the
lower layer while the lighter one forms the upper layer. Kerosene has lower
density than water and hence forms the upper layer.

For Kerosene and Diesel we recorded 25mm smoke point, which is lower
than the smoke point of kerosene and Kerosene and Water, this different
due to the higher aromatic contents of the (Diesel) which effect on the
smoke point, as (Diesel) has low smoke point it will have higher smoking
tendency than (kerosene).
From this comparison we can conclude that smoking tendency is increase
with the increase of carbon atoms of petroleum fraction (increasing of
aromaticity), so the first product of distillation tower will have the lowest
smoking tendency, and the last product of distillation tower will have the
highest smoking tendency. Also for products that are similar with carbon
atoms number and vary in number of hydrogen atoms like pure benzene
(C6H6) and cyclohexene (C6H12) , the ratio of carbons atoms to hydrogen
atoms C/H define the smoking tendency of them, if the ratio C/H increased
smoking tendency will increase and smoke point will decrease, and the
inversely is correct.

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2. What are factors that affect measurement of smoke point?
Factors that affect measurement can be the conditions that of the
experiment, first of all the apparatus of smoke point lamp should be
calibrated and adjusted carefully to be used, and the experiment should be
done on straight place and should not be inclined, the wick type also effect
on the accuracy of the this test, so we have to use specific wick (wick of
woven solid circular cotton) for this test to get accuracy results, also it
should be done in a place with absence of air currents, the watching angel
also affect the measurement of this experiment.
3. Why do we measure the smoke point of kerosene?
Smoke point is been measured for different purposes, some of them:
a) For Designing purpose: many apparatus that we use in daily life use the
fuel to produce a flame that we use it for various acts, like cooking, heating
burning and lighting, determining the smoke point is important for this area
of designing, so designers can make apparatus with high quality and
efficiency to use, and don’t give off smoke while being use. For example
lamp that we use for lighting, if you increases the wick up it will give off
smoke of it.
b) For quality purpose: as we know that kerosene produced from different
refineries has different kerosene qualities, kerosene quality is being defined
from the kerosene properties like (density , specific gravity , flash point ,
smoke point, cloud point, freezing point , etc… ) , so determining smoke
point of kerosene one of the important properties that should be defined
to classify the kerosene quality.
c) For safety and environmental purpose: when the kerosene burns with a
smoky flame inside a closed room, it will produce toxic gases that may hurts
human health and cause diseases, also it smoke will damage the
environment.
4.Which hydrocarbons burns with more smoke? And why?
Aromatic compounds burns with more smoke, because it contain more
carbons and heavy fractions that burns with smoke, while paraffinic
compounds burn with less smoke because it contain less carbons in it. The
higher the aromatic contents the higher smoking tendency, while the
higher paraffinic contents the lower smoking tendency.

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 Conclusion
The smoke point is determined as the height of the flame (in millimeters)
produced by this oil in the wick of a stove or a lamp without forming any
smoke. The greater the smoke point, the better the burning quality.
Domestic kerosene should have a smoke point of 20 mm (minimum). This is
measured in a standard testing apparatus consisting of a standard lamp
with a wick of specified dimension and mass. In this apparatus, a mirror is
provided to position the flame in the center such that the straight height of
the flame can be measured in a graduated scale. Smoke is produced mainly
due to the presence of carbon and heavy hydrocarbon particles in the flue
gas. The presence of aromatic hydrocarbons contributes carbon atoms
when burnt. In the refinery, aromatic hydrocarbons are removed by
extraction to a desirable extent so that the smoke point becomes greater or
near 20 mm.