Combustion

𝐹𝑢𝑒𝑙 + 𝐴𝑖𝑟 → 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑠 + 𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑡

𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑠

If fuel composition is known, some questions are considered:

1. What is the minimum quantity of air (Theoretical or stoichiometric) required for
complete combustion and what are the species of the product?
2. If excess air is used what will occur to the combustion product?
3. If dry (flue gas) analysis of the product is known what is the quantity of air used?
4. What is the heat of reaction?
5. What are the higher heating (Calorific) value (HHV) and the lower heating value
(LHV)?
6. What is the maximum (adiabatic flame) temperature of this reaction?
7. At high temperature, if dissociation occurs what will the composition of the
product?
8. What is the rate of this reaction?
9. What are the pollutants of this reaction? etc…………,
 STOICHIOMETRY
Combustion reactions are essentially oxidation of fuels. The most common oxidizer used is air, though in recent
years, combustion in pure oxygen (oxyfuel combustion) or combustion in environments. The overall or global
chemical reaction for a fuel with molecular formula CxHy can be expressed as:

( )
The above equation implies that 1 mole of the fuel requires x +y/4 moles of O2 for complete combustion to
produce x moles of CO2 and y/2 moles of H2O.
For fuels containing oxygen, like alcohols, part of the oxygen requirement is supplied by the fuel itself. Thus, the
global reaction can be expressed as:

In air, oxygen constitutes 21% on a molar (or equivalently volume) basis. Thus, with every mole of O2, 79/ 21 = 3.76
moles of N2 are present. Although this nitrogen does not take part in the chemical reaction during oxidation of fuel,
this additional mass alters the physical properties like temperature and mole fraction and needs be included in the
chemical reaction. Thus, above equation can be modified to:
 Stoichiometric Molar fuel/air ratio Stoichiometric Mass fuel/air ratio
1 12𝑥 + 𝑦 + 16𝑧
𝐹/𝐴|𝑠,𝑚𝑜𝑙 = 𝑦 𝑧 𝐹/𝐴|𝑠,𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 =
4.76 𝑥 + 4 − 2 𝑦 𝑧
𝑥+ − 32 + 3.76 28
4 2

• Stoichiometric = exactly correct ratio for complete combustion

A fuel-air mixture containing excess air is known as a lean mixture; that containing excess fuel is
known as a rich mixture. Thus, the air-fuel ratio for a lean mixture is higher and that for a rich mixture
is lower than the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio.

Equivalence ratio (f) and relative air fuel ratio (l)

• Equivalence ratio = f = F/A|act/F/A|stoic

• relative air fuel ratio (l) = A/F|act/A/F|stoic
• Summary % Excess air
• If f = 1 , l =1: Stoichiometric
• If f > 1, l < 1: Fuel Rich
• If f < 1, l > 1: Fuel Lean
For lean mixtures, the product will contain some oxygen due to the presence of excess air. For a
lean mixture with an equivalence ratio (f<1) the chemical reaction can be expressed as:

For rich mixtures (f >1), on the other hand, the oxygen (or air) supplied is inadequate for
complete oxidation of the fuel to CO2 and H2O. Instead, partially oxidized products like CO, H2
or even C may form. The chemical reaction may be expressed as:
• Example
Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) can be considered as a mixture of 40% propane and
60% butane on a volumetric basis. Calculate the mass of air required per kg of fuel if
the gas is to be burned at an equivalence ratio of 0.8. Also calculate the composition
of the products of combustion on a dry volumetric basis.
• Example 2
• The products of combustion of a saturated aliphatic (paraffin) hydrocarbon
fuel of unknown composition have 8% CO2, 0.9% CO, 8.8% O2 and 82.3% N2
measured on volumetric dry air basis. Calculate the actual air-fuel ratio,
composition of the fuel and the % theoretical air.
Flammability Limits
• The flammability limits are often measured at ambient pressure using a
tube with a spark plug at one end.
• Two limits are referred to as the rich and the lean flammability limits
(RFL and LFL respectively), and they are often expressed as fuel
percentage by volume in the mixture.
• For hydrocarbon fuel , the mixture at the RFL contains about twice the
amount of fuel compared to stoichiometric conditions. At the LFL, the
mixture contains about half of the fuel as at stoichiometric.
• When the temperature and pressure change, the flammability limits will
also change because they affect the rate of the reaction.