09‐09‐2022

ADIABATIC FLAME TEMPERATURE

CALCULATIONS

Adiabatic Flame Temperature : The final temperature

that can be achieved from combustion of fuel. The temperature can be
maximum for those systems where the combustion is complete and
the system is adiabatic.

The AFT depends on

1. The Fuel (s)

2. The chemical Composition of the reactant mixture
3. The Pressure and Temperature of the reactant Mixture
4. The constraints on the system such as constant
pressure or constant volume

Factors affecting the flame temperature

1. Fuels with different hydrogen to carbon ratios produce

different flame temperatures.
2. The reactants composition (lean, Rich or correct) varies the
flame temperature
3. Fuel oxygen mixtures produce higher temperature than fuel
air mixtures with an equivalent oxygen content.
4. A higher initial temperature of the reactant mixture before
combustion increases the flame temperature.
5. Constant volume combustion is much higher than that at
constant pressure
6. The reactant pressure can also affect the flame temperature

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Condition for the AFT

For Constant Volume Combustion Process

    
Qv  N1 ΔuCO N2 ΔuCO2  N3 Δu H2O  N4 Δu N2  N5 ΔuO2
Or

Qv  ΣNi Δui [Where, i = 1,2,3,4,5 ]

Qv  U rp  281600  N 1

  
Where, Δ u i  u i [T]  u i [298]

Condition for the AFT

For Constant Pressure Combustion Process

    
Qp  N1 ΔhCO N2 ΔhCO2  N3 Δh H2O  N4 Δh N2  N5 ΔhO2
Or

Qp  ΣNi Δhi [Where, i = 1,2,3,4,5 ]

Q p   H rp  282800  N 1
  
Where, Δ hi  h i [T]  hi [298]

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Calculation of Adiabatic Flame Temperature

(from Newton- Raphson Method)

For Constant Volume Combustion Process


We know that Qv  ΣNi Δui [Where, i = 1,2,3,4,5 ]

  

Σ  N i ui T   N i ui 298  Qv  0
 

T New  T Assumed 
U T   U 298   Q 
p p v
__
C v T 

TNew  TAssumed 
U T   U T   Q 
p p r v
Where, Tr –
__ Reactant
C v T  Temperature

The Specific Internal Energy “u” of the products can be calculated as

For the range “400K ≤ T ≤ 1600 K”

__
u [T]  AL  BL - R  T  CL ln [T]

For the Range “1600K ≤ T ≤ 6000 K”

__
u [T]  AH  BH - R  T  CH ln [T]

The heat Capacity “Cv “ can be calculated as

__
CL
For 400 ≤ T ≤ 1600 K C v [T]  BL - R  
T
__
CH
For 1600 ≤ T ≤ 6000 K C v [T]  BH - R  
T

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 09‐09‐2022

Calculation of Adiabatic Flame Temperature

from Newton- Raphson Method

For Constant Pressure Combustion Process


We know that Qp  ΣNi Δhi [Where, i = 1,2,3,4,5 ]

  

Σ  N i hi T   Ni hi 298  Qp  0
 

T New  T Assumed 
H T   H 298   Q 
p p p
__
C p T 

TNew  TAssumed 
H T   H T   Q 
p p r p Where,
__ Tr – Reactant
C p T  Temp

The Specific Enthalpy “h” of the products can be calculated as

For the range “400K ≤ T ≤ 1600 K”

__
h [T]  AL  BL  T  CL ln [T]

For the Range “1600K ≤ T ≤ 6000 K”

__
h [T]  AH  BH  T  CH ln [T]

The heat Capacity “Cp “ can be calculated as

__
CL
For 400 ≤ T ≤ 1600 K C p [T]  BL 
T
__
CH
For 1600 ≤ T ≤ 6000 K C p [T]  BH 
T

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 09‐09‐2022

Problem 1: Compute the flame temperature when a chemically correct

mixture of liquid C8H18 and air initially at 400K and 1 atm burns at
constant volume

The reactant mixture is C8 H18  Ycc O2  3.76Ycc N 2

Where, Ycc is the chemically correct air to fuel ratio

Here, Nmc = 8 ; NmH2 = 18 ; NmO2 = 0

Therefore, Ycc  Nmc  0.25 NmH 2  0.5 NmO 2

 8  0.25 18  0.5  0  12.5
Thus the reactant mixture is,

C8 H18  12.5O2  47 N 2  aCO2  bH 2O  47 N 2

 18
a=α=8 b  9
2 2

Now the mole numbers for the products are

1. N1 – No of Moles for CO = 0
2. N2– No of Moles for CO2 = 8
3. N3 – No of Moles for H2O = 9
4. N4 – No of Moles for N2 = 47
5. N5 – No of Moles for O2 = 0

We know that Qv  U rp  N CO  281600

From the Tables of thermodynamic properties
Urp for C8H18 is – 5058960kJ/kmol

As NCO = 0 Qv  5058960 kJ/kmol [Liquid fuel with gaseous products ]

Between 400 -1600 K the value of up can be calculated by

__
u p [T]  AL  BL - R  T  CL ln [T]

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The values of AL, BL and CL can be taken from Tables

As N1 = 0 and N5 = 0

U p [400]  N AL
CO2  BL - R  T  CL ln [T]  
N H2O  AL  BL - R  T  CL ln [T]  
N N2  AL  BL - R  T  CL ln [T]  

 8  56835  66.27 - 8.314  400 - 11624 ln [400]  

9  88923  49.36 - 8.314  400  7940 .8 ln [400]  
47  31317  37.46 - 8.314  400  4559 . 3 ln [400] 

 1338331 kJ

Now let us assume the flame temperature as T = 3000K

For the temperature between 1600 to 6000 K

U p [T]  N CO2AH  BH - R  T  CH ln [T]  

N H2O  AH  BH - R  T  CH ln [T]  
N N2  AH  BH - R  T  CH ln [T]  

 8  93048  68.58 - 8.314  3000 - 16979 ln [3000]  

9  154670  60.43 - 8.314  3000  19212 ln [3000]  
47  44639  39.32 - 8.314  3000  6753 ln [3000] 
 6446774 .07 kJ

The heat capacity Cv [T] can be calculated from

CL Where B = BL for 400 to 1600 K and

C v [T]  B - R  
T = BH for 1600 to 6000 K

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Therefore,
 CH 
C v [T]  N CO 2  BH - 8.314  
 T  CO 2

 CH   N BH - 8.314   CH 
N H 2O BH - 8.314   N2 
 T  H 2O  T  N 2

 16979 
 8  68.58 - 8.314  
 3000  CO 2

 19212   6753.4 
9 60.43 - 8.314     47 39.32 - 8.314  
 3000  H 2O  3000  N 2

 2199 .74 kJ / K

Now the new flame temperature is

T New  T Assumed 
U T   U T   Q 
p p r v
__
C v T 

 3000 
6446774 .07  1338331 .3  5058960 
2199 .74

 2977 . 5 K

As the value of the TNew is not within ± 5K of the previous T, Second iteration
must be done to find the true temperature TNew . A number of iterations must
be made until the difference between the Tnew and TAssumed is within ± 5K