Combustion of Fuel:

Calorific Value
Alliken Jett I. Ruallo, ME
College of Engineering
Combustion
Combustion is an exothermic chemical reaction, which is accompanied by
development of heat and light at a rapid rate, temperature rises
considerably.

For proper combustion, the substance must be brought to its kindling (or)
ignition temperature, which may be defined as the minimum temperature at
which the substance ignites and burns without further addition of heat from
outside.
Factors affecting the rate of combustion
1. The concentration of the fuel and air.
2. The nature of the combustible substance
3. The temperature
4. With increase in pressure or surface area of the fuel the rate of
combustion can be increased.
5. It increases with in increase in pressure of air.
6. It Increases with preheating of fuel and air.
Heating Value or Calorific Value
a. Higher Heating Value or Gross Calorific Value (HHV or GCV)- The
total heat generated when a unit quantity of fuel is completely burnt,
and the products of combustion are cooled to room temperature.

For example, when a fuel containing hydrogen is burnt, it undergoes

combustion and will be converted to steam. If the combustion
product is cooled to room temperature, the steam gets condensed
into water and the latent heat is evolved. Therefore, the latent heat
of combustion of condensation of ‘steam’ so liberated is included in
gross calorific value.
Heating Value or Calorific Value
b. Lower Heating Value or Net Calorific Value - The net heat
produced when a unit quantity of fuel is completely burnt, and the
products of combustion are allowed to escape.

is the heating value obtained when the water in the products of

combustion is in the vapor state
Higher Heating Value of Fuels
Lower Heating Value of Fuels
 Bomb Calorimeter
The calorific
value of a solid or
liquid fuel can be
determined by
using bomb
calorimeter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwJG2JVg6qM&ab_channel=MinistryofSteel
Sample Problem #1
Calculate the gross and net calorific value of a coal having the
following composition:
C = 80%, H2 = 8%, O2 = 8%, S = 2%, Ash = 2%
Sample Problem #1: Solution
Sample Problem #2
Calculate the gross and net calorific value of a coal in kCal/kg having
the following composition:
C = 63%
H2 = 19%
O2 = 3%
S = 13%
Ash = 2%
Sample Problem #2: Solution
Sample Problem #3
Calculate the gross calorific value (in kJ/kg, kCal/kg and Btu/lb) of a
liquid fuel having a specific gravity of 0.834.
Sample Problem #3: Solution
Sample Problem #4
Calculate the Gross Calorific Value of a coal sample from the following
data.
Weight of coal sample = 0.98 gram
Weight of water taken in the calorimeter = 2600 grams
Water equivalent of calorimeter = 368 grams
Latent heat of steam = 2454 kJ/kg
Specific Heat of water = 4.187 kJ/kg-K
Rise in temperature = 2.8 K
% of Hydrogen = 5.8
Sample Problem #4: Solution
Resource Page:
• Power Plant Engineering, 4th Ed., P.K. Nag
• Combustion Engineering, 2nd Ed. K.W. Ragland, K.M. Bryden
• Fundamentals of Combustion Processes, S. McAllister, J.Y.
Chen, A.C. Pello