B.

E I Year II Semester Engineering Chemistry-II (Common for all branches)

UNIT-IV: CHEMICAL FUELS

1. What are Chemical fuels? Classify them with examples.
Chemical Fuels:
A chemical fuel is defined as any combustible substance used to produce heat by
combustion.
Classification of fuels:

2. Define (i) Ignition temperature (ii) Calorific value:

Ignition temperature: It is defined as “the minimum temperature to which the fuel must be
pre-heated so that it starts burning smoothly”.
Calorific value: It is defined as “the total quantity of heat liberated, when a unit mass or volume
of a fuel is burnt completely” in air or oxygen.
3. What are HCV & LCV and give their relationship.
i. Higher calorific value or Gross calorific value:
It is defined as the total amount of heat liberated; when unit mass or unit volume of the fuel
has been burnt completely and the products of combustion are cooled down to room
temperature. Measured heat includes latent heat of water vapour produced.
ii. Lower calorific value or Net calorific value:
It is defined as “the net heat produced, when unit mass or unit volume of the fuel is burnt
completely and the combustion products are allowed to escape.
Net calorific value = Gross calorific value– Latent heat of water vapour formed
LCV or NCV = HCV – Latent heat of water vapour formed
LCV = HCV – x 587 cal/g (Latent heat of steam is 587 cal/g. )
Where, H is the percentage of hydrogen.
4. What are the characteristics of a good fuel:
A good fuel should satisfy the following requirements:
i. It should have a high calorific value.
ii. An ideal fuel should have moderate ignition temperature.
iii. Its moisture content should be low.
iv. Low volatile matter content.
v. It should not produce harmful products like CO2, SO2, H2S and other poisonous gases
on combustion since they pollute the atmosphere.
vi. A fuel should have low content of non-combustible matter.
vii. It should be economical and easily available.
viii. In case of solid fuel, the size should be uniform.

5. Explain the proximate analysis of coal.

Proximate analysis:

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 B.E I Year II Semester Engineering Chemistry-II (Common for all branches)

Proximate analysis involves determination of moisture, volatile matter, ash and fixed
carbon present in the given coal sample. Proximate analysis is easy, quicker and it gives
clear idea of quality of coal.
i. Determination of Moisture:
A known weight (about 1 gm) of finely powdered air-dried coal sample is taken in a
crucible without lid. It is heated at 1050C to 1100C for 1 hour in electric oven. After
one hour crucible is taken out, cooled in desiccator and weighed. Loss in weight is
reported as moisture.
Percentage of moisture x 100
Significance of moisture:
Lesser the moisture content; better the quality of coal as a fuel.
ii. Determination of Volatile Matter:
A known weight of dried sample is taken in a crucible and it is fitted with a lid. It is
heated at 925 + 200C in an electric furnace or muffle furnace for exactly 7 minutes.
The crucible is taken out from muffle furnace after 7 minutes of heating, cooled first
in air, then in desiccator and weighed. Loss in weight is reported as volatile matter.
Percentage of volatile matter x100
Significance of Volatile Matter:
Highly volatile matter is undesirable in coal since a large portion of which escapes
un-burnt. Hence, Lesser the volatile matter, better the quality of the coal.
iii. Determination of Ash:
The residual coal sample left over in the crucible is heated without lid at 700 + 50 0C
for ½ hour in. The crucible is taken out, cooled first in air, then in desiccator and
weighed. Heating, cooling and weighing is repeated, till a constant weight is
obtained. The weight of residue is reported as ash.
Percentage of Ash x 100
Significance of ash:
Ash is a useless, non-combustible matter, which reduces the calorific value of coal.
Therefore, lesser the ash content, better the quality of coal.
iv. Fixed carbon:
Percentage of fixed carbon = 100 - % of (Moisture + Volatile matter + ash)
Significance of carbon:
Higher the percentage of fixed carbon, better the quality of coal and higher calorific
value.Hence, high percentage of fixed carbon is highly desirable.
6. Explain ultimate analysis of coal.
Ultimate analysis:
Ultimate analysis is also known as elemental analysis that involves determination of
chemical constituents such as carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, sulphur and oxygen, ash , etc.
present in the coal. It gives an idea of air quantities required for combustion and volume,
composition of combustion products and helps for calculating heat balances in any process
for which coal is employed as fuel.
1. Determination of Carbon and Hydrogen:
A known weight of coal sample is burnt in dry oxygen in a combustion apparatus. C and H of
the coal are converted into CO2 and H2O respectively. CO2 and H2O formed will be absorbed
in KOH and CaCl2 tubes of known weights respectively.
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B.E I Year II Semester Engineering Chemistry-II (Common for all branches)

C + O2 --------> CO2 2KOH + CO2 -----> K2CO3 + H2O

H2 + ½ O2 ---------> H2O CaCl2 + 7 H2O ---------> CaCl2.7H2O
Increase in the weight of KOH tube represents weight of CO2 formed. Increase in the weight
of CaCl2 tube represents weight of water formed
Percentage of C

Percentage of H
Significance of Carbon and Hydrogen:
Greater the percentage of carbon and hydrogen better is the coal in quality and calorific value.
However, hydrogen is mostly associated with the volatile mater and hence, it affects the use to
which the coal is put.
2. Determination of Nitrogen:
1 gram of accurately weighed powdered coal is digested in conc. H 2SO4 in Kjeldahl’s flask
and heated. It is treated with excess of KOH when the solution becomes clear. Liberated
ammonia is distilled over and absorbed in a known volume of standard solution of acid. The
unused acid is determined by back titration with standard solution of NaOH.

From the volume of acid consumed by liberated ammonia, the percentage of N in coal is
determined as,
Percentage of N
Significance of Nitrogen:
Nitrogen does not contribute towards calorific value and hence, its presence in coal is undesirable.
Thus, a good quality coal should have very little Nitrogen content.
3. Determination of Sulphur:
A known amount of coal is burnt completely in bomb calorimeter in a current of oxygen ,by
which sulphur present in a coal is oxidised into Sulphates. The ash from the bomb
calorimeter is extracted with dil.HCl. The acid extract is then treated with barium chloride
solution to precipitate as Barium-sulphate. The precipitate of BaSO4 is filtered, washed
,dried and heated to constant weight.

Percentage of S =
Significance of Sulphur:
Though, sulphur contributes to the calorific value of a coal its presence in coal is
undesirable. Its oxidised products like SO2, SO3, in the presence of moisture cause corrosion
of equipment and pollution. Presence of sulphur is highly undesirable in coal which is used
in steel making because it badly affects the quality and properties of iron and steel.

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B.E I Year II Semester Engineering Chemistry-II (Common for all branches)

4. Determination of Ash:
The known weight of coal in a crucible is heated without lid in a muffle furnace at 700+50 0C
for ½ hour. The crucible is taken out, cooled first in air, then in desiccator and weighed.
Heating, cooling and weighing is repeated till a constant weight is obtained. The residue left
over in the crucible is reported as ash %.
Thus,
Percentage of Ash x 100
Significance of ash:
Ash is a useless, non-combustible matter, which reduces the calorific value of coal.
Moreover, ash causes the hindrance to the flow of air and heat, thereby lowering the
temperature. It also forms clinkers which cause obstruction to air supply. Therefore, lesser
the ash content, better the quality of coal.
5. Determination of Oxygen:
It is determined indirectly by subtracting the sum of percentages of carbon, hydrogen,
nitrogen, sulphur and ash from 100.
Percentage of Oxygen = 100 – percentage of (C + H + S + N + Ash)

Significance of Oxygen:
Oxygen content decreases the calorific value of coal. Moreover, oxygen is a combined form
with hydrogen in coal thus decreases the calorific value of coal. Therefore, Hydrogen
available for combustion is lesser than actual one. An increase in 1% oxygen content
decreases the calorific value by about 1.7% and hence, oxygen is undesirable. Thus, a good
quality coal should have low percentage of oxygen.

Theoretical calculation of calorific value of a fuel by Dulong’s formula:

Cal/g or Kcal/kg
Where, C = % of carbon, H = % of hydrogen, S = % of sulphur, O= % of oxygen.
Problems based on Dulong’s formula:
1. A sample of coal has the following composition:
Carbon = 83%; hydrogen = 7.5%; sulphur = 1.5%; nitrogen = 0.6%; oxygen = 8.4%
find the gross calorific value using Dulong Formula.

Solution:
Cal/g or Kcal/kg
Cal/g or Kcal/kg
Cal/g or Kcal/kg
= 8965.25 Kcal/g
2. Calculate the gross and net calorific value of coal having the following composition:
Carbon = 80%; hydrogen = 7%; sulphur = 3.5%; nitrogen = 2.1%; ash = 4.4%; Latent
heat of steam = 587 Kcal/Kg [Ans. (i) 8828.02 Kcal/Kg; (ii) 8458.21 Kcal /Kg]
Numerical Problems based on air quantities required for combustion:
1. A fuel is found to contain: C = 90%; H = 3.5%; S = 0.5%; H2O = 1.0%; N = 0.5% and
ash = rest. Calculate the minimum amount of air required for complete combustion
of 1 Kg of fuel. [Ans. 11.6739 Kg]

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B.E I Year II Semester Engineering Chemistry-II (Common for all branches)

2. A sample of coal is found to contain: C = 81%; H = 5.0%; S = 1%; O = 8.0%; N = 1% and

ash = 4%. Calculate the amount of air required for complete combustion of 1 Kg of
fuel. Oxygen in air is 23% by weight.
[Ans. (i) 10.826 kg

3. Calculate the volume of air (Volume % of oxygen in air = 21) required for the
complete combustion of one litre of CO. [Ans. 2.381 L]

4. Calculate the volume of air required for the complete combustion of 1 m3 of

gaseous fuel having the composition: CO = 46%; CH4 = 10%; H2 = 40%; C2H2 = 2.0%;
N2 = 1.0% and remaining being CO2. [Ans. 3.238m3]
LIQUID FUELS:
What is petroleum? How Petroleum is refined?
Petroleum/Crude oil: Petroleum is a naturally occurring flammable liquid consisting of a
complex mixture of hydrocarbons with small quantities of organic compounds containing
oxygen, nitrogen and sulphur. It is a fossil fuel formed, when large quantities of dead
organisms, usually zooplankton and algae, are buried underneath sedimentary rock and
subjected to intense heat and pressure over several millions of year. Petroleum is collected
mostly through oil drilling.
Composition of Petroleum as follows,
C=80-87% , H=11.1 - 15% , S=0.1-3.5% , O = 0.1-0.9% and N =0.4-0.9%
Refining of petroleum or Crude oil
The crude oil is separated into various fractions having different boiling points by fractional
distillation. The fractions are finally converted into desired products by removing
objectionable impurities. This process is called refining of crude oil or petroleum. The plants
set up for this purpose are called oil refineries.
1. Removal of water (Cottrell’s process):
The crude emulsion is passed through highly charged electrodes where the
colloidal water droplets coalesce and separate out from crude oil.
2. Removal of sulphur compounds:
The crude which is free from water is passed over copper oxide where the
sulphur present in crude oil gets precipitated as copper sulphide which is
separated by filtration.
3. Fractional distillation:
Heating of crude oil at around 4000C in an iron retort produces hot vapours
which are allowed to pass through a fractionating column. Fractionating
column is a tall cylindrical tower containing a number of horizontal stainless
trays at short distances and is provided with small chimney covered with
loose cap. As the vapours go up, the vapours get cooled gradually and
fractional condensation takes place. Higher boiling fractions condense first
and lower boiling fractions in turns.

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B.E I Year II Semester Engineering Chemistry-II (Common for all branches)

Write a brief note on (i) Gasoline (ii) kerosene (iii) diesel:

Property/ Fraction Gasoline Kerosene Diesel

Boiling range of 40 to 1200C 180 to 2500C 250 to 3200C
fraction
Approx.Carbon C5-C8 C10-C15 C15-C18
chain length
Calorific Value 11,250kcal/kg 11,100 kcal/kg 11,000 kcal/kg
Specific Gravity 0.71 – 0.77 0.75 - 0.85. 0.86 - 0.95
Uses As fuel for IC As a fuel for domestic As a fuel in diesel
engines, as a purposes, Jet engine engines.
solvent, used in fuel, for preparing
dry-cleaning. laboratory gas.

What is cracking? Explain moving bed catalytic cracking .

Cracking and its significance:
Cracking is defined as “the decomposition of higher boiling fractions of hydrocarbons having
high molecular weight into low boiling fractions of hydrocarbons having low molecular
weight”

Gasoline has the highest demand as a motor fuel but the yield of this fraction is only 20 % of
the crude oil and the quality of the gasoline obtained from crude is also not so good. Hence
it is used only after suitable blending. Moreover, there is a surplus of heavier petroleum
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B.E I Year II Semester Engineering Chemistry-II (Common for all branches)

fractions. Therefore, middle and heavier fractions are subjected to cracking to more
valuable low boiling fractions.
Moving Bed Catalytic Cracking:
In moving bed catalytic cracking, the feed oil is first passed through a pre-heater. The pre-
heated oil vapours along with very finely powdered catalyst like aluminium Silicate Al2(SiO3)3
or Alumina (Al2O3) , are then passed in a reactor which is maintained at 500˚C for catalytic
cracking. The cracked oil vapours are then passed to the fractionating column through a
centrifugal separator, called cyclone which allows only the cracked oil vapours, but retains
the catalyst powder in the reactor, where heavy oil is separated. The vapours are then
passed through the cooler, where gasoline condenses along with some gases and is then
sent to a stabilizer to remove the dissolved gases and pure gasoline is recovered.
The catalyst powder gradually becomes heavier, due to the coating with carbon and settles
to the bottom from where it is forced by an air blower to regenerator (maintained at
600˚C).In regenerator, carbon is burnt and the regenerated catalyst then flows through
stand-pipe for mixing with fresh batch of the incoming cracking oil. At the top of the
regenerator, there is a separator, which permits only gases (CO2 etc) to pass out, but holds
back the catalyst.

Write a brief note on (i) Knocking (ii) Octane Number (iii) Cetane Number
“A sharp metallic /rattling sound produced in an internal combustion engine due to improper
ignition of air and fuel mixture is called knocking”.
Generally, in petrol engine knocking is due to pre-ignition where as in diesel engine knocking
is due to ignition delay.
Knocking depends on i) Engine design (ii) Running conditions of engine (iii) chemical
structure of hydrocarbons.
Knocking tendency decreases in the order,
n-alkanes > Branched chain alkanes > Cyclo alkanes > alkenes > Aromatics
Consequences of knocking, (i) Decreased output (ii) Mechanical damage by overheating of
the cylinder parts.
Octane Number/ Octane rating:
n- Heptane knocks very badly; its anti-knocking value is fixed as zero. Iso-octane

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B.E I Year II Semester Engineering Chemistry-II (Common for all branches)

(2, 2, 4 - trimethyl pentane) gives little knocking, its anti-knocking value is fixed as 100.

Octane number of a gasoline is defined as “the % of iso – octane in mixture of iso- octane
and n-heptane which has same knocking characteristics with the gasoline under test.
E.g., 60 – octane fuel is one which has the same knocking characteristics as 60:40 mixture
of iso-octane and n-heptane respectively.
Higher the octane number better is the quality of gasoline.

Cetane Number /Cetane Value:

n- Hexadecane (Cetane) knocks very little, its anti-knocking value is fixed as 100 and
2-methyl naphthalene knocks very badly, and its anti-knocking value is fixed as 0.

Cetane number is defined as “the % of hexadecane in a mixture of Cetane and 2-methyl

naphthalene which has the same ignition properties as the diesel fuel under test”.
E.g., 55 – cetane fuel is the one which has the same knocking characteristics as 55:45
mixture of cetane and 2-methyla naphthalene respectively.
Higher the Cetane number, greater is the resistance to knocking.

What is Bio diesel? Explain transesterification.

Bio diesel
Biodiesel is alternative diesel fuel which is mainly produced from a vegetable oil or animal
oils /fats and waste cooking oil.
The Largest possible source of suitable oil comes from oil crops such as rape seed, palm, and
soybean.
Most of the biodiesel at present is produced from waste vegetable oil sourced from
restaurants, chip shops and industrial food producers.
Concept of Transesterfication:
Transesterfication is “the process of conversion of vegetable oils/animal oils /fats into
biodiesel”.

E.g.; Triglycerides (1) reacts with alcohols (2) to give alkyl esters (3) of a fatty acid and
glycerol (4)

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B.E I Year II Semester Engineering Chemistry-II (Common for all branches)

Base catalyzed transesterfication predominantly is used for production of biodiesel.

Advantages:

1. Biodiesel has better lubricating properties and much higher cetane ratings.
2. Biodiesel has very good lubricating properties, significantly better than standard
diesel which can prolong engine's life.
3. Biodiesel has shorter ignition delay compared to standard diesel.
4. Biodiesel has no or less sulphur content.
5. Biodiesel can be easily blended with standard diesel, and it can be used in most of
today's vehicles.
6. Bio-diesel is a source of renewable source of energy.
Write a brief note on (i) LPG (ii) CNG
LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas)
It is obtained as a by-product during cracking of heavy oils. Since LPG is normally odourless,
small amounts of a pungent gas such as ethanethiols are added to help people smell
potentially dangerous gas leaks.
Main constituents: n-butane, iso butane, propane, butylene and propylene.
Calorific Value: 27,800 Kcal/m3
Uses: LPG is mostly used as domestic fuel for heating and cooking, it is used as fuel for cars and also
for industry.
CNG (Compressed Natural Gas):
It is a natural gas compressed to high temperature.
Composition: Methane (CH4) = 70 -90%, Ethylene (C2H2) = 5-10% , H2 =3% & Rest = CO + CO2
Calorific Value: 12,000 – 14000 Kcal/m3
Uses: Mainly used as automobile fuel, as a domestic fuel.
What are advantages and disadvantages of solid , liquid and gaseous fuels?
Advantages, disadvantages of solid ,liquid and gaseous fuels:

S.No Property Solid fuels Liquid fuels Gaseous fuels

1. Calorific Value Low Higher Highest

2. Specific gravity Highest Medium Lowest

3. Ignition point High Low Lowest

4. Efficiency Poor Good Best

5. Air required for High and excess Less excess of air Slight excess of air
combustion of air

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B.E I Year II Semester Engineering Chemistry-II (Common for all branches)

6. Use in I.C. engine Cannot be used Already in use Can be used

7 Mode of supply Cannot be Can be piped Can be piped

piped

8 Space for storage Large 50 % less than solid Very high space
fuels

9 Relative cost Cheaper Costly More costly than the two

10 Care in storage and Less care is Care is necessary Great care is required
transport taken

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