MEC551

MEC551
THERMAL
THERMAL ENGINEERING
ENGINEERING
5.0 Combustion
Processes

CHAPTER OUTLINE
1. Fuels, mass balance, combustion
equations, stoichiometric and nonstoichiometric analysis.
2. Application on the 1st law to combustion
process and enthalpy of combustion.

Properties of mixture
Combustion process involves mixture of
components.
Mixture substances that has 2 or more
components in forming (air).
Each component have their own properties
mole, mole fractions, molecular weight, gas
constant etc.

Mole and Mass Fraction

Mole fraction, y is described as;

Ni
yi
Nm

i individual component
m mixture

Mass fraction, mf is defined as;

mi
mf i
mm

N i number of moles

m mass
i individual component
m mixture

Total number of molecules & mass = summation of each

individual component.
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Mole and Mass Fraction

Molecular weight of mixture;

m
M
N

N M y M
N
i

The mixture gas constant;

R
R
M

8.314kJ / kmol.K

Ideal Gas Law for mixtures

Dalton model = total pressure / partial pressure

Amagats Law = additive volume mixture
For a mixture as a whole;

Pi N i RT / V N i

P N RT / V N
Pi Vi
Ni
yi

Pm Vm N m
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Combustion
Theory
Definition = A chemical reaction during which a fuel is
oxidized and a large of energy is released. A microscopic
process to convert stored chemical energy into useful
heat energy.
Primary element; Fuel, Oxygen (air) and Heat.
Fuel
Any material that releases energy when oxidized, consist
hydrocarbon, exists in all phases.
Common hydrocarbon fuels; gasoline (C8H18 octane),
diesel (C12H26 dodecane), methane (CH4), LPG, etc
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Combustion
Oxygen (air)

Dry air consists of 20.9% O2, 78.1% N2, 0.9% argon and other gases.

Each mole O2, it is accompanied by 0.79/0.21 = 3.76 mol of N 2

At ordinary combustion temp (<1400 0C) nitrogen does not react

(inert gas), >14000C = form NOx.

Complete combustion product = CO2, H2O, and N2

Incomplete combustion produce = CO, CH4, unburned C, NOX, OH,

H2 and particulars.

Air also contain water vapor, at low temperature ideal gas, At high
temperature break into H2, O2, H and OH.

Hydrogen will complete burn producing H2O.

Combustion
Heat
lgnition temperatures of various fuels at atmospheric air

Combustion
Combustion Equation

For a complete combustion process, the products are already well known
ie. CO2 , H2O and N2 (if applicable)
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Combustion
Incomplete combustion;

Set the number of moles of fuel equal to 1.

Assume (or fix) the possible substances in the products.

Write down known mole numbers ie. fuel, air, certain products.

Set the unknown mole numbers with letters, ie. a, b, c, x, y etc.

Balance CO2 , CO, and unburned C with the number of C from the
fuel.

Balance H2O, OH and H2 with H from the fuel.

Balance 02 from the other component Each mole O2, it is

accompanied by 0.79/0.21 = 3.76 mol of N2
If air is used instead of concentrated oxygen in the reactant, than 1
mole of oxygen in the air will be accompanied by 3.76 mole of nitrogen

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Combustion
Air-Fuel Ratio;

Set the number of moles of fuel equal to 1.

AF ratio is a ratio to quantify the amount of air and fuel that exists
in the combustion process. It is expressed in a mass basis.

Where m=NxM (N=number of moles ; M=molar mass).

Equivalence ratio;

Applied to measure the amount of air actually supplied to the

combustion process.
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Combustion
(Example 14-1)

Determine the AF ratio for 1 kmol of octane burned

with air containing 20 kmol of 02, assuming complete
combustion and excess oxygen exists in the products.
Ans : 24.2 kg air/kg fuel

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Combustion
Stoichiometric (Theoretical) air;

The minimum required air for complete combustion to occur.

When a fuel is burned with stoichiometric air, no unburned fuel and

free oxygen exists, ie.
CH4 + 2(O2 + 3.76N2) ----> CO2+ 2H2O + 7.52N2

In actual practice, combustion processes uses more air than

stoichiometric to increases the combustion efficiency as well as a
temperature control procedure.

Excess air is the term used when combustion air is supplied greater
than stoichiometric air.
0% excess air is equal to 100% stoichiometric air.
50% excess air is equal to 150% stoichiometric air.
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Combustion

lf combustion air is supplied less than stoichiometric, it is termed as

air deficiency or starved air.
10% starved air is equal to 90% stoichiometric air.

Air deficiency is mostly practiced in industries where a solid fuel is

converted into gaseous fuels, with minimum heat generation from
the chemical process. For example, coal can be utilized as a solid
fuel in steam engines. The process will require supply of excess
combustion air to gain maximum heat by complete combustion.
However, coal can also be gasified to form methane. In this process,
the combustion air supplied must be less than stoichiometric so that
methane can be formed.
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Combustion
Analyzing Combustion Products;

Theoretically, to achieve complete combustion requires the supply of

excess air.

Actual cases even the supply of excess air fails to ensure complete
combustion occurs. lt is almost impossible to predict the exact
composition of composition products on the basis of mass
conservation alone.

In practice, products of combustion are analyzed using gas

analyzers located downstream from the main combustion chamber.
These gas analyzers operates using Orsat gas analysis, where
chemical compounds are used to absorb certain gas compositions
and measures their volumes

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Combustion
Effect of Moisture in Combustion Air;

lf dry air is used as combustion air, than its chemical composition

can be written as ath(O2 + 3.76N2).

lf the moisture content is significant (high humidity), the it should

be considered in the combustion process ath(O2 + 3.76N2) + Nv,air
(H2O).

where the number of moles of moisture can be determined from

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Combustion
(Example 14-2)

Ethane (C2H6) is burned with 20percent excess air during a

combustion process. Assuming complete combustion and a
total pressure of 100kPa, determine;
i)
ii)

The air fuel ratio

The dew point temperature of the products.

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Combustion
(Example 14-3)

A certain natural gas has the following volumetric

analysis; 72% CH4, 9% H2, 14% N2, 2% O2 and 3percent CO2.
This gas is now burned with stoichiometric amount of air that
enters the combustion chamber at 200C, 1atm, and 80%
relative humidity. Assuming complete combustion and a
total pressure of 1atm, determine;
i)

The dew point temperature of the products.

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Combustion
(Example 14-4)

Octane (C8H18) is burned with dry air. The volumetric

Analysis of the products on a dry basis is
10.02% CO2, 5.62% O2, 0.88% CO, 83.48% N2
Determine;
i) The air-fuel ratio
ii) The percentage of theoretical air used
iii) The amount of H2O that condenses as the products are
cooled to 250C at 100kPa.
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Combustion
Energy Analysis of Combustion Processes ;
Thermodynamics point of view, the amount of heat energy
released during a combustion process is the important
aspect to study.
Basically the heat energy released from a combustion
process comes from the chemical energy contain in the
fuel.

In energy analysis, standard reference defined at 25 oC and

1atm. The property value at the standard reference state is
written as ho, so and uo
Enthalpy of reaction, hg = difference between enthalpy of
the products at a specified state and the enthalpy of
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reactants at the same state in complete combustion.

Combustion

Enthalpy of combustion, hc = the amount of heat released

during a steady flow of combustion process when 1kmol
fuel burn completely at specified pressure & temperature.
Hc = HProduct - Hreactant

In energy analysis, standard reference defined at 25oC

and 1atm. The property value at the standard reference
state is written as ho, so and uo
Enthalpy of formation, hf = the enthalpy of a substance at
a specified state due to its chemical composition.
Q = hc = Hprod Hreactant = (Nphf)p - (Nrhf)r
Normally, N2 and O2 consider as stable elements, thus
their enthalpy of formation consider to be zero.
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Combustion

In actual combustion process, the temperatures of the

reactants and products are NOT at standard reference
state. Then, the heat value of the reactants or products at
elevated temperature states can be written by

And enthalpy of combution; Hc = HProduct - Hreactant ; where

hT = the sensible enthalpy at specified state, h = the
sensible enthalpy at the standard reference state of 25oC
and 1atm.

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Combustion
(Example 14-5 & 14-6)

1)

Determine the enthalpy of combustion of liquid octane

(C8H18) at 250C and 1 atm. Assuming the water in the
products is in the liquid form.

2)

Liquid propane (C3H8) enters a combustion chamber at

250C at a rate of 0.05kg/min where it is mixed and
burned with 50% excess air that enters the combustion
chamber at 70C. An analysis of the combustion gases
reveals that all the hydrogen in the fuel burns to H 2O
(gas) but only 90% of the carbon burns to CO2, with
remaining 10% forming CO. If the exit temperature of
the combustion gases is 1500K, determine;
a) the mass flow rate of air.
b) the rate of heat transfer from the combustion
chamber (heat of formation C3H8 = -118910kJ/kmol)
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