AER129

Combustion Techniques
Prerequisite SubjectsThermodynamics, Chemical
kinetics, Fluid dynamics, Heat &
mass transfer , Turbulence

COMBUSTION TECHNIQUES

So far in your professional academic

span
you
have
gone
through
THERMODYNAMICS, PROPULSION and
HEAT TRANSFER courses which deal
with the flow / transformation of heat
energy but never explained in detail
how this heat energy is being
generated.
This course deals how HEAT is
generated both quantitatively and
qualitatively from a given quantity of

Introduction to Combustion
Combustion is as old as civilization. Fire is one of the greatest
discovery of man.
Fire was established artificially for the first time around 30,000
years back. It is believed that Indians were first to recognize the
efficacy of the fire even in ancient Vedic era.as it is described
profusely in Vedas.
most of the modern technological development have emanated
from the discovery of fire.
Modern civilization is built upon the combustion of fuels both for
heat and electrical power.
The knowledge of combustion is very relevant today due to the
stringent emission regulation and scarcity of fossil fuels.
Aircraft are entirely powered by on-board fuel burning, and
most of the ground vehicles are engine powered.

What is Combustion Reaction?

Chemical reaction
that involves oxygen
and produces
energy so rapidly
that flames are
created.

Identifying Combustion
Reactions
A combustion reaction is a reaction in
which one of the reactants is oxygen.
The other reactant is usually a
hydrocarbon.
The products are either complete or
incomplete.

Simple Combustion Experiment

Combustion reactions require oxygen. When a
candle burns, it uses oxygen from the air. Without
the oxygen, the flame will not burn.
A candle burns in oxygen. One product is water.
You can see the moisture forming on the inside of
the beaker from the flame.
The carbon dioxide formed in the products puts
out the flame.

Why does a flame burn upwards?

REASON
1.A flame goes up because the denser surrounding air pushes it
up. A flame consists of gases so hot they glow yellow, orange,
and red. Hot gases expand and become less dense than the
surrounding air. Therefore, the flame is lighter than an equal
volume of air.
2. However, in a micro gravity environment, there is no reason
for the heavier air to fall down and rush into the place of the
lighter air. So the flame just remains a spherical blob as you
would imagine.
3.If the parcel contains light hot air from a flame, then gravity's
pull is less than the buoyant push. That's why fire goes up.

Candle flame structure

Downside issues of
combustion

What is combustion?
The process of establishing self sustained fire using fuel
and oxidizer in a controlled manner..
A chemical process in which fuel is burnt in the presence
of oxidizer producing heat and light.
Combustion is a self sustained chemical process in which
heat is liberated due to overall exothermic chemical
reaction.
It is a complex sequence of chemical reactions b/w fuel
and oxidizer accompanied by liberation of heat and light.
(Combustion Devices) Examples :LPG Burner
,Furnace, Candle flame I.C.Engines ,Gas turbine
Engines, Rocket Engines. etc

Can the process of rusting be called

combustion?
Answer:
The process of rusting also involves
oxidation but it cannot be termed as
combustion. The reason for this is that
combustion is defined as a process in
which oxidation is accompanied by
heat and heat is not produced during
rusting.

Types of combustion
1.In a complete combustion reaction
you have an efficient conversion from
reactants to products. For example, in
a hydrocarbon combustion, you get
CO2 and H2O, very clean.
2.In an incomplete combustion it is
messy. You may have ash, soot or
other partly combusted materials left
over. Also, you may get CO instead of

Combustion triangle

Essential conditions for combustion to

occur
1.Presence of fuel.
2.Presence of oxidizer
3.They must be in right proportions.
4.The proportion will be dictated by flammability limit.
5.Ignition energy.
Ignition
Energy

Combustion

Fuel

Oxidizer

Application of combustion
Power Plants
Chemical Industries
Domestic Burner
Automobiles
IC Engines, Incinerator, Boiler, Furnace,
gas turbine engine, Rocket engine, Power
generation, micro combustor , Pulse
detonation engine ,Fires, Wankel engine,

What is Fuel /Oxidizer

As fuel and oxidizer are of utmost importance in
combustion.
Chemically we can define an oxidizer as one which accepts
the electrons.in contrast the fuel can be defined as one which
donates electrons.
This property of elements ability to accept or donate the
electrons is known as electronegativity which indicates
whether an element can be classified as a fuel or an oxidizer.
The amount of pull that one atom exerts on the electron that
it is sharing with other atom.

Types of Fuels and Oxidizer

Fuels/Oxidizer Types

Gaseous

Liquid

Solid

Gaseous Fuel and Oxidizer

why gaseous fuels are preferred over liquid and solid fuels?
Easier to control emissions. Because they do not contain any mineral
impurities.
Easier to burn for high efficiency.
Gas handling systems is less expense.
Commonly used gaseous fuels :CNG , LPG, Biogas, Producer gas,
Coke oven gas, Acetylene , Methane, Hydrogen and Propane

Crude oil

LPG
Motor gasoline
Kerosene
Petrochemical feeds
Cole,war,Misc

Refinery gas
Aviation gasolinr
Diesel and heating
fuel
Lubes,greases
Crude & gas losses

Naptha
Jet fuels
Residual fuel oils
Asphalt,road oil

 HEAT OF COMBUSTION/REACTION
Energy released in form of heat when substance
undergoes the complete combustion in presence
of oxygen at standard conditions. SI Unit - kJ
Qv At const. volume
QP At const pressure
HEATING VALUE
It is the heat energy released when unit quantity
of fuel is combusted initially at 25C completely
with oxygen and products are returned to 25C. .
SI Unit kJ/kg

 Heating value is of two kind

1. Lower heating value
It is amount of heat released
when water formed in product side
is in gaseous form.
2. Higher heating value
It is amount of heat released
when water formed in product side
is condensed.

Constituents of solid fuel:

1. Carbon
2. Hydrogen
3. Ash
4. Nitrogen
5. Oxygen
6. Sulphur & water

Types of solid Fuels & Oxidizers

Various combustion modes

Combustion
Flameless
mode

Flame
mode
Premixed
flame

Diffusion
flame

Mild
combustio
n

Smoulderi
ng

Scope of combustion

Thermodynamics of combustion

Thermodynamics is the study of

transformations of energy
System and surroundings
the system is the part of the world in which we
have a special interest. A system has definite
boundaries
the surroundings is everything outside the
boundaries

Classification of systems:
An open system can exchange matter as well as
energy with its surroundings
a closed system can exchange energy with its
surroundings. No transfer of matter across the
boundaries is possible
an isolated system can exchange neither energy
nor matter with its surroundings

MULTI COMPONENT
MIXTURES
A system can be called as multicomponent mixtures when more than
two substances or gases are present
irrespective of their existence state.

PROPERTIES OF MIXTURES
Mass estimation
The mass of mixture is simply an algebraic
sum of individual species present in a
mixture.
m= mi
i

&

=
i

Where m - mass of mixture

i - no. of species present in mixture

 Mass fraction (yi)

Mass fraction of an individual species
in a mixture is a ratio of its own mass
(mi ) to mixture mass(m).
yi = m i / m = i /
yi = 1

 Mole fraction ( xi )
Mole fraction of an individual species
is the ratio of no. of moles of
individual species to total no. of
moles present in a mixture.
xi = N i / N = n i / n
ni = 1
*No. of moles is also known as molar

 Molecular weight (M)

Molecular weight is the ratio of the
mass of mixture to no. of moles or
molar concentration (N).
M= mi / N = xi Mi
i

Mi Molecular weight of individual

species IN
mixture

 Volume estimation
The volume occupied by mixture of
ideal gases is the sum of volumes
occupied by an individual species if
each
existed
alone
at
given
temperature and pressure .
V= xi V = Vi
i

 Pressure estimation
The pressure exerted by a mixture of
an ideal gases is the sum of the
partial pressures exerted by an
individual species if each existed
alone at given temperature and
pressure .
P= xi P = Pi
i

Mixture mass and Molecular weight

are different
Suppose in a mixture at a given
volume there are 5 parts of carbon
dioxide i.e. 5CO2 than its mass in
mixture is given as
C- 12 , O-16
(12 + 16 x 2)x 5 = 220 kg-mixture
mass
220/5 = 44 kg/kg mol molecular
weight

Relation b/w mole fraction (xi)and

mass fraction (yi)
xi = Ni / N = (mi / Mi )
But yi = mi / m
xi = Myi / Mi

(m / M)

 Internal Energy (u) and Enthalpy (h)

estimation per unit mass.
u = yi ui
i

h = yi hi
i

ui & hi are internal energy and enthalpy

per unit mass for individual species

 Internal Energy (u) and Enthalpy (h)

estimation per mole of mixture.
u = y i ui
i

h = y i hi
i

ui & hi are internal energy and enthalpy

per mole for individual species .

Question
Is ideal gas law valid for practical
combustion problems?
Ans :yes
Reason : Combustion involves high
temperature, resulting in low density

Stoichiometry is the relationship b/w the mass of the reactants and

the product of the chemical reaction.
Stoichiometric A/F ratio for
Methane -17.11
Higher hydrocarbons
(Propane , Butane , kerosene , diesel , gasoline, ATF, Hexadecane)-15
When the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio is not used ,another useful quantity
known as equivalence ratio is very often in combustion process.
=(A/F)Stoic/(A/F)
=1 (stoichiometric ratio)
<1(fuel lean mixture)
>1(fuel rich mixture)
% of stoichiometric air =(100%)/()
Per cent excess air
% excess air=(1-)/() x 100

COMBUSTION
STOICHIOMETRY
Lets
consider
the
simple
thermodynamic chemical equation
H2 + 0.5 O2 H2O
i.e. 2 atoms of hydrogen and 1 atom
of oxygen to form 1 molecule of
water.
But in the above reaction it is seen
that its pure oxygen which in
practical is not possible.

 Its the air that reacts with hydrogen to

give water.
This air comprises of 79% of N 2 and 21%
of O2 approximately excluding the traces
of remaining gases.
The above statement means that in 3.76
moles of N2 there is 1 mole of O2 .

 Hence the eqn becomes

H2 + a(O2 + 3.76 N2) b H2O + 3.76 a N2
Where
a- no. of moles of air
b- no.of moles of water
The widely accepted approximate molecular
weight of air is 29.0 Kg/kg mol

PROBLEM
H2 + a(O2 + 3.76 N2) b H2O +
3.76 a N2
For the above stoichiometric reaction
at 1 atm pressure determine the fuel
to air ratio (f),mass of fuel per mass
of reactants and partial pressure of
water vapour.

H2 + a(O2 + 3.76 N2) b H2O + 3.76 a

N2
Balancing the H,
2 = 2b, b=1
Balancing the O,
2a = b, a = 0.5
Hence,

 Molecular weight of air is 29.0 kg/kg mol

Mass of air involved in the reaction
no. of moles of air by mass = 0.5(1+ 3.76)
= 2.38 kg
mol
mass of air = 29 x 2.38 = 69.02 kg
f = mf / ma = 2 / 69.02 = 0.029

Mass of fuel per mass of

reactants

Here the fuel is H2

mf / ( m a + m f )
= f / (1+f)
= 0.029 / 1.029
= 0.0282

PARTIAL PRESSURE
Partial pressure water vapour (pH2O) &
no. of moles of H2O (xH2O) is gives as

moles of water / moles of products

xH2O = 1 / 2.88 = 0.347
pH2O = xH2O p= 0.347p = 0.347 atm
(T>75C)

A small, low emission ,stationary

engine operates at full load(3950kW)
at an equivalence ratio of 0.286 with
an air flow rate of 15.9kg/s. The
equivalent composition of fuel(natural
gas) is C1.16H4.32 .Determine the fuel
mass flow rate and the operating air
fuel ratio for the engine.

Adiabatic flame
temperature
The temperature of the products in an adiabatic combustion of fuel without
applying any shaft work, is defined as the Adiabatic Flame Temperature.
In a combustion process the heat produced during the exothermic
chemical reaction is released to their product and the temperature of the
products is raised.
There is no possibility for dissipation of the heat to the surrounding and
the process will be adiabatic as there is no heat loss to the surrounding. As
a result, the temperature of the products suddenly increases and it
produces a flame.
This will heat up the product gases in flame region and the temperature
rise will be maximum.
This highest temperature is known as the adiabatic flame temperature.
There are two type of adiabatic flame temperature: constant pressure
adiabatic flame temperature and constant volume adiabatic flame
temperature.

 The temperature rise depends on the amount of

excess air used or the air-fuel ratio.
The flame temperature has the highest value for
using pure oxygen gas and it decreases by using
air.
So, the exact stoichiometric air is to be supplied
for better result. With too large amount of excess
air the flame temperature will be reduced.
When the heat lose to the environment or diluted
by the inert gases and there is an incomplete
combustion. So, the temperature of the products
will be less.
The flame temperature is determined from the
energy balance of the reaction at equilibrium.

Adiabatic flame
temperature
Adiabatic flame temperature
depends on initial pressure, initial
temperature , reactant composition.
First law of thermodynamics for an
adiabatic process with no shaft
work,K.E,P.E
then SFEE becomes
HP( Tad, P) = HR(Ti, P)