Training on

Technologies for Converting Waste Agricultural Biomass into

Energy
Organized by
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP DTIE IETC)
23-25 September, 2013
San Jose, Costa Rica

Basics of Combustion

Surya Prakash Chandak

Senior Programme Officer
International environmental Technology Centre
Division of Technology, Industry and Economics
Osaka, Japan
 BASICS OF COMBUSTION

Combustion
Generation of heat through rapid chemical reactions of
fuels is known as combustion
Products of Combustion
- CO2
- H2O
- NO2 Complete
Combustion
- SO2
- CO,
Incomplete
- HCs,
Combustion
- NOX, SOX, .
 BASICS OF COMBUSTION

Main parameters for proper combustion

- Temperature: To initiate and sustain combustion
- Turbulence: For proper mixing of fuel and air
- Time: Sufficient for complete combustion

3Ts : Time,
Temperature,
Turbulence
 BASICS OF COMBUSTION

Combustion
Flame of different fuels
 BASICS OF COMBUSTION

Combustion Reactions
During combustion, molecules undergo chemical
reactions.
The reactant atoms are rearranged to form new
combinations (oxidized).
The chemical reaction can be presented by reaction
equations.
However, reaction equations represent initial and final
results and do not indicate the actual path of the reaction,
which may involve many intermediate steps and
intermediate products.
This approach is similar to thermodynamics system
analysis, where only end states and not path mechanism
are used.
 BASICS OF COMBUSTION

Combustion Reactions

Types of combustion reactions:

- Exothermic: Heat is released
- Endothermic: Heat is absorbed
 BASICS OF COMBUSTION

Combustion Reactions
Exothermic
+3000
C + 4H + 4O Endothermic
Break two Form two C=O
O=O bonds
bonds
+2000 -1598 kJ/mol
++988
C kJ/mol
4H +
2O2 CO2 + 4H + 2O

Break four
+1000
C-H bonds
+ 1644 Form four O-H
kJ/mol bonds

0 CH4 + 2O2 (Reactants) -1836 kJ/mol

Net energy change
-802 kJ/mol
Exothermic gives off
CO2 + 2H2O
heat energy
-1000 (Products)
 BASICS OF COMBUSTION

Combustion Reactions
Some fundamental reactions of combustion:
C + O2 CO2 + 33.8 MJ/kg-C
2H2 + O2 2H2O + 121.0 MJ/kg-H
S + O2 SO2 + 9.3 MJ/kg-S
2C + O2 2CO + 10.2 MJ/kg-C
Note: Above equations are in accordance with
conservation of mass. For example consider the first
reaction:
- 1 kmol C + 1 kmol O2 1 kmol CO2, or
- 12 kg C + 32 kg O2 44 kg CO2, or
- 0 vol. C + 1 vol. O2 1 vol. CO2.
 BASICS OF COMBUSTION

Combustion Reactions
In fuels, the combustion reactions are more complex than
above:
In general, air is used in combustion than pure
oxygen
Fuels consists of many elements such as C, H, N, S, O
In addition to complete combustions, fuels undergo
incomplete combustions too.
Heat generation during combustion:
- Combustion reactions together with enthalpies
of components could be used to predict the net
heat generation.
- This needs identification of all the combustion
products.
 BASICS OF COMBUSTION

Composition of Air
On a molar (or volume) basis, dry air is composed of:
20.9% oxygen O2
78.1% nitrogen N2
0.9% CO2, Ar, He, Ne, H2, and others
A good approximation of this by molar or volume is: 21%
oxygen, 79% nitrogen
Thus, each mole of oxygen is accompanied 0.79/0.21 =
3.76 moles of nitrogen
 BASICS OF COMBUSTION

Composition of Air
At ordinary combustion temperatures, N2 is inert, but
nonetheless greatly affects the combustion process
because its abundance, and hence its enthalpy change,
plays a large part in determining the reaction
temperatures.
- This, in turn, affects the combustion chemistry.
- Also, at higher temperatures, N2 does react,
forming species such as oxides of nitrogen (NOx),
which are a significant pollutant.
 BASICS OF COMBUSTION

Stoichiometry and Air/Fuel Ratios

Oxidation all the elements or components in a fuel is known
as complete combustion or Stoichiometric Combustion.
The amounts of fuel and air taking part in a combustion
process are often expressed as the air to fuel ratio:
mair
AFR .
m fuel
Minimum amount of air (or oxygen) required to have a
complete combustion is represented by Stoichiometric Ratio
AFRstoich.
For a fuel CxHyOz
34.32 4 x y 2 z
AFRStoich .
12 x y 16 z
 BASICS OF COMBUSTION

Stoichiometry and Air/Fuel Ratios

Eg: Combustion of Methane
CH4 + 2(O2 + 79
/21N2 ) CO2 + 2H2O + 158
/21N2
Therefore, AFRStoich = (232 + 22879/21)/(12 + 41)
= 17.16
Fuel Phase AFRStoich
Very light fuel oil liquid 14.27
Light fuel oil liquid 14.06
Medium heavy fuel oil liquid 13.79
Heavy fuel oil liquid 13.46
Generic Biomass solid 5.88
Coal A solid 6.97
LPG (90 P : 10 B) gas 15.55
Carbon solid 11.44
 BASICS OF COMBUSTION

Stoichiometry and Air/Fuel Ratios

In order to obtain complete combustion, supply of excess
amount of air (or oxygen) is required in practice.
The amount of excess air required depends on the
properties of the fuel and the technology of the
combustion device.
Amount of excess air is usually represented by the
equivalence ratio, , or the lambda ratio :
 BASICS OF COMBUSTION

Stoichiometry and Air/Fuel Ratios

Eg:
Excess air %
Fuel Type of Furnace or Burners
by weight
Completely water-cooled furnace for slag-tap or dry-ash- 15 20
removal 15 - 40
Pulverized Coal
Partially water cooled furnace for dry-ash-removal

Crushed coal Cyclone furnace pressure or suction 10 - 15

Spreader stroker 30 60
Water-cooled vibrating grate stroker 30 60
Coal Chain-grate and traveling grate strokers 15 50
Underfeed stroker 20 - 50
Oil burners, register type 5 10
Fuel oil Multi-fuel burners and flat-flame 10 - 20
Acid sludge Cone and flat-plate-type burners, steam-atomized 10 - 15
Natural coke ovens and Register-type burners 5 10
refinery gas Multi-fuel burners 7 - 12
Blast furnace gas Intertube nozzle-type burners 15 - 18
Wood Dutch oven and Hofft-type 35 50
Bagasse All furnaces 25 - 35
Black liquor Recovery furnace for kraft and soda-pulping processes 5-7
 BASICS OF COMBUSTION

Combustion Reactions of Fuels

Complete combustion of hydrocarbons:
y 2x

CH y O x 1 O 2 3.76 N 2 CO 2 y H 2O 3.76 1 y 2 x N 2 Heat.
4 2 4

Incomplete combustion of hydrocarbons :

C x H y O z p O 2 3.76 N 2 CO H 2 CH 4 r NO X s O 2
CO 2 H 2 O 3.76 p N 2 Heat.
 BASICS OF COMBUSTION

Estimation of Heating Values

Eg: Methane:
CH4 + 2(O2 + 79
/21N2 ) CO2 + 2H2O + 158
/21N2
Enthalpies
CH4 : -4.667 MJ/kg; O2 : 0.0; N2 : 0.0
CO2 : -8.942 MJ/kg; H2O : -13.423 MJ/kg (Gas) / -15.866 MJ/kg
(Liquid)

(i) Net Calorafic Value

NCV = - (Hproducts Hreactants)/mass of CH4
= - [{-8.94244 + -13.423218} {-4.66716}]/16 =
50.125 MJ/kg

(ii) Gross Calorafic Value

GCV = - (Hproducts Hreactants)/mass of CH4
= - [{-8.94244 + -15.866218} {-4.66716}]/16 =