Process Safety News Winter 2012 Fauske.Com p.

10
An Oxygen Bomb Cal or i met er has recent l y been
acqui red by Fauske & Associ at es i n order t o di ver si f y
our t est i ng capabi l i t i es. Wi t h a f ew smal l modi f i cat i ons,
t he t est met hod i s per f or med t o compl y wi t h ASTM
I nt er nat i onal St andard D240, Standard Test Method
f or Heat of Combusti on of Li qui d Hydrocarbon Fuel s by
Bomb Cal ori metr y. Thi s st andard i s t he basi s f or t he
al l owed preci si on and bi as of our t est i ng. Anot her
pot ent i al HOC st andard i s ASTM I nt er nat i onal St andard
D4809, Standard Test Method f or Heat of Combusti on of
Li qui d Hydrocarbon Fuel s by Bomb Cal ori meter ( Preci si on
Method) , whi ch cal l s f or more preci se mass and
t emper at ure measurement s and reagent qual i t y wat er.
For bot h met hods, t he heat capaci t y f or t he syst em
i s det er mi ned usi ng a st andard ref erence mat er i al f or
whi ch t he heat of combust i on i s known and has been
previ ousl y ver i f i ed. Benzoi c aci d i s t he i ndust r i al
st andard t ypi cal l y used f or oxygen bomb cal or i met r y
and was used f or FAI s st andardi zat i on procedures.
Tabl e 1 shows t he heat capaci t y of t he oxygen bomb
syst em and repeat abi l i t y of t he heat capaci t y af t er 10
st andardi zat i on t est r uns.
Heat Capacity (cal/
o
C) Standard Deviation (cal/
o
C) Relative St. Dev. (%)
2429.2 9.25 0.38
The procedures f or bot h ASTM D240 and D4809 are ver y
si mi l ar. The chemi cal i s wei ghed and pl aced i nsi de t he
bomb react or, whi ch i s submerged i nt o a pre- measured
quant i t y of wat er. A hi gh degree of repeat abi l i t y i n
t he quant i t y of wat er used bet ween exper i ment s i s
ver y i mpor t ant i n order t o mai nt ai n a hi gh degree of
preci si on and l ow bi as. The bomb react or i s charged
wi t h oxygen and t hen i gni t i on i s i ni t i at ed vi a a f use
wi re.
The measured t emper at ure r i se of t he wat er f rom t he
oxi dat i on react i on can be used i n combi nat i on wi t h t he
heat capaci t y of t he syst em t o det er mi ne t he heat of
combust i on f or t he chemi cal of i nt erest . The accur acy
of t he exper i ment al t est met hod and t he val ues i t
gener at es has al so been val i dat ed agai nst ot her
chemi cal s wi t h known heat s of combust i on. Met hanol ,
et hanol and t er t - but anol were chosen as t he t hree
chemi cal s t o be t est ed f or val i dat i on of t he appar at us
and t est met hodol ogy. Each t est was per f or med i n
t r i pl i cat e t o provi de a basel i ne st at i st i cal er ror and
st andard devi at i on measurement . Tabl e 2 compares
t he exper i ment al and l i t er at ure val ues f or t he heat of
combust i on of t hese t hree chemi cal s.
Cont i nued on page 11
The heat of combust i on f or a chemi cal
i s def i ned as t he heat rel eased when
t hat chemi cal undergoes compl et e
combust i on wi t h oxygen at st andard
condi t i ons, t ypi cal l y 1 at mosphere
of pressure and 20 C. The heat
of combust i on can be measured
exper i ment al l y t hrough a f ew di f f erent
l abor at or y equi pment ar r angement s.
One such set up i s an Oxygen Bomb
Cal or i met er, shown i n Fi gure 1, whi ch can
be used t o det er mi ne t he Hi gher Heat i ng
Val ue ( HHV) heat of combust i on f or any
sol i d or l i qui d sampl e.
The HHV i s det er mi ned by cool i ng t he
react i on product s down t o t he st ar t i ng
t emper at ure, t ypi cal l y around 20 C.
Heat of combust i on i s an i mpor t ant t est
f or anyone concer ned wi t h t he energy
cont ent of a sol i d or l i qui d, i ncl udi ng
f uel s ( par t i cul ar l y f or use i n wei ght -
l i mi t i ng cr af t such as ai rcr af t and
hydrof oi l s) , combust i bl e wast es, f ood
i t ems and f eeds. The heat of combust i on
val ue i s al so i mpor t ant f or det er mi ni ng
t he t her mal ef f i ci ency of equi pment f or
produci ng power or heat . The t heoret i cal
heat rel eased i s compared wi t h t he
del i vered power or heat , gi vi ng t he user
t he ef f i ci ency of t hei r equi pment .
Introducing:
Heat of Combustion
(HOC) Testing
By: Tom Johnson
Flammability Testing Engineer,
Fauske & Associates, LLC
Figure 1: Oxygen Bomb Calorimeter Schematic
Table 1: System Heat Capacity and Accuracy