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1. Calculating the Heat of Combustion for Natural Gas.................................................................................... 1
Bibliografa........................................................................................................................................................ 4

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Documento 1 de 1

Calculating the Heat of Combustion for Natural Gas

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Resumen: Heats of reaction are usually (but not always!) calculated or listed for mole amounts at 25C, then
converted to Hcomb on a mass or volume basis. Care must be taken when calculating or using handbook data
for Hcomb values because there are two different conventions used in specifying the H2O part of the
combustion products. In some tabulations, Hcomb is based on liquid water as the combustion product, and in
others, water vapor is the product form.
Texto completo: Maintaining the efficiency of a heating process depends on knowing (or calculating) the heat of
combustion of a fuel. In some cases, it's sufficient to use an approximate value, such as 1,000 BTU/ft3 for
natural gas. But for fuel-intensive processes, and as NOx minimization becomes more important, you may want
a more accurate value. We show how to calculate it here, with details in the downloadable Excel workbook
HeatCalc.xlsx.
First, you need the composition of the supplied gas. Next, you need values for the heat of reaction for oxidation
of each constituent to CO2 and H2O. These are then summed to obtain the heat of combustion (Hcomb) of
the gas.
Heats of reaction are usually (but not always!) calculated or listed for mole amounts at 25C, then converted to
Hcomb on a mass or volume basis. Care must be taken when calculating or using handbook data for Hcomb
values because there are two different conventions used in specifying the H2O part of the combustion products.
In some tabulations, Hcomb is based on liquid water as the combustion product, and in others, water vapor is
the product form. The heat produced by the combustion of a fuel is called its heating value, which is equal to the
value of Hcomb but of opposite sign. When liquid water is the product, it is called the higher (or gross) heating
value (HHV). When water vapor is the product, it is called the lower (or net) heating value (LHV). The difference
between the two values is Hvap of water. Since combustion products are above the boiling point of water, the
LHV is a better indication of a fuel's useful heat.
Be aware that some handbooks use 288.7 K (60F) as the STP temperature unit instead of 273.15 K (0C,
32F) used here. It's best to find or calculate molar heating values and then convert to a mass or volumetric
basis of your choice, as outlined in the Excel workbook available for download at www.industrialheating.com/
HeatCalc.
Calculating the LHV of Methane
The Hcomb of one mole of methane (CH4) at 298.15 K is the heat of reaction between CH4 and O2 to form
CO2(g) and H2O(g), according to Equation 1. Table 1 shows values of Hformation of several natural gas
reactants and products. Equations 2 and 3 show the calculation for Hreax (i.e. Hcomb) of methane from
these values.
CH4(g) + 2O2(g) [arrow right] CO2(g) + 2H2O(g); LHV = -Hreax at 298.15 K (25C, 77F) 1)
Hcomb = Hrx = Hf of CO2(g) + 2Hf of H2O(g) - Hf of CH4(g) 2)
Hcomb = -393.51 + 2(-241.81) + 74.81 = -802.32 kJ/mole of CH4 3)
The LHV of methane is thus 802.3 kJ/mole at 298.15 K (25C, 77F). Similar arithmetic using Hformation of
H2O(liq) gives HHV = 890.4 kJ/mole. The difference (88 kJ) is the heat of vaporization of 2 moles of water.
Table 2 shows LHV and HHV for methane combustion in different units using methods outlined in workbook
HeatCalc.xlsx. Download this workbook at www. industrialheating.com/HeatCalc.
Internet Sources of Heat of Formation and Heat of Combustion Data
Although chemistry handbooks are often used as a source of thermodynamic data, you may find it easier to use
web sources. The FactSage program[1] is probably the easiest to use, followed by the NIST Chemistry
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WebBook.[2] The data in Tables 1 and 2 came from database program FREED.[3] The differences in data
between these sources is minimal.
References
References
1. http://www.crct.polymtl.ca/factweb.php
2. http://webbook.nist.gov/chemistry/
3. http://www.thermart.net/
AuthorAffiliation
Art Morris | Thermart Software | 858-451-5791 | thermart@att.net
Materia: Heating; Natural gas; Efficiency; Calculus; Guidelines;
Lugar: United States--US
Clasificacin: 9190: United States; 8660: Metalworking industry; 8510: Petroleum industry; 9150: Guidelines
Ttulo: Calculating the Heat of Combustion for Natural Gas
Autor: Morris, Art
Ttulo de publicacin: Industrial Heating
Tomo: 80
Nmero: 9
Pginas: 28
Nmero de pginas: 1
Ao de publicacin: 2012
Fecha de publicacin: Sep 2012
Ao: 2012
Seccin: Combustion Concepts
Editorial: BNP Media
Lugar de publicacin: Troy
Pas de publicacin: United States
Materia de publicacin: Heating, Plumbing And Refrigeration
ISSN: 00198374
CODEN: INHTAZ
Tipo de fuente: Trade Journals
Idioma de la publicacin: English
Tipo de documento: Commentary
Caractersticas del documento: Tables References Equations
ID del documento de ProQuest: 1267629105
URL del documento: http://search.proquest.com/docview/1267629105?accountid=146034
Copyright: Copyright BNP Media Sep 2012

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ltima actualizacin: 2013-01-09

Base de datos: ABI/INFORM Complete

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Bibliografa
Citation style: APA 6th - American Psychological Association, 6th Edition
Morris, A. (2012). Calculating the heat of combustion for natural gas. Industrial Heating, 80(9), 28. Retrieved
from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1267629105?accountid=146034

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