Note: text box appearance may vary with different Windows and Excel versions.

HeatCalc

HeatCalc is a
Thermart Software
program. 2012
by Arthur E. Morris.
www.thermart.net

A Natural Gas Heat of Combustion Calculat

Calculations based on combustion of 1 gram-mole of

natural gas.

SI Units
pressure:
volume:
amount:
mass:
energy:

atm or bar
m3
g-mol
g or kg
kJ

Nat Gas

Burner

Oxidant

Heat of C
Na

Offgas
CO2, H2O, N2

Enter/Edit values in blue-bordered

cells only!

Natural Gas Properties

Species Mol. mass Vol %
Mass % Mass, g Hcomb
Methane

CH4

16.04

94.10%

87.76%

15.10

-754.99

Ethene

C2H4

28.05

0.50%

0.82%

0.14

-6.62

Ethane

C2H6

30.07

1.60%

2.80%

0.48

-22.84

Propane

C3H8

44.10

0.90%

2.31%

0.40

-18.40

C4H10 +

58.12

0.50%

1.69%

0.29

-13.28

H2

2.02
28.01

0.20%

0.023%

0.004

0.10%

0.16%

0.03

-0.48
-0.28

44.01

1.10%

2.81%

0.48

0.00

28.01

1.00%

1.63%

0.28

0.00

Butanes & higher

Hydrogen
Carbon monoxide
Carbon dioxide
Nitrogen (by diff.)

CO
CO2
N2

Molecular mass of NG

17.20

Hcomb, kJ/g-mol NG

CO2 produced by combustion

H2O produced by combustion
O2 required for combustion

Table I. Molar Hformation at 25 C

kJ/g-mol

NG constituents

-816.90

moles
1.031

mass
28.88

2.003

36.09

2.033

65.04

Table II. Molar Hreax at 25 C

Reaction to form H2O(g)
2O2 + CH4 CO2 + 2H2O(g)

CH4

-74.81

C2H4

52.47

C2H6

-84.68

C3H8

-103.85

5O2 + C3H8 3CO2 + 4H2O(g)

C4H10

-126.15

6O2 + C4H10 4CO2 + 5H2O(g)

H2

0.00

CO

-110.53

3O2 + C2H4 2CO2 + 2H2O(g)

3O2 + C2H6 2CO2 + 3H2O(g)

O2 + H2 H2O(g)
O2 + CO CO2

Combustion products

CO2

-393.51

H2O(g)

-241.81

H2O(liq)

-285.83

Reaction to condense water vapor

H2O(g) H2O(liq)

HeatCalc Operation

stion Calculator

f 1 gram-mole of
Heat of Combustion of
Natural Gas

The heat of combustion of natural gas is calculated at 298.15 K in SI units,

to eleven other units. Data in Tables I and II are from the FREED database. C
for one gram-mol of natural gas burned completely to CO2 and H2O. Cells H35
the oxygen required for stoichiometric combustion of 1 gram-mol of NG.
The calculator contains a sample system. Changing any blue-bordered cel
result in recalculation of all other dependent values. The molar Hcomb is calcu
H2O(g) as a combustion product and posted in cell I30. The Lower Heating Val
obtained by changing the sign of the Hcomb and posting this value to cell K15.
other units are calculated in column K by using conversion factors.
The Higher Heating Value (HHV) is calculated in cell L15 by taking into acco
condensation of water vapor (cell K48). Values for other units are calculated in
using conversion factors.
The non-SI energy units are thermochemical in nature. 1 kcalth is equal to 4
Btuth is equal to 1054.35 J. The definition of STP for standard volumes is listed
boxes near cell N24. For SI, the standard temperature is 0 C.
Worksheet HofReax vsT examines the variability of DHcomb with temperatu

LHV
HHV
Units
816.90
905.07 kJ/g-mol
195.24
216.32 kcal/g-mol
351,438 389,370 Btu/lb-mol
47,489
52,615
kJ/kg
11,350
12,575
kcal/kg
20,430
22,636
Btu/lb
13.19
14.62
kwh/kg
36,446
40,380 kJ/scm
Pstd = 1 atm
8,711
9,651 kcal/scm
35,969
39,852 kJ/scm
Pstd = 1 bar
8,597
9,525 kcal/scm
STP = 1 atm & 60 F
926.10
1026.1
Btu/scf

References

1. Wikipedia contributors, "Heat of combustion", "Standar

2. Fact-Web programs, http://www.crct.polymtl.ca/factweb

3. NIST Chemistry WebBook, http://webbook.nist.gov/che
4. Thermart Software, http://www.thermart.net/

C
H
O
N

Element Balance
moles
mass
1.042
12.514
4.006
4.038
0.023
0.368
0.02
0.280

reax at 25 C
kJ/g-mol
-802.33
-1323.1
-1427.8
-2043.9
-2657.0
-241.81
-282.98

-44.02

ated at 298.15 K in SI units, and converted

om the FREED database. Calculations are
y to CO2 and H2O. Cells H35:H36 display
of 1 gram-mol of NG.
anging any blue-bordered cell value will
s. The molar Hcomb is calculated for
l I30. The Lower Heating Value (LHV) is
posting this value to cell K15. Values for
nversion factors.
n cell L15 by taking into account the heat of
r other units are calculated in column L by

nature. 1 kcalth is equal to 4.814 J, while 1

or standard volumes is listed in the text
ature is 0 C.
ity of DHcomb with temperature.

"Heat of combustion", "Standard enthalpy of formation", Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, July 2012, http://

ttp://www.crct.polymtl.ca/factweb.php. Use Reaction-Web.

ook, http://webbook.nist.gov/chemistry/

p://www.thermart.net/

Heat of Combustion vs. Temperature

WordPad Document

Please read

Data: Heat of Formation, J/g-mol

T (K)
CH4
C2H4
C2H6
C3H8
C4H10
H2O(g)
CO2
H2O(liq)

300
-74,865
52,408
-84,777
-103,970
-126,317
-241,831
-393,509
-285,773

320
-75,474
51,773
-85,788
-105,296
-127,845
-242,032
-393,523
-284,509

340
-76,089
51,144
-86,784
-106,590
-129,354
-242,234
-393,538
-283,239

360
-76,704
50,525
-87,759
-107,848
-130,838
-242,436
-393,552
-281,937

380
-77,314
49,917
-88,712
-109,067
-132,292
-242,639
-393,568
-280,574

400
-77,917
49,323
-89,640
-110,246
-133,713
-242,841
-393,585
-279,097

Calculations: Molar HCombustion, kJ/g-mol at different temperatures.

Reaction to form H2O(g)
temp, K
2O2 + CH4 CO2 + 2H2O(g)

298.15
-802.33

300
-802.31

320
-802.11

340
-801.92

3O2 + C2H4 2CO2 + 2H2O(g)

-1323.1

-1323.1

-1322.9

-1322.7

3O2 + C2H6 2CO2 + 3H2O(g)

-1427.78

-1427.7

-1427.4

-1427.0

5O2 + C3H8 3CO2 + 4H2O(g)

-2043.94

-2043.9

-2043.4

-2043.0

6O2 + C4H10 4CO2 + 5H2O(g)

-2656.96

-2656.9

-2656.4

-2656.0

O2 + H2 H2O(g)

-241.81

-241.83

-242.03

-242.23

Reaction to condense water vapor

H2O(g) H2O(liq)

-44.02

-43.94

-42.48

-41.01

360
-801.72

380
-801.53

400
-801.35

-1322.5

-1322.3

-1322.2

-1426.7

-1426.3

-1426.1

-2042.6

-2042.2

-2041.9

-2655.6

-2655.2

-2654.8

-242.44

-242.64

-242.84

-39.50

-37.93

-36.26