Fuels

CANTAL 2018
Fuels
• Fuels can be solid, liquid, or gaseous.

• Coal is the most prominent fuel used for power purposes however,
cleaner fuel such as fuel oil or gas are in trend to be used to lessen
the contamination of the atmosphere. Better methods of coal
combustion are also being develop to aid this problem.

CANTAL 2018
Solid Fuels
• Any solid material that can be used to produce energy and heat. This is
predominantly achieved through burning materials, and the most common
types are coal, wood, charcoal and wood pellets.

• Coal is the most important solid fuel with an annual consumption of

600,000,000 tons. It is a combustible, sedimentary, organic rock formed
from vegetation, which has been consolidated between other rock strata to
form coal seams, and altered by the combined effects of microbial action,
pressure and heat over a considerable time period.

• Coals can be classified as anthracite, bituminous, sub-bituminous and

lignite.

CANTAL 2018
Classification of Coal
• Anthracite (Hard coal)
• subjected to high pressure and heat
• most compressed and hardest coal
• being a hard coal, it contains greater potential to
produce heat energy than softer, geologically
"newer" coal
• the most brittle among coal types and the Photo source:
cleanest burning coal https://www.indiamart.com/proddetail/anthracite-
coal-10910092297.html

• produces a very hot blue flame when burned

• common uses include: heating residential and
commercial buildings and hand-fired furnaces

CANTAL 2018
Classification of Coal
• Bituminous (Hard coal)
• contains a tar-like substance called bitumen
• represents more than 90 percent of all the coal consumed
in the United States
• when burned, it produces a high white flame
• produce excessive smoke and soot -- particulate matter
• has high sulfur content
• contains the mineral pyrite, which serves as a host for
impurities such as arsenic and mercury which lead to
hazardous emissions Photo source: https://dir.indiamart.com/hyderabad/bituminous-
• has two types: thermal and metallurgical coal.html

• thermal coal, also called steaming coal, is used in power

plants that produce steam for electricity and industry
• metallurgical coal, sometimes referred to as coking coal, is
used in the process of creating coke necessary for iron and
steel production

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Classification of Coal
• Sub-bituminous (Low rank)
• considered black coal, even though its
appearance varies from bright black to dull dark
brown
• an intermediate between lignite and bituminous
(hard and strong to soft and brittle consistency)
• widely used for generating steam power and
industrial purposes Photo source: https://futurelibraries.net/uses-and-properties-of-
• not stable when exposed to air– it disintegrates bituminous-coal/

• contains more moisture and volatile matter than

other bituminous coal types, but it has lower
sulfur levels

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Classification of Coal
• Lignite (Low rank)
• sometimes called “brown coal”
• lowest quality and most crumbly coal
• use the process coal gasification to
create synthetic natural gas that delivers more
power
Photo source: https://www.indiamart.com/proddetail/lignite-
coal-13937457891.html

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Classification of Coal

Photo source: http://maliksayourcoal.weebly.com/properties.html

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Test for Solid Fuels
1. Proximate analysis is used to determine the percentages of
moisture, volatile matter, ash and fixed carbon (by difference) in the
coal as standardized by A.S.T.M.

2. Sulfur content analysis

3. Ultimate analysis gives the percentages of carbon, hydrogen, sulfur,

oxygen, nitrogen, and ash (by difference) in the coal. This analysis can
be used for boiler test calculations and for determining the
approximate heating value of the fuel.

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Storage for Solid Fuels
• Packing is the most efficient way to store coal to avoid too rapid
weathering and spontaneous combustion, by reducing air space.

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Powdered Coal
• Advantages:
• has high thermal efficiency with which it can be
burned,
• has low cost of operation and maintenance
• has excellent flexibility
• Disadvantage:
Photo source: https://dir.indiamart.com/impcat/coal-
powder.html

• Production of "fly ash“ when burned which

leaves the boiler carried along with the waste
gases. This is removed by a Cottrell precipitator.

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Coke
• fuel with a high carbon content and few
impurities
• they are grey, hard, and porous
• made by heating coal in the absence of air
• derived from destructive distillation of low-ash,
low-sulfur bituminous coal
• a very fine fuel but too expensive for industrial
use Photo source:https://www.indiamart.com/proddetail/hard-coke-
coal-14641998473.html
• commonly used fuel in blacksmithing
• used in special cases such as blast-furnace
operation
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Liquid Fuels
• Fuel oil, coal, tar, tar oil, kerosene, benzol, alcohol, gasoline

• Fuel oil is the only important commercial liquid fuel used for power
purposes. It is the portion of the crude oil that cannot be economically
converted by the refiner to the higher-priced products such as gasoline.
• Classifies according to properties set by A.S.T.M.
• Flash point
• Pour point
• Percentage of water and sediment
• Carbon residue
• Ash
• Distillation temperature
• Viscosity

CANTAL 2018
Gaseous Fuels
• Gas is burned as a source of heat- in domestic installations and
occasionally in industry, especially where it is obtained as a by-
product
• Blast furnace gases are the best example
• The other gases that may be used for power generation are natural
gas and liquefied petroleum gas when available and the
manufactured gases such as coke-oven gas, producer gas, and water
gas

CANTAL 2018
Gasoline and Other Fuels
• Most widely used fuel in the society
• A complex mixture, typically containing more than 100 different
chemical compounds
• The exact composition of gasoline varies somewhat depending on
factors
• including the grade of gas, geographic location, and time of year
• the predominant
• compounds are hydrocarbons– most are alkanes

CANTAL 2018
Alkanes – A review
• compounds whose carbon atoms are linked together by single bonds
• the general formula for any alkane is CnH2n+2, where n is an integer
• may have multiple possible ways of connectivity – isomers

Photo source: Brown, L., Holme, T. Chemistry for Engineering

Students (2011), Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning
CANTAL 2018
Alkanes – A review
• The first 10 alkenes:

Photo source: Brown, L., Holme, T. Chemistry for Engineering

Students (2011), Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning
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Combustion
• burning of gasoline in an engine when reacted with oxygen in air
• based on two important assumptions
• hydrocarbons are the only (main) component of gasoline to be combusted
• combustion proceeds completely
• the most common hydrocarbon present in gasoline is octane

Photo source: Brown, L., Holme, T. Chemistry for Engineering

Students (2011), Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning

CANTAL 2018
Stoichiometry
• used to express quantitative relationships in chemistry

• important notes in dealing with stoichiometric analysis:

1. Write the balanced chemical equation.
2. Identify relationships/ratios based from 1.
3. Identify the limiting reactant, if needed.
4. Do the necessary calculations and conversions.

CANTAL 2018
Stoichiometry
• used to express quantitative relationships in chemistry

• important notes in dealing with stoichiometric analysis:

1. Write the balanced chemical equation.
2. Identify relationships/ratios based from 1.
3. Identify the limiting reactant, if needed.
4. Do the necessary calculations and conversions.

CANTAL 2018
Obtaining Ratios from a Balanced Chemical
Equation

1 mol CH : 2 mol O
4 2

1 mol CH : 1 mol CO
4 2

1 mol CH : 2 mol H O
4 2

2 mol O : 2 mol H O
2 2

These ratios can also be expressed in fractions

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Example
In the combustion of methane, how many moles of O2 are required if
6.75 mol of CH4 is to be completely consumed?

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Conversion to mass, moles, molecules

mass no. of
molecules

molar moles Avogadro’s moles

mass number

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Alternative Fuels and Fuel Additives
• Reasons for having fuel additives:
• improving engine performance
• reducing undesirable engine emissions
• reducing dependence on imported petroleum products

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Improving Engine Performance
• Good performance = high compressibility of gasoline = high octane
number
• Octane number is the measure of how highly the gas can be
compressed in the engine cylinder before it will spontaneously ignite
• This allows an engine to operate at higher compression without
unwanted “knocking”
• one way to achieve a higher octane number is to increase the fraction
of octane in a particular gasoline
• However, there are a number of ways to improve compressibility that
are easier and cheaper than boosting the actual octane content

CANTAL 2018
Improving Engine Performance
Tetraethyl lead

• increase fuel compressibility at a lower price

• lead additives are toxic
• this problem was resolved by the use of catalytic
converter which was designed to reduce the
emission of carbon monoxide and other
pollutants
• in the process, lead binds with a platinum
surface to prevent any catalytic reaction
• this led to the production of “unleaded gas”

CANTAL 2018
Improving Engine Performance
Ethanol

• adding ethanol increases the oxygen content of gasoline, it is often referred to

as an oxygenate, and gasoline containing ethanol is known as oxygenated
fuel
• The added oxygen helps to ensure more complete combustion and therefore
reduces the emission of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and soot
• Gasoline containing at least 2% oxygen by weight is known as reformulated
gasoline (RFG)
• Ethanol is usually produced from crops such as corn, barley, and wheat
• Common blends ranges from 10%-85%

CANTAL 2018
Improving Engine Performance
Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE)

• both the octane rating and oxygen content of

gasoline
• can be used up to 15% in fuel
• has high environmental and economical benefits
• was latter seen as a potent carcinogen that it
was banned to some areas

CANTAL 2018
Calorific Value
• same as energy content or the heat of combustion
• Standard heat of combustion is the energy liberated when a
substance X undergoes complete combustion, with excess of oxygen
at standard conditions (25 deg C and 1 bar).

𝑛𝑋 + 𝑚𝑂2 → 𝑥𝐶𝑂2 𝑔 + 𝑦𝐻2 𝑂(𝑙) + 𝑧𝑍 + ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑏𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

• utilized to quantify the performance of a fuel in a combustion system

∆𝐻𝑟𝑥𝑛 = 𝑚 ∆𝐻𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑠 − 𝑛 ∆𝐻𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑠
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Calorific Value
Example:
What is the heat of combustion of liquid ethanol, with the formula
C2H5OH?

Heat of formation of liquid ethanol -277.6 kJ/mol

Heat of formation of CO2 -393.51 kJ/mol
Heat of formation of H2O -142.915 kJ/mol
Heat of formation of O2 0 kJ/mol

CANTAL 2018