ENG Energy Systems

590 Hilton Combustion Unit

Aims

To determine the air:fuel ratio for a combustion unit for a range of air settings

Equipment

The unit is a combustion unit that can burn natural gas. The gas fires into a stainless
steel water cooled chamber provided with observation ports. Instrumentation is
provided to read a range of operating parameters including:

 mass flow rate of the methane fuel

 the gas leaving the unit through the chimney is sampled to give oxygen, carbon
monoxide and carbon dioxide levels (%). This is a dry analysis by volume.

Experimental procedure

(a) Set the water flow rate to approximately 250 g/s. This level will produce hot
water which is well below its boiling point.

(b) Set the air setting to 3. This gives a high air flow rate and air rich combustion.
(c) Let the system reach equilibrium. This can be done by watching the
temperature of the cooling water as it leaves the system. Once this has
stabilised, the system has settled.
(d) Record the gas pressure and the gas flow rate and use the gas analyser to
record the level of O2, CO2 and CO in the exhaust gas.

(e) Note the flame and combustion conditions within the unit.

(f) Repeat steps (b) – (d) with reduced levels of air flow by setting the air-flow
controller to 2, 1.5 and 1.

Analysis

Combustion Equations:

The generalized combustion equation for the combustion of methane (CH4) in air is,
per kmol of fuel with A kmols of air, {0.21 A is the number of kmols of oxygen and
0.79 A the number of kmols of nitrogen} is:

C H4 + A ( 0.21O2 + 0.79 N2) -> a CO2 + b CO + c O2 + d H2O + e N2

That is one kmole of methane burns in A kmoles of air. The exhaust gas contains a
kmoles of CO2, b kmoles of CO, kmoles of c O2 , d kmoles of H2O and e kmoles of
N2.

A is the ratio of the number of kmoles of air to the number of kmoles of fuel which is
also the air to fuel ratio (air:fuel) by volume for the two gases.
ENG Energy Systems
590 Hilton Combustion Unit
The stoichiometric air:fuel ratio by volume is 9.52. This corresponds to the ideal case
where there is just sufficient oxygen for full combustion of the fuel. In this case all the
C burns to give CO2 and there is no CO produces and no excess oxygen. In theory
we would expect b = 0 and c = 0 for stoichiometric combustion. If the air:fuel ratio is
greater than the stoichiometric value we have excess air and so we expect full
combustion and no CO (b = 0) and some excess O2 in the exhaust gas. If the air:fuel
ratio is less than the stoichiometric value we do not have sufficient O2 and so we
expect the H to preferentially burn to give H2O and the C to burn in the remaining O2
to give some CO2 and some CO and for there to be no O2 in the exhaust gas (c = 0).
In practice, particularly if there is poor mixing of the fuel and the air, it is possible for
there to be both CO and O2 in the exhaust gas. For this reason, and because we do
not know the air:fuel ratio, all possible exhaust gases are included in the combustion
equation.

Here we are not burning a fixed mass or volume of methane, instead we are burning
it at a fixed rate. We can use the same equation where A, a, b, c, d and e are the
number of kmoles of air or exhaust gas in the time taken to burn 1 kmole of fuel.

The exhaust gas analysis gives us the percentages of the exhaust gases
CO2, CO and O2. These are percentages by volume which is the same as the
percentage by kmole since all gases are at the same temperature and pressure. This
is a dry analysis, the water has been condenses out of the exhaust gas before the
measurements are taken; so we can assume that the rest of the gas is N2.

This means that  = a/(a+ b + d + e) and similar expressions can be found for  and
. However, it is easier to re-write the combustion equation as

C H4 + A ( 0.21O2 + 0.79 N2) -> B[ CO2 +  CO +  O2 + (100  N2] + d H2O

This ensures that the ratios of the exhaust gases are correct and B gives the correct
number of kmoles of each gas. Here A is the air:fuel ratio which we wish to find. The
exhaust gas percentages ,  and  are the measured percentage values for the gas
analyser. B and d are unknown.

Note that the CO is measured in PPM (parts per million). The value needs to be
divided by 10,000 to get a percentage value.

Comparing the number of kmoles of C, H, O and N on each side of the combustion

equation we get

C: 1 = B ( +  )

H: 4 = 2d

O: 2 x 0.21 x A = B (2 +  + 2) + d

N: 2 x 0.79 x A = 2B(100 ).

These 4 equations can then be used to find the 3 unknowns (A, B, d).

For example B = 1/( +  ), d = 2 and A = [B (2 +  + 2) + d]/0.42.

ENG Energy Systems
590 Hilton Combustion Unit

Discussion

Discuss the calculated air:fuel ratio values.

Comment on the exhaust gases which were measured for each setting..

What are the sources of error in the experiment? Could these be reduced or
eliminated?

Quantify the effect of the errors on your results.

Conclusions

Summarise the main points from your discussion.

Results table

Property units

Air Setting - 4 3 2 1.5 1

Gas
mbar
pressure
Gas flow
s
rate*
% by
% CO2 ()
volume
PPM by
PPM CO ()
volume
% by
% O2 ()
volume

* The gas flow reading is given in seconds. This is the time taken for 100L of
methane to flow through the burner. If t s is the time taken to burn 100L (0.1 m3) of
fuel, the volume flow rate of the fuel is 1/(10t) m3s-1.