Chapter Four

FUELS
 Main Topics to be covered
 Introduction
 Types of fuel
 Petroleum Refining Process
 Properties of fuel for SI and CI engines
 Rating of Fuels
 Stoichiometry
 Introduction
• Fuel is a substance which, when burnt, i.e. on coming in
contact and reacting with oxygen or air, produces heat.
• Why we study about Fuel for I.C Engine?
We study Fuel Because

– Fuel properties affect the combustion process in the

engine and its operation

– Engines are designed to run on fuels

– Quality of fuel can affect engine durability

 Introduction
• In order to generate Heat Chemical Combustion of Fuel and oxygen
are required

Fuel+ Air Flue Gas+ Heat

Combustion
• Therefore the fundamental knowledge of different types of Fuel and
their characteristics is essential in order to understand the
combustion process
• Thus, the substances classified as fuel must necessarily contain one
or several of the combustible elements : carbon, hydrogen, sulphur,
etc. In the process of combustion, the chemical energy of fuel is
converted into heat energy.
 Types of fuels
• Fuels may broadly be classified in two ways, i.e.
(a) according to the physical state in which they exist in nature .
solid, liquid and gaseous.
(b) according to the mode of their Occurrence.
natural/primary and manufactured/secondary.
1) SOLID FUELS AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS
Solid fuels are mainly classified into two categories, i.e. natural
fuels, such as wood,
coal, etc. and manufactured fuels, such as charcoal, coke,
briquettes, etc.
The various advantages and disadvantages of solid fuels are
given below :
• Advantages
(a) They are easy to transport.
(b) They are convenient to store without any risk of spontaneous
explosion.
(c) Their cost of production is low.
(d) They posses moderate ignition temperature.
• Disadvantages
(a) Their ash content is high.
(b) Their large proportion of heat is wasted.
(c) They burn with clinker formation.
(d) Their combustion operation cannot be controlled easily.
(e) Their cost of handling is high.
 2) Liquid Fuels

• In most of the modern I.C Engines liquid fuels are being used..
• The three commercial types of liquid fuels are
– Benzyl (C6H5CH2)
– Alcohol
– Petroleum Products
• Advantages
(a) They posses higher calorific value per unit mass than solid
fuels.
(b) They burn without dust, ash, clinkers, etc.
(c) They are easy to transport through pipes.
(d) They can be stored indefinitely without any loss.
(e) They are clean in use and economic to handle.
(f) They require less excess air for complete combustion.
(g) They require less furnace space for combustion.
• Disadvantages
(a) The cost of liquid fuel is relatively much higher
(b) special storage tanks are required for storing liquid fuels.
(c) There is a greater risk of five hazards, particularly, in case of
highly inflammable and volatile liquid fuels
3) GASEOUS FUELS AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS
• Gaseous fuels occur in nature, besides being manufactured
from solid and liquid fuels.
Advantages
(a) They can be lighted at ease.
(b) They have high heat contents and hence
(c) They are clean in use.
(d) They burn without any shoot, or smoke and ashes.
(g) They are free from impurities
Disadvantages
(a) Very large storage tanks are needed.
(b) They are highly inflammable, so chances of fire hazards in
their use is high.
 Petroleum and its Characteristics
 Petroleum is a basic natural fuel. It is a dark greenish brown,
viscous mineral oil, found deep in earth’s crust. It is mainly
composed of various hydrocarbons
 (like straight chain paraffins, cycloparaffins or napthenes,
olefins, and aromatics) together with small amount of organic
compounds containing oxygen nitrogen and sulphur. The
average composition of crude petroleum is : C = 79.5 to
87.1%; H = 11.5 to 14.8%; S = 0.1 to
3.5%, N and O = 0.1 to 0.5%.
 Petroleum's are graded according to its -chemical properties :
 Petroleum Refining Process
 Petroleum refining is defined as chemical, thermal and
physical separation of crude oil into major fractions.
 These fractions are further processed through separation
and conversion into finished petroleum products.
Refinery is the facility where this process takes place.
 Refinery separates the crude oil into smaller fractions in
order to make 2500 separate products.
 Impurities include sulfur and nitrogen compounds and
Some metals and salts too.
 Petroleum refineries are very large industrial complexes that
involve many different processing units.
 Refining Process……
• Petroleum refining processes and operations
can be separated into five basic areas:
 Fractionation (distillation) is the separation of crude oil in
atmospheric and
vacuum distillation towers into groups of hydrocarbon
compounds of differing boiling-point ranges called "fractions"
or "cuts."
 Conversion Processes change the size and/or structure of
hydrocarbon molecules. These processes include: :
– Decomposition (dividing) by thermal and catalytic cracking;
– Unification (combining) through alkylation and polymerization;
– Alteration (rearranging) with isomerization and catalytic
reforming.
 Treatment Processes to prepare hydrocarbon streams for
additional processing and to prepare finished products.
Treatment may include removal or separation of aromatics
and naphthenes, impurities and
 undesirable contaminants. Treatment may involve chemical
or physical separation e.g.
dissolving, absorption,
 precipitation using a variety and combination of processes
including desalting, drying, hydro desulfurizing,
 solvent refining, sweetening, solvent extraction, and solvent
dewaxing.
 Formulating and Blending is the process of mixing and
combining hydrocarbon fractions, additives, and other
components to produce finished products with specific
performance properties.
 Fuel Properties
– Fuel property measurement & control is a shared responsibility

• SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers)

– decides on need for new or modified standards

• ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials)

– develops the testing procedures to measure properties

• API (American Petroleum Institute)

– works with fuel suppliers to produce the fuels with

appropriate properties
Fuel Properties
 Fuel Properties
• What are the important properties fuel?
– Specific gravity
– Heating value
– Volatility
– Flashpoint
– Viscosity
– Cloud & pour points
– Impurities
– Octane & Cetane numbers
 Specific Gravity
– Is the ratio of mass density of fuel to mass density of water at the
same temperature. It can be measured by hydrometers
– The refrence temprature for fuel and water are 298.8K

 Density of Fuel @15.60C  Fuel Density (kg/l)

Density of Fuel ( SG )   0

 Density of Water @15.6 C  Gasoline 0.72-0.78
 Density of Fuel  kg  
  L Diesel 0.82-0.86
  
• American Petroleum  Institute 
1kg (API) gravity:
Methanol 0.79
 L 
Ethanol 0.79
141.5
API gravity   131.5
specific gravity at 60 o F
60 o F
 Heating Value of Fuels
Also called calorific value
Is defined as the total quantity of heat liberated from complete
combustion of unit mass/unit volume of fuel in the air.
 HHV= it is total amount of heat liberated when total amount of fuel completely
burned in air and products of combustion are cooled down at room
temprature.
LCV = latent heat of water vapour is ignored in this case
 In combustion analysis, generally LHV is used
LCV = HCV – latent heat of vapour formed
HCV = 1/100[8080C+34500(H-O/8) +2240 S ] Kcal/Kg
Where C,H,O,S are % of carbon,hydrogen,oxygen and sulphur in the fuel
 Volatility
Volatility It is the tendency to evaporate under given set of
conditions.
• Evaporation and mixing with air is essential for good
ignition quality and complete combustion, as this will
effects the exhaust contents (HCs, NOx, smoke density,
odour).
• It is measured by “distillation temp. vs% evaporated”
according to ASTM distillation curve
• The fuel should be sufficiently volatile in the operating
range of temperature to produce good mixing and
combustion.
 Volatility
Volatility too low
• Poor cold start
• Poor warm up performance
• Poor cold weather driveability
• Unequal fuel distribution in
carbureted vehicles
• Increased deposits: crankcase,
spark plugs, combustion
chamber
Volatility too high
• High evaporative emissions,
Canister overload & Purge
• Hot driveability problems,
Vapor lock
• Fuel economy may
deteriorate
 Starting and Warm up
• A certain part of fuel should be vaporize at the room
temperature for easy staring of the engine

• As the engine warms up, the temperature will gradually

increases to the operating temperature.

• Low distillation temperature are desirable through out

the range of the distillation curve for best
Flash point
 Minimum temperature at which liquid fuel will produce
sufficient vapour to form flammable mixture with air.
 It indicates the maximum temperature at which liquid fuel can
be stored without any fine hazard.
Viscosity
Is a measure of its internal resistance to flow. Viscosity decreases
as temperature increases.
It affects atomization of fuel.
Fire point
The minimum temprature at which liquid fuel produces
continues flames.
 Characteristics of good fuel
 Have higher calorific value
 Should have proper ignition temperature
 It should burn smoothly in controlled manner
 It should be easy to handle and transport
 It should not require much space for storing
 It should be cheap and available in large quantity
 It should not produce any undesirable products during
combustion
 It should have low moisture content
 It should contain low smoke value after combustion
 Fuel Properties
• Important qualities of gasoline are important qualities of diesel are
– Volatility – Knock characteristics
– Starting & warm up – Volatility
– Operating range performance
– Starting characteristics
– Crake case dilution
– Smoking and Odour
– Vapor Lock Characteristics
– Viscosity
– Antiknock quality
– Gum deposited – Corrosion and wear

– Sulphur content – Handling ease

 Additives Used for Gasoline
1. Anti-knock Additive: Required to eliminate knock.

2. Deposit-modifiers: Used to modify the chemical character of combustion

chamber deposits

3. Anti-oxidants: Used to reduce gum formation and decomposition of the

lead compounds.

4. Detergents: Used to prevent deposits in the carburetor and manifold.

5. Lubricants: Used to lubricate valve guides and upper cylinder regions.

6. Metal de-activators: Used to destroy the catalytic activity of traces of

copper.
 Additives Used for Gasoline
• Anti-rust Agents: Used to prevent rust and corrosion due to moisture in the air.

• Anti-icing Agents: Used to prevent the freezing of gasoline from water in the
fuel and throttle plate.

• Methanol is added to gasoline to absorb water- and so prevent ice from

forming in the fuel line between the tank and carburetor.

• Isopropyl alcohol is added to prevent ice from forming to the throttle plate.

• The alcohol acts by lowering the freezing point of the condensate.

• The surface-action additive forms a film on the metal, which discourages

adhesion of ice.

• Some of the surface-action additives also have detergent qualities.

• Dye: Added to identify the lead compound in the fuel. Lead-free gasoline is
transparent and is usually called “white petrol".
 The Need for Alternative Fuels
• Energy Security
– Peak Oil- the world’s production of oil is close to
its peak
– Reduce imported oil-now 70%
• Global warming
– concerns and the need to reduce C02 emissions
which is currently about one pound per mile for
every vehicle
• Air Pollution
– HC, CO, SO2, NOx
 Types of Alternative Fuels
1. Natural gas (Methane)
2. compressed natural gas (CNG)
3. Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) – propane, butane & ethane
4. Alcohol
1. Methanol
2. Ethanol
5. P-series (Ethanol, Methyl-tetra-hydro-furon, (MTHF), Natural gas liquids,
(pentanes, Butane)
6. Bio-diesel
7. Biogas
8. Hydrogen
9.Electricity
10.Fuel Cell

Alternative fuels are of interest

• They can be refined from renewable feedstock.
• Their emission levels can be much lower than those of
gasoline and diesel engines.
• In some country the large percentage of crude oil must be
imported from other countries which control the larger oil
field
 LPG
• Propane (C3H8) is a saturated paraffinic hydrocarbon.

• When blended or mixed with butane (C4H10) or ethane (C2H6), it is designated as

liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

• LPG is obtained as a by-product from:

• A common LPG blend is P92, which is 92% propane and 8% butane.

• Propane has an octane number of 112 so it can raise the

compression ratio.

• Propane requires about 5o spark advance at lower engine speeds

due to its relative low flame speed.
 Natural Gas
• Natural Gas is a naturally occurring fuel found in oil field.

• It is primarily composed of methane CH4 (60-98%) with small

amounts of N2, CO2, ethane, propane.

• Methane is a greenhouse gas, with a global warming potential ten

times that of CO2.

• It is stored as compressed natural gas (CNG) at pressure of 160-250

bar, as (LNG) at pressure of 0.7-2.1 bar and a temperature around -
160 oC.
 Natural Gas
• Advantage of Natural gas
– RON of 120, which makes it a very good SI engine fuel.
– One reason for this high RON is a fast flame speed.
– Engines can operate with a high compression ratio.
– Low engine emissions, Less aldehydes than with methanol, and
less CO2.
– Fuel is fairly abundant worldwide.
– It can be made from coal but this is more costly.
 Natural Gas
• Disadvantage of Natural gas
– Low energy density resulting in low engine performance.

– Low engine volumetric efficiency.

– Need for large pressurized fuel storage tank.

– Inconsistent fuel properties.

– Refuelling is slow process.

 Alcohol
• Alcohols are an attractive alternative fuel because they
can be obtained from a number of sources, both natural
and manufactured.
• The two kinds of alcohol
– Methanol (Methy Alcohol) and
– Ethanol (Ethyl Alcohol)
 Methanol
• Pure methanol is labelled M100, and
• a mix of 85% methanol and 15% gasoline is labeled M85.
• M85 has an octane rating of 102.
• The cetane number of methanol is low at about 5, but it can
be used in compression ignition engines with diesel fuel pilot
ignition.
 Ethanol
• Ethanol (C2H5OH) is an alcohol fuel formed from the
fermentation of sugar and grain stocks,
• primarily sugar cane and corn are renewable energy
source
• Ethanol is also called ‘grain’ alcohol.
• Ethanol is a liquid at ambient conditions, and non-toxic at
low concentration.
 Ethanol
• Gasohol (E10) is a gasoline-ethanol blend with about 10% ethanol
by volume.
• E85 is a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline.
• E10 reduces the use of gasoline with no modification needed to the
automobile engine.
• The octane rating of ethanol of 111(RON) allows use of an
increased compression ratio.
• The cetane number of ethanol is low, at about 8, but like methanol,
it can be used in compression ignition engines with diesel fuel pilot
ignition.
 Advantage of Alcohol
• It can be obtained from a number of sources, both natural and
manufactured.
• It is a high octane fuel with anti-knock index number of over 100.
• Engines using high-octane fuel can run more efficiently by using
higher compression ratio.
• Generally lower overall emissions
• When burned, it forms more moles of exhaust, which gives higher
pressure and more power in the expansion stroke.
• It has high evaporative cooling which result in a cooler intake
process and compression stroke, Raised volumetric efficiency and
reduced required work input.
 Disadvantage of Alcohol
• Low energy content of the fuel.

• More aldehydes in the exhaust. If as much alcohol fuel was consumed as

gasoline, aldehyde emissions is a serious problem.

• Much more corrosive than gasoline on copper, brass, aluminium, rubber,

and many plastics.

• Poor cold weather staring characteristics due to low vapor pressure and
evaporation.

• Poor ignition characteristics in general.