COMBUSTION PANTE • ARES • COMIA

LOS BAÑOS • ORPILLA

I. DEFINITION
1. Combustion is a unit process in which oxidation reaction takes place.
• Not all oxidation reactions are termed as combustion.
• Eg. Oxidation of the following:
• TOLUENE to BENZALDEHYDE
• HYDROGEN CHLORIDE to CHLORINE
2. Combustion is a chemical reaction in which one of the reactants is oxygen
from the air and the other is a fuel.
3. Combustion is accompanied by the evolution of light and heat.
II. COMPLETE COMBUSTION
• Complete combustion means all of its combustible components are gasified:
all of the carbon (whatever the initial fuel form) is burned to carbon dioxide;
all of the hydrogen is converted to water; and all of the sulfur to sulfur
dioxide.
• Under normal oxidizing conditions, furnace combustion taking place consists
of complex oxidation reactions. For computation purposes, the following
reactions shall be considered:
II. COMPLETE COMBUSTION
EXAMPLE
II. COMPLETE COMBUSTION
• The complete combustion of any organic fuel is represented by:

EXAMPLES
III. THEORETICAL OXYGEN
• Theoretical oxygen is the oxygen required for complete combustion.
• Two methods of determining the theoretical oxygen are the following:

METHOD 1
The individual balanced equation for the oxidation of each combustible is
written. The theoretical oxygen is the sum of all the oxygen used in each
complete combustion.
III. THEORETICAL OXYGEN

EXAMPLE
III. THEORETICAL OXYGEN
METHOD 2
The components of the fuel are broken down into corresponding atoms of
carbon, sulfur, hydrogen and moles of oxygen present. For complete
combustion:
• Each C atom requires 1 mol O2
• Each S atom requires 1 mol O2
• Each H atom requires ¼ mol O2
The total moles of O2 in the fuel is subtracted from the O2 requirements to give
the theoretical O2 from air. The rationale behind this is that before any amount
of O2 is taken from the air, the fuel first utilizes the fuel together with it.
IV. THEORETICAL AIR FOR COMBUSTION
• Theoretical air is air that contains the exact amount of theoretical O2.
• Air for combustion calculations is assumed to be 21% O2 and 79% N2 by
volume.
• N2 in air is a non-combustible and acts as a diluent to the O2 in the air.
* diluent - a diluting agent
IV. THEORETICAL AIR FOR COMBUSTION

EXAMPLE
 V. PERCENT EXCESS AIR

• In actual practice, theoretical air is not

sufficient to get complete combustion.
• Two obvious phenomenon of incomplete
or partial combustion are
• CO and H2 formation in the flue gas
• Presence of unburned combustibles in the
refuse for solid fuels
* refuse – leftover that cannot be recycled; waste
 V. PERCENT EXCESS AIR
• The actual Percentage Excess Air depends on the fuel used for combustion.
• Normally,
gaseous fuels require very little excess O2;
liquid fuels require somewhat more % excess O2 depending on their characteristics; and
solid fuels require maximum excess O2.
V. PERCENT EXCESS AIR
EXAMPLE
V. PERCENT EXCESS AIR
EXAMPLE
 VI. INCOMPLETE COMBUSTION
• Incomplete combustion is also a reaction between oxygen and fuel but the
products are carbon monoxide, water, and carbon.
• It occurs when the supply of oxygen is not sufficient.
• It is often undesirable because it produces less energy and releases carbon
monoxide which is a poisonous gas.
• Incomplete combustion can also produce carbon (soot), which is messy and can
build up in equipment.
• It is characterized by an orange-colored flame.
 VII. PERCENT EXCESS AIR
• Theoretical air required to burn a given quantity of fuel does not depend on how
much is actually burned.
• The value of percent excess (% Excess) air depends only on the theoretical air
and the air feed rate and not on how much O2 is consumed in the reactor or
whether combustion is complete or partial.
WHY DOES AIR HAVE A
MOLECULAR WEIGHT OF 29.0?
COMPOSITION PERCENT IN AIR
N2 78.03
O2 20.99
Ar 0.94 Aµ = 29.0
CO2 0.03
H2, He, Ne, Kr, Xe 0.01
TOTAL 100%

Aµ= (µN2)(xN2)+(µO2)(XO2)+ (µAr)(xAr)+ (µCO2)(xCO2)+ (µH2)(xH2)+

(µHe)(xHe)+ (µNe)(xNe)+ (µKr)(xKr)+ (µXe)(xXe)
Aµ= 29.58
 VIII. WET AND DRY BASIS
• Composition on a Wet Basis - the component mole fraction of gas that contains water.

• Composition on a Dry Basis - the component mole fraction of same gas without water.

• Stack Gas (flue gas) – gas that leaves a combustion furnace

COMPOSITION ON
WET AND DRY BASIS
EXAMPLE
COMPOSITION ON
WET AND DRY BASIS
EXAMPLE
 TEST YOURSELF
1. What is the molar ratio of N2 to O2 in air?
0.79 𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝑁2
= 5.76
0.21 𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝑂2

2. A gas contains 1 mol H2, 1 mol O2, 2 mol H20. What is the molar composition of
this gas on a wet basis?
𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝐻2 On a dry basis?
0.25
𝑚𝑜𝑙
𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝐻2
𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝑂2 0.50
𝑚𝑜𝑙
0.25
𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝑂2
0.50
𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝐻20 𝑚𝑜𝑙
0.50
𝑚𝑜𝑙
 TEST YOURSELF
1. A flue gas contains 5% mole H2O. Calculate:

a. kmol flue gas / kmol H2O

1 𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝑓𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑔𝑎𝑠
= 20
0.05 𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝐻2𝑂

b. kmol dry flue gas / kmol flue gas

0.95 𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝑑𝑟𝑦 𝑓𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑔𝑎𝑠
= 0.95
1𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝑓𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑔𝑎𝑠

c. kmol H2O / kmol dry flue gas

0.05 𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝐻2𝑂
= 0.0526
0.95 𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝑑𝑟𝑦 𝑓𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑔𝑎𝑠
TEST YOURSELF