CHECAL2 AY 2017-2018

Dr. Susan A. Roces INTRODUCTION

Combustion:
• unit process in which oxidation reaction takes place.
• chemical reaction in which one of the reactants is oxygen
from the air and the other is a fuel (gaseous, liquid, solid).
• accompanied by evolution of light and heat aside from the
combustion gases
• the generation of heat is the important product to supply
energy to the process industries.

Heat

Air
Burner Stack/Flue Gas
HC Fuel

Complete Combustion:
The complete combustion of a fuel means that all of its
combustible components are gasified: all of the carbon is burned
to carbon dioxide, all of the hydrogen is converted to water and
all sulfur to sulfur dioxide.

C + O2 CO2

1
H2 + O2 H 2O
2

S + O2 SO2

The complete combustion of any organic fuel is represented by:

1 x
Cw H xO ySz + [ 2w +
2 2 + 2z - y ]O2
x
w CO2 + H O + z SO2
2 2

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Dr. Susan A. Roces INTRODUCTION

Theoretical Oxygen:

• Theoretical oxygen is the oxygen required to be brought

into the process for complete combustion.
• Sometimes this quantity is called the required oxygen.

Two methods in solving theoretical oxygen:

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.

Theo O2 = ∑ (moles)i (Coefficient of O2)i

Example:
Determine the theoretical moles of dry air required for the
combustion of one mole of refinery gases containing 6 % H2S,
5 % H2, 57 % C3H8, 2 % CO2, and 30 % C4H10.

Basis: 1 mole of gaseous fuel

3
H 2S + O2 SO2 + H2O
2
(0.06)

1
H2 + O H 2O
2 2
(0.05)

C3H 8 + 5 O2 3 CO2 + 4H2O

(0.57)
13
C4H10 + O 4 CO2 + 5 H2O
2 2
(0.3)

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Dr. Susan A. Roces INTRODUCTION

Theoretical O2:

3 1 13
= (0.06) + (0.05) + 5 (0.57) + (0.3) = 4.915
2 2 2

Method 2:

The components of the fuel are broken down into corresponding

atoms of carbon, sulfur, hydrogen and moles of oxygen present.

Note:

1. For complete combustion, each atom C requires 1 mole O2;

each atom sulfur requires 1 mole O2; each atom H requires
1/4 mole O2;

2. The total moles of O2 in the fuel is subtracted from the O2

requirements to give the theoretical O2 from air.

3. The rational behind this is that before any amount of O2 is

taken from the air, the fuel first utilizes the O2 together
with it.

Therefore:
H
Theo O2 = at C + at S + at - moles O2
4

Solving the above example by Method 2:

Gas Mole At S At C At H Moles O2

H 2S 0.06 0.06 - 0.12 -
H2 0.05 - - 0.1 -
C3H 8 0.57 - 1.71 4.56 -
CO2 0.02 - 0.02 - 0.02
C4H10 0.30 - 1.2 3.00 -
1.0 0.06 2.93 7.78 0.02

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CHECAL2 AY 2017-2018
Dr. Susan A. Roces INTRODUCTION

7.78
Theo O2 = 2.93 + 0.06 + - 0.02 = 4.915
4

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. N2 in air is non-combustible and acts as
a diluent to the O2 in the air.

Example:

A furnace is fired with petroleum oil containing 80 % C, 13 % H,

3 % S, 1 % N and 3 % O. Determine the moles theoretical air
required for the combustion of one kg of oil.

Basis: 1 kg of fuel oil

0.80 0.03 0.13 0.03

theo O2 = + + - = 0.09917
12 32 4 32

0.21 (kg moles of theo air) = 0.09917

0.09917
kg moles of theo air = = 0.4722
0.21

Incomplete Combustion:

Incomplete combustion of fuel represents a loss of heat since

this should have been given off for additional power use had the
fuel been completely burnt.

Two obvious phenomenon of incomplete or partial combustion:

1. CO and H2 formation in the flue gas
2. Presence of unburned combustibles in the refuse for solid
fuels.

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Dr. Susan A. Roces INTRODUCTION

In actual practice, theoretical air is not sufficient to get complete

combustion.

Excess Air (excess O2):

• Amount of air (excess O2) above the stoichiometric

requirement for complete combustion.
• Amount of oxygen in the incoming air that is not used
during combustion.
• To achieve the highest possible combustion efficiency,
safety and maintenance needs.
• Does not depend on how much material is actually burned
but what can be burned.
• The percent excess air is identical to the percent excess O2

Percent Excess Air:

Excess air supply or excess O2 supply is a must for complete

combustion.

Excess O2 = Actual O2 supply - Theo O2

Excess O2
% Excess Air = x 100
Theoretical O2

Supplied O2 − Theo O2
= x 100
Theoretical O2

Excess O2
= x 100
Supplied O2 − Excess O2

The actual Percentage Excess Air depends on the fuel used for
combustion:

• Gaseous fuels require very little excess O2

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Dr. Susan A. Roces INTRODUCTION

• Liquid fuels require somewhat more % excess O2 depending

on their characteristics
• Solid fuels require maximum excess O2

If the percent excess air and the chemical equation are specified
in a problem, you will know how much air enters with the fuel.

Flue or stack gas:

All the gases resulting from combustion process including the

water vapor, sometimes known as a wet basis.

Orsat Analysis or dry basis:

• All the gases resulting from a combustion process not

including the water vapor
• Refers to a type of gas analysis apparatus in which the
volumes of the respective gases are measured over and in
equilibrium with water; hence each component is saturated
with water vapor.

Comparison of gas analysis on different bases:

CO2 Dry Flue

CO Gas on
H2 Free Orsat Analysis
Flue Gas O2 SO2 Basis Dry Basis
Stack Gas N2
Wet Basis SO2
H 2O