LECTURE11PrinciplesofcombustionIII

Exercise1
Exercise2
Exercise3

Keywords:Combustion,Excessair,Stoichiometricair,Furnace,Blastfurnace
Exercise1
1)Afurnaceisheatedbycombustingagaseousfuelofcomposition29% CO, 9% CO , 16% H and
46% N withdryair.TheOrsatanalysisofproductsofcombustion(POC)is15% CO , 7% O and
78 %N .Calculatethefollowingonthebasisof1m ofgaseousfuel
a)
b)
c)
d)

volumeofPOCatNTP,STPandat1000
VolumeofairatNTP
Percentexcessair
% H OinPOC

SOLUTION:
a)VolumeofPOC(NotethatPOCandfluegasarethesame)
Consider1 m ofgaseousfuelatNTP(1atm.And273K).LetY m isPOC(1atm,273K)
PerformingCarbonbalance:
Carbon in CO

Carbon in CO

0.29

0.15Y,hence

0.09

Carbon in POC;itfollowsthat

2.53 m atNTP(1atmand273K)

2.53

298/273

2.53

1273/273 m at(1atmand1273K)

2.765m atSTP(1atmand298K)

NotetheincreaseinvolumeofPOCat1273Kwhichisaround5timesthanat273K.Thisknowledgeis
importantindesigningcombustionchamber.

b)Volumeofair
LetZ m isthevolumeofairrequiredatNTP.Performingnitrogenbalanceweget
Nitrogen from air
0.79Z
Z

0.46

Nitrogen in gaseous fuel

Nitrogen in POC,weget

0.78 x 2.53,hence

1.916 m atNTP

c)Percentexcessair
Inordertocalculatepercentexcessair,firstwehavetocalculatetheoreticalair.Theoreticalairistheair
requiredforcompletecombustionofthefollowingreactions:
CO
H

CO and(1)

0.5 O
0.5O

H O(2)

WenotethatbothCOandH require0.5moleofoxygen.Hence
Theoreticalamountofair1.071 m atNTP
Excess air in %

100 Actual air

Theoretical air / Theoretical air

78.89%.

AlternativelyexcessaircanalsobecalculatedfromexcessoxygeninPOC,sincetheoreticallyoxygenin
POCwillappearonlywhenitisexcessthantheoreticalinthisproblem
Excess air in %

100 0.07

1.916 / 0.21

1.071

78.74%.

Theslightdifferenceinexcessairmaybeduetoroundingoff.

d)%

inPOC

Fromthereaction2wegetstraightwaythatamoleofhydrogengives1moleofwater,hence
Percent H

Exercise2

in POC

100

0.16 / 2.53

0.16

5.95%

2)Afurnaceheatsthebillet.Thefurnaceisheatedbycombustingcoalwithair.Theultimateanalysisof
coalis; C 72.5%, H 7.5%, O 6.7%, N 1.3%, S 2.5%andash 9.5%.Themoisturecontentofcoal,when
firedis3%.Theairismoistwiththerelativehumidity(RH)of45%.Thebarometershows735mmHg
pressureand20 temperature.Thewatervapouratsaturationis17.54mmHg.TheOrsatanalysisof
productsofcombustion(POC)is10.3% CO , 6.2% O , 2% COand81.5% N .Calculatethefollowingon
thebasisof1kgofcoal

Percentexcessair
VolumeofairatNTP
TotalvolumeofPOC

SOLUTION:i)Percentexcessair
LetVisvolumeofPOCatNTP(1atmand273K).Performingcarbonbalanceasdoneinproblem1gives
thevolumeofPOC.Notethatcoalcontainssulphur.Orsatanalysisasexplainedinlecture10
reportsbothCO andSO .Thereforecarbonbalancehereis
Carbon from coal

Sulphur from coal

.

ThevolumeofPOCis

Carbon in POC

Nowwecancalculateactualamountofairthatisusedinthecombustionprocessbyperforming
nitrogenbalance;LetZkgmoleistheamountofnitrogenderivedfromair
Nitrogen in coal

Nitrogen in air

SubstitutingthevalueswegetZ

Nitrogen in POC
0.405 kg mole,henceoxygenwouldbe0.108kgmole

Nowcalculatetheoretical(stoichiometric)amountofair.Remembertheoreticalamountofairis
calculatedonthebasisofcompletecombustion;forthefollowingcombustionreactions;

2H

0.5 O

CO and
H O

0.5 O
O

SO

Theoretical amount of oxygen

Percent excess air

0.07785 kg moles

100 Actual oxygen

theoretical oxygen / theoretical oxygen

Substitutingthevaluesweget
.

Percentexcessair

%.

ii)VolumeofairatNTP:

NotethattheairismositsowehavetofindthecompositionofmoistairbyusingDaltonslawwhichis
but
,
.
Volume of air

0.405 x 760 / 574.41

0.536 kg mole

iii)TotalvolumeofPOC

Total volume of POC

Moisture in air

Dry volume of POC

H O formed by reaction 2

Moisture of coal

Onsubstitutingthevaluesweget

and

and

and

Exercise3
3)Inacontinuousheatingfurnace750 kg/hr coalisburntwith3%moistureandthefollowingultimate
analysis(drybasis);C 77, H 7%, O 4%, N 1%, S 2% andash9%.Innormaloperation,theOrsatanalysis
ofproductsofcombustion(POC)is13% CO , 6% O , 0.5% CO and80.5%N .Theoperatorhasopened
thefurnacedoorforcharging.Heclosesthedoorandoperatesthefurnacewiththesamefiringrateand
burneradjustmentaswasinthenormaloperationHedoesagainOrsatanalysisofPOC.TheOrsat
analysisnowis11.5% CO , 8.2% O ,and80.3%N2.HeissurprisedtoseechangeinOrsatanalysis.
Theoperatorwantsanexplanationbothqualitativelyandquantitatively.

SOLUTION:
Explanation:Theoperatorhasneitherchangedthefiringratenoradjustedtheburner.Whenthedoor
wasopened,atmosphericairisleakedintothecombustionchamberandCOofPOCwascombusted.
ThishasresultedinchangeinPOC.Wehavetocalculateexcessair

Basis of calculation is 1 kg / hr.

PerformingCarbonbalancewegetamountofPOC

0.4802molesfornormaloperation.

Againweperformcarbonbalancewhenthedoorwasopened.NowwegetamountofPOC
moles
Air leakage

0.564

0.803

0.4802

0.805

Amountofairleakageforcombustionof750 kg / hr coal

4.76 / 3.76

0.564

0.084 kg mols

23m3/min

Calculationsonexcessairhasbeendoneinproblem1and2.
Percent excess air

21.46%

Forfurtherproblemsrefer
A.Butts:Metallurgicalproblems

Assignments:
1) Inacontinuousheatingfurnace750kg/hrcoalisburntwith3%moistureandthefollowing
ultimateanalysis(drybasis);77, H 7%, O 4%, N 1%, S 2%andash9%.Innormaloperation,the
Orsatanalysisofproductsofcombustion(POC)is13% CO , 6% O , 0.5% COand80.5% N .
Theoperatorhasopenedthefurnacedoorforcharging.Heclosesthedoorandoperatesthe
furnacewithsamefiringrateandburneradjustmentaswasinthenormaloperationHedoes
againOrsatanalysisofPOC.TheOrsatanalysisnowis11.5% CO , 8.2% O and80.3% N .Heis
surprisedtoseechangeinOrsatanalysis.

2) Anaturalgasanalyzing85% CH , 5% C H and10% N isburnedwithairsuchthatpercent

oxygeninPOCremainsat2%ondrybasis.Assumecompletecombustion,calculate(a)analysis
ofPOC(drybasis),and(b)%excessair.
3) Afurnaceisheatedbycombustingagaseousfuelofcomposition29% CO, 9% CO , 16% H
and46% N withdryair.TheOrsatanalysisofproductsofcombustion(POC)is
15% CO , 7% O and78% N .Calculatethefollowingonthebasisof1m ofgaseousfuel
e)VolumeofPOCatNTP,STPandat1000
f)VolumeofairatNTP
g)Percentexcessair
h)% H OinPOC

4) Afurnaceheatsthebillet.Thefurnaceisheatedbycombustingcoalwithair.Theultimate
analysisofcoalis;C 72.5%, H 7.5%, O 6.7 %, N 1.3%, S 2.5%and9.5%.Themoisturecontent
analysisofcoal,whenfiredis3%.Theairismoistwiththerelativehumidity(RH)of45%the
barometershows735mmHgpressureand20 temprature.Thewatervapouratsaturationis
17.54mmHg.TheOrsatanalysisofproductsofcombustion(POC)is
10.3% CO , 6.2% O , 2% COand81.5% N .Calculatethefollowingonthebasisof1kgofcoal

iv)Percentexcessair
v)VolumeofairatNTP
vi)TotalvolumeofPOC