In any combustion process such as a boiler or internal combustion engine, the amount

of air supplied to the process over and above the theoretical amount needed for
complete combustion is referred to as excess air. The theoretical amount of air is the
amount required to completely combust all the carbon, hydrogen, and if present, the
sulfur in the fuel. If “perfect” combustion could be achieved, there would be no need
for any extra or excess air. However, due to fluctuations in fuel flow and the lack of
perfect mixing between fuel and air in the combustion zone, excess air is required to
achieve more complete combustion of the fuel. Without this extra air, the formation of
partial products of combustion such as carbon monoxide, organic compounds, and
even carbon particles or soot may occur. However, supplying too much excess air will
decrease combustion efficiency and a balance between too much air and not enough
air must be maintained. The extra or excess air must be drawn through the process’s
fans, thus requiring extra power, and the air must be heated in the process before
being exhausted out of the stack or vent, thus causing an added heat loss. This balance
between complete combustion and not supplying too much excess air must be
achieved in each combustion process. Choosing an excess air level is based on the
type of fuel and the degree of combustion control that can be achieved for a specific
system. Excess air levels range from about 5 to 10 percent for gas or oil fired furnaces
to about 15 to 50 percent for coal and wood fired units1.

The amount of excess air can be readily estimated for conventional combustion
processes by using the following equation:

% Excess air = 100 * (%O2 - 0.5%CO) / [(0.264%N2 ) - (%O2 - 0.5%CO)]

Where %O2 is the percent oxygen, %CO is the percent carbon monoxide, if any, and
%N2 is the percent nitrogen in the exhaust stream. The concentrations may be on a
wet or dry basis as long as they are consistent. The percent nitrogen in the exhaust
stream is usually not measured and is estimated by subtracting the sum of the carbon
dioxide, oxygen, and carbon monoxide percentages from one hundred. That is, %N2 =
100 - (%CO2 + %O2 + %CO).

The factor 0.264 in the denominator of the excess air equation is the ratio of the
percent oxygen to nitrogen by volume in air (20.9 / 79.1). When the nitrogen in the
exhaust stream is multiplied by this ratio, it provides an estimate of the oxygen
entering the process. This occurs because the amount of nitrogen leaving the process
is assumed to be the same as the nitrogen entering the process in the air. This estimate
assumes that there is little or no nitrogen in the fuel and that air is the source of the
oxygen. This equation should thus not be used for processes using coke oven or blast
furnace off gas as fuel, since they have high levels of nitrogen, or when oxygen
enrichment is used. The relatively small amount of nitrogen that reacts to form
nitrogen oxides is negligible in this estimate.

The percent excess air equation thus relates the oxygen left over in the exhaust gas to
the oxygen required in the process. The oxygen required in the process is equal to the
amount of oxygen entering the process minus the amount left over as measured in the
exhaust stream. The oxygen content in the exhaust stream must be “adjusted” or
corrected for any carbon monoxide remaining in the stream. Do this by subtracting
one-half of the measured carbon monoxide, if any, from the oxygen concentration.
The resulting value represents the oxygen concentration that would be present if all
the carbon monoxide had been combusted to carbon dioxide. Only one-half of a mole
of oxygen is required to complete the combustion of carbon monoxide to carbon
dioxide.

The following example illustrates the excess air calculation procedure:

CO2 measured in the exhaust duct—10.0 percent
O2 measured in the exhaust duct—8.0 percent
CO measured in the exhaust duct—0.05 percent (500 PPM by volume)
The estimated nitrogen content would be—100 -
(10.0 + 8.0 + 0.05) = 81.95 percent
% Excess air = 100 * (8.0 - 0.5 * 0.05) / [(0.264 * 81.95) -
(8.0 - 0.5 * 0.05)] = 58.4 percent

The importance of accurately measuring the carbon dioxide, oxygen, and carbon
monoxide in the exhaust stream cannot be overemphasized when estimating excess air
rates for a combustion operation and for correcting atmospheric emission
concentrations to a specific basis or standard such as 12 percent CO2, seven percent
O2 or 50 percent excess air. Correcting or adjusting an emission concentration such as
the particulate concentration to a specific carbon dioxide or oxygen concentration, or
excess air rate accounts for dilution of the exhaust stream. Dilution is caused by high
excess air rates or by outside air leaking into the exhaust duct, which in turn reduces
or dilutes pollutant concentrations. The excess air rates do not affect the rate or
quantity of emissions (e.g. pounds per hour or pounds per million Btu of heat input)
only the emission concentrations.

An estimate of excess air is of course only as good as the values used in the
calculation, and great care must be used in making measurements for carbon dioxide,
oxygen and carbon monoxide. An Orsat apparatus should be used as specified in
Federal EPA method 3B to measure these gaseous concentrations in an integrated
sample taken during a period of stable operation2. Alternatively, instrumental gas
analyzers as specified in EPA Method 3A could be used if carbon monoxide was also
measured. PE