Principios De Combustion

PRINCIPLES OF COMBUSTION (ASHRAE Handbook—Fundamentals Chap 17).

Combustion is the chemical reaction in which an oxidant reacts rapidly with a fuel to liberate stored energy as thermal energy, generally in the form of high-temperature gases. Small amounts of electromagnetic energy (light), electric energy (free ions and electrons), and mechanical energy (noise) are also released during combustion. Except in special applications, the oxidant for combustion is oxygen in the air.

Conventional hydrocarbon fuels contain primarily hydrogen and carbon, in elemental form or in various compounds. Their complete combustion produces mainly carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O); however, small quantities of carbon monoxide (CO) and partially reacted flue gas constituents (gases and liquid or solid aerosols) may form. Most conventional fuels also contain small amounts of sulfur, which is oxidized to sulfur dioxide (SO2) or sulfur trioxide (SO3) during combustion, and noncombustible substances such as mineral matter (ash), water, and inert gases.

Fuel combustion rate depends on (1) the rate of the chemical reaction of the combustible fuel constituents with oxygen, (2) the rate at which oxygen is supplied to the fuel (the mixing of air and fuel), and (3) the temperature in the combustion region. The reaction rate is fixed by fuel selection. Increasing the mixing rate or temperature increases the combustion rate

With complete combustion of hydrocarbon fuels, all hydrogen and carbon in the fuel are oxidized to H2O and CO2. Generally, for complete combustion, excess oxygen or excess air must be supplied beyond the amount theoretically required to oxidize the fuel. Excess air is usually expressed as a percentage of the air required to completely oxidize the fuel.

In stoichiometric combustion of a hydrocarbon fuel, fuel is reacted with the exact amount of oxygen required to oxidize all carbon, hydrogen, and sulfur in the fuel to CO2, H2O, and SO2. Therefore, exhaust gas from stoichiometric combustion theoretically contains no incompletely oxidized fuel constituents and no unreacted oxygen (i.e., no carbon monoxide and no excess air or oxygen). The percentage of CO2 contained in products of stoichiometric combustion is the maximum attainable and is referred to as the stoichiometric CO2, ultimate CO2, or maximum theoretical percentage of CO2.

Stoichiometric combustion is seldom realized in practice because of imperfect mixing and finite reaction rates. For economy and safety, most combustion equipment should operate with some excess air. This ensures that fuel is not wasted and that combustion is complete despite variations in fuel properties and in the supply rates of fuel and air. The amount of excess air supplied to any particular piece of combustion equipment depends on such factors as (1) expected variations in fuel properties and in fuel and air supply rates, (2) equipment application, (3) degree of operator supervision required or available, and (4) control requirements. For maximum efficiency, combustion at low excess air is desirable.

Incomplete combustion occurs when a fuel element is not completely oxidized in the combustion process. For example, a hydrocarbon may not completely oxidize to carbon dioxide and water but may form partially oxidized compounds, such as carbon monoxide, aldehydes, and ketones. Conditions that promote incomplete combustion include (1) insufficient air and fuel mixing (causing local fuel-rich and fuel-lean zones), (2) insufficient air supply to the flame (providing less than the required quantity of oxygen), (3) insufficient reactant residence time in the flame (preventing completion

of combustion reactions), (4) flame impingement on a cold surface (quenching combustion reactions), or (5) flame temperature that is too low (slowing combustion reactions). Incomplete combustion uses fuel inefficiently, can be hazardous because of carbon monoxide production, and contributes to air pollution.

Combustion Reactions: The reaction of oxygen with the combustible elements and compounds in fuels occurs according to fixed chemical principles, including

• Chemical reaction equations

• Law of matter conservation: the mass of each element in the reaction products must equal the mass of that element in the reactants

• Law of combining masses: chemical compounds are formed by elements combining in fixed mass relationships

• Chemical reaction rates

Oxygen for combustion is normally obtained from air, which is a physical mixture of nitrogen, oxygen, small amounts of water vapor, carbon dioxide, and inert gases. For practical combustion calculations, dry air consists of 20.95% oxygen and 79.05% inert gases (nitrogen, argon, and so forth) by volume, or 23.15% oxygen and 76.85% inert gases by mass. For calculation purposes, nitrogen is assumed to pass through the combustion process unchanged (although small quantities of nitrogen oxides are known to form). Table 1 lists oxygen and air requirements for stoichiometric combustion of some pure combustible materials (or constituents) found in common fuels. Table 2 lists the products of stoichiometric combustion of the same pure combustible materials in Table 1.

Flammability Limits: Fuel burns in a self-sustained reaction only when the volume percentages of fuel and air in a mixture at standard temperature and pressure are within specific limits: the upper and lower flammability limits or explosive limits (UEL and LEL). See Table 3. Both temperature and pressure affect these limits. As the temperature of the mixture increases, the upper limit increases and the lower limit decreases. As the pressure of the mixture decreases below atmospheric pressure, the upper limit decreases and the lower limit increases. However, as pressure increases above atmospheric pressure, the upper limit increases and the lower limit is relatively constant.

Ignition Temperature: Ignition temperature is the lowest temperature at which heat is generated by combustion faster than heat is lost to the surroundings and combustion becomes self-propagating. See Table 3. The fuel-air mixture will not burn freely and continuously below the ignition temperature unless heat is supplied, but chemical reaction between the fuel and air may occur. Ignition temperature is affected by a large number of factors. The ignition temperature and flammability limits of a fuel-air mixture, together, are a measure of the potential for ignition.

Heating Value: Combustion releases thermal energy or heat. The quantity of heat generated by complete combustion of a unit of specific fuel is constant and is termed the heating value or heat of combustion of that fuel. The heating value of a fuel can be determined by measuring the heat evolved during

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