Fuel- types and properties
Fuel is any substance that can provide heat and produce energy when it is burned. This energy that
releases is generally in the form of chemical energy or heat energy. The recent invention of nuclear
technology means now even nuclear energy may be released due to nuclear fission or fusion.
This heat energy that fuels release is used for various purposes such as cooking, in heaters, for many
industrial and manufacturing purposes. At other times we use an engine to convert this heat energy
into mechanical energy. Like when we use petrol to run our cars. The oil which is used to as fuel in
the engine is known as Fuel oil.
And then there is the fuel our bodies use. Every cell requires energy to perform its functions. They
get this energy from organic molecules such as carbohydrates, fats etc. This process of using fuels is
known as cellular respiration. And these organic molecules are obtained via nutrition, which is why
we call food as the fuel of our bodies.
Learn more about Fuel cell here. A fuel cell is a device which can generate electricity by force
of chemical reaction.
Some properties of ideal fuel are:
1. High calorific value
2. Moderate ignition temperature
3. Low moisture content
4. Low non-combustible matter
5. Moderate velocity of combustion
6. Products of combustion not harmful
7. Low cost
8. Easy to transport
9. Combustion should be controllable
10. No spontaneous combustion
11. Low storage cost
12. Should burn in air with efficiency.
Types of Fuels:
Fuels can be generally classified as follows:
1. On the basis of their physical state:
Solid Fuels
Liquid Fuels
Gaseous Fuels
2. On the basis of their occurrence:
Natural Fuels
Artificial Fuels
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Fuel- types and properties
3. By period of natural renovation
Fossil fuels
Renewable fuels (Biomass)
Examples of Fuels:
Natural Fuels Artificial Fuels
Solid Fuels
Wood, Tanbark, Bagasse, Straw,
Coal, Charcoal,
Oil Shale Coal,
Briquettes
Liquid Fuels
Petroleum Oils from distillation of petroleum,
Coal Tar,
Shale-Oil,
Alcohols, etc.
Gaseous Fuels
Natural Gas Coal gas,
Producer Gas,
Water Gas, Hydrogen,
Acetylene,
Blast Furnace Gas,
Oil Gas
Solid Fuel
Fuels which are found in their solid state at room temperature are generally referred to as Solid
Fuels. They were the first kind of fuel known to be used by man, basically wood to create fire. Coal
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Fuel- types and properties
was another one of the influential fuels known to man as it leads the way for the industrial
revolution, from firing furnaces to running steam engines.
Advantages:
Easier transportation and storage.
Low production cost.
Moderate ignition temperature.
Disadvantages:
Large portion of energy is wasted.
Cost of handling is high and controlling is also hard.
Ash content is high & burn with clinker formation.
Liquid Fuel
Most liquid fuels are derived from the fossilized remains of dead plants and animals by exposure to
heat and pressure in the Earth’s crust. The fumes of the liquid fuel are flammable instead of the
liquid.
Advantages:
Higher calorific value per unit mass.
Burn without ash, clinkers, etc.
Controlling the combustion is easier.
Transportation easier through pipes and stored indefinitely without loss.
Loss of energy is comparatively lower.
Require less furnace space for combustion.
Disadvantages:
Cost of liquid fuel is much higher compared to solid fuel.
Storage methods are costlier.
Greater risk of fire hazards.
Special burning equipment required for more efficient combustion.
Fuel Gas
Gaseous fuels occur in nature, besides being manufactured from solid and liquid fuels. Most
gaseous fuels are composed of hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, hydrogen or a mixture of them all.
Advantages:
Transportation through pipes is easy.
Sparking combustion is really easy.
They have a higher heat content.
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Clean after use.
Do not require any special burner technology.
Disadvantages:
Large storage tanks required.
As they are highly inflammable, the chance for fire hazards are extremely high and strict
safety measures need to be followed.
Natural or primary fuels
Any commodity can be artificially produced, but it may cost a lot; humankind progress has always
been based on finding raw materials that with no cost or little cost could satisfy their needs. The
need for energy, to make machines work, to transport people and goods, and so on, has been met
in the past and in the present by primary fuels (biofuels in the past and fossil fuels during the last
two centuries).
• Fossil fuels: coal, crude oil (not used unprocessed), natural gas and biomass. They are obtained
by mining (coal) or welling (oil and gas). Some pumping is usually needed. Actually, crude oil is never
used as a primary fuel because there is no economy (residual crude-oil products are cheaper) and
Fuels 7 because it is difficult to handle (being a mixture of very light and very heavy substances, its
handling causes cavitation, vapour traps and sticky clogs).
• Biofuels (from biomass). They can be directly taken from nature (e.g. wood and fuel crops), or
from human activity waste (agriculture residues, industrial residues, animal residues, or domestic
waste).
Artificial or secondary fuels
• Distillates from natural fuels (fossil or biomass, but without chemical reaction): all petroleum
derivatives, plus alcohols used as additives and mixtures, may be obtained by distilling the raw
material. However, modern oil-refinery products really come from a combination of physical
methods (distillation) and chemical methods (reforming and cracking).
• Reformed from natural fuels (fossil or biomass, by chemical reactions with heat, steam or partial
air). They are also called synthetic fuels, and may be gaseous, liquid, or solid: hydrogen, acetylene,
synthetic gasoline, synthetic oils, synthetic gases (syngas), charcoal, and coke. Synthetic liquid fuels
are most promising because of their high energy density; first results date from 1897 when
formaldehyde (HCHO, Tb=98 ºC) was obtained by electrical discharge on a CO/H2 mixture (syngas),
but the main milestone is the Fischer-Tropsch process of 1923, where, desulfurated syngas
(generated by passing water vapour over hot coal), was made to react in presence of Fe, Ru and Co
catalysts, to yield a liquid hydrocarbon blend (containing from methane to heavy waxes) from which
gasoline-like and diesel-like fuels were obtained (e.g. 24H2+12CO=C12H24+12H2O); most of South
Africa's diesel fuel is currently produced this way (they also use a 50/50 Jet A-1 substitute, half from
oil, half from coal). Syngas preparation is the most expensive stage in the process due to materials
handling: purification of input coal, removal of sulfur, nitrogen, and ash. Methanol synthesis is
another important process, as a final fuel (CO+2H2=CH3OH), or as an intermediate step to gasoline
and diesel (e.g. through dehydration to dimethylether 2CH3OH=CH3OCH3+H2O).
• Exotic fuels (not obtained from fossil or biomass fuels): hydrogen from water electrolysis, and
nonhydrogen non-carbon fuels, like metals (Si, Al, Mg, Fe), used as intermediate energy stores,
since they are first produced from their oxides (with cheap natural energy) and afterwards burnt to
form their oxides (providing valuable artificial energy).
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Fuel- types and properties
Biofuel
Renewable fuels (biomass) are formed in a year or a few years basis (synthetic fuels may come from
fossil or from renewable sources):
• Gaseous: biogas from anaerobic fermentation or gasogen gas from pyrolysis of biomass.
• Liquid: alcohols, ethers (biopetrol), esters (biodiesel).
• Solid: wood, charcoal, fuel pellets (from wood or vegetable residues), agriculture residues, cattle
manure, urban waste.
In comparison with fossil fuels, particularly with oil and gas, renewable fuels are more disperse,
have less energy content, more moisture and ash content, and require more handling effort (but
they are renewable).
Fossil Fuel
These are conventional fuels. They are also non-replenishable. They have formed over thousands of
years in the earth’s core where fossilized remains of animals and plants have been exposed to high
pressure and temperatures. These are fast depleting and our dependence on them is a major
concern for all of humanity. Fossil fuels are the dead and decayed remains of plants and animals
subjected to decades of pressure and temperature under the earth’s crust. Primarily fossil fuels are
hydrocarbons. They are convenient and effective. They provide the calorific value required to fulfill
our needs. Even though they are available in plenty right now, they are a non-renewable source of
energy. The burning of fossil fuels is responsible for a large section of the world’s pollution index.
Types of fossil fuels:
Coal
Oil
Natural Gas
Nuclear Fuel
Any material consumed to give out nuclear energy is a nuclear fuel. Technically speaking, any
material can be made to give out nuclear energy. But looking at its practicality and feasibility, we
pick materials which do not require extreme constraints to release nuclear energy.
Most nuclear fuels contain heavy fissile elements that are capable of nuclear fission. When these
fuels are struck by neutrons, they are in turn capable of emitting neutrons when they break apart.
This makes possible a self-sustaining chain reaction that releases energy at a controlled rate in a
nuclear reactor or with a very rapid uncontrolled rate of a nuclear weapon.
Some common examples of nuclear fuel are uranium-235 (235U) and plutonium-239 (239Pu)
Fuel Efficiency
Now you know that energy cannot be created or destroyed, all energy can only be transferred. Fuel
also do not create energy. They only convert the chemical energy of the fuel to the kinetic energy
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with the help of the thermal energy supplied to them. The efficiency with which the fuel does this
conversion of energy is known as fuel efficiency.
Now let us take a look at how we measure this fuel efficiency. Fuel efficiency is measured as the
amount of heat that 1 kg of fuel (any fuel) produces on combustion. This is known as the calorific
value of the fuel. The unit of measurement of fuel efficiency is kilojoules per kg, i.e. kJ/kg.
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