Step-by-step solution guide for solving the
Combustion calculation exercise
SPG course MJ2405
First of all, please NOTE:
The combustion table is intended to help with remembering the proper calculation
procedure, and to summarise the entire calculation including the final answers.
It is advisable but not necessary to use it.
The exercise can be solved and submitted without the combustion table!
Please NOTE also that:
Combustion chemistry, including the calculation of air and gas amounts, is
extensively explained in CompEdu, chapter S4B1C1 “Introduction to Combustion”!
a) Calculating the amount of necessary air for combustion:
1) Starting from the elemental (ultimate) fuel analysis in %-mass, which should
always be given, the first thing to do is to check if the analysis is given on dry- or
wet-fuel basis. If the sum of all given chemical elements in the fuel, in %, sum up
to 100 without taking into account the moisture content, then this surely is the dry
fuel analysis. Laboratories usually make the analysis on dry basis.
In such a case we should first convert it to wet (total) fuel analysis, in order to start
the calculation. It is the wet fuel that actually goes into the furnace.
The conversion should end up in all fuel elements (in %) including the moisture
content, summing up to 100.
Taking C (carbon) and H2 (hydrogen) as examples, the calculation is:
Cwet(total)basis = Cdry-basis * (1 – F) [%]
where C is in % while F is as fraction in the formula. Solving with the given data:
Cwet(total)basis = 30.2 * (1 – 0.618) = 11.54 %
H2,wet(total)basis = 3.5 * (1 – 0.618) = 1.34 % …
Same procedure is applied for all other basic elements present in the fuel.
All calculations further on will be using the wet (total) basis.
2) Next step is to find out how many moles of each basic element are present in 1 kg
fuel. We know the given %-mass of each element and its molar mass [g/mol].
Solving for the carbon content in the fuel:
0.1154 [kgC/kgfuel] = 115.4 [gC/kgfuel] Æ
115.4 [gC/kgfuel] / 12.01 [g/mol] = 9.61 [mol/kgfuel] …
Same procedure is applied for all other basic elements present in the fuel.
See the solved combustion table in Bilda for the precise results.
3) Next, the moles of necessary oxygen for oxidising each combustible element in the
fuel can be estimated from the basic chemical reactions of oxidation:
C + O2 Æ CO2
H2 + 0.5O2 Æ H2O
S + O2 Æ SO2
assuming that Sulphur is oxidised, but Nitrogen is not.
It can directly be seen that one mole of C and S need one mole of O2 each when
burning, while a mole of H2 needs half a mole of oxygen.
The necessary oxygen that should be supplied to the combustion process
[molesO2/kgfuel] will be the sum of all, minus any oxygen moles already available in
the fuel. Solving with the data from the exercise:
Oxygen needed = 1 [molO2/molC] * 9.61 [molC/kgfuel] + 0.5 [molO2/molH2] * 6.63
[molH2/kgfuel] + 1 [molO2/molS] * 0.32 [molS/kgfuel] - 2.9 [molO2/kgfuel] =
= 10.35 [molO2/kgfuel]
This is the stoichiometric (theoretical) amount of oxygen, just enough for complete
combustion of the fuel.
4) But oxygen is supplied with air, and air contains mostly nitrogen (assuming that all
other gases in the air are inert and can be taken as nitrogen).
The nitrogen in the air is therefore 79% / 21% = 3.762 times the oxygen.
Each mole of supplied oxygen for combustion carries with itself 3.762 moles of
useless nitrogen. Therefore:
Nitrogen carried along with the oxygen = 3.762 * 10.35 = 38.94 [molN2/kgfuel]
The stoichiometric (theoretical) amount of air needed for combustion, denoted with
“l0” from the Swedish word “Luft” which means “Air”, will be:
l0 = 10.35 [molO2/kgfuel] + 38.94 [molN2/kgfuel] = 49.3 [molair/kgfuel]
Moisture in air is not considered here. We assumed that air is absolutely dry.
If moisture were present in the air, it should be added to the sum above.
It is also assumed that the nitrogen content of the fuel converts ideally into
gaseous nitrogen, which remains in the flue gases.
b) Calculating the amount of flue gases resulting from combustion:
1) The moles of flue gas produced per mole of combustible element can be found
from the same chemical reactions are stated above.
C, H2, and S produce one mole of flue gas each!
The nitrogen in the fuel would theoretically be released as gaseous nitrogen and
would sum up with the nitrogen supplied with the air:
N2 from fuel + N2 from air = 0.31 + 38.94 = 39.3 [molN2/kgfuel]
As we assumed the air to be dry, it will not bring any moisture to the flue gases.
But there will always be plenty of moisture in the flue gas both from the hydrogen
combustion and from the water in the fuel vaporised during the combustion.
H2O from hydrogen + H2O from water in fuel = 6.63 + 34.3 = 40.93 [molH2O/kgfuel]
The total theoretical flue gas amount resulting from the stoichiometric combustion
is the sum of all gases:
g0 = 9.61 [molCO2/kgfuel] + 40.93 [molH2O/kgfuel] + 0.32 [molSO2/kgfuel] +
+ 39.3 [molN2/kgfuel] = 90.16 ~ 90.2 [mol/kgfuel]
2) Excess air is usually supplied to the furnace to ensure complete combustion.
With other words, in practice there is always a certain amount of excess air – thus
oxygen and nitrogen in excess, remaining in the flue gases. The amount of air
above the stoichiometric depends on the furnace design and on the type of fuel.
In this case, 1.3 times the stoichiometric air is supplied to the combustion process
(m = 1.3), i.e. 30% more air than the theoretical amount.
Actual (real) amount of air supplied: l = m*l0 = 1.3 * 49.3 = 64.1 [mol/kgfuel].
The excess oxygen remaining in flue gases will be 0.3 * 10.35 = 3.1 [molO2/kgfuel].
The excess nitrogen will be 0.3 * 38.94 = 11.7 [molN2/kgfuel].
The total (real) amount of flue gases including the excess air would be:
g = g0 + 0.3*l0 = 90.2 + 0.3*49.3 = 105 [mol/kgfuel]
or: g = g0 + O2,excess + N2,excess = 90.2 + 3.1 + 11.7 = 105 [mol/kgfuel]
c) Presenting the air and flue gas as volume flows in [mn3/kgfuel]:
A mol of any substance represents a given constant number of molecules.
A mol of any gas (perfect gas) at normal conditions would always occupy a
certain constant volume of 22.4 litres.
Hence, one mol of any perfect gas is 0.0224 mn3.
Total (real) air flow for combustion:
= 64.1 [mol/kgfuel] * 0.024 [mn3/mol] = 1.44 [mn3/kgfuel]
Total (real) flue gas flow from combustion:
= 105 [mol/kgfuel] * 0.024 [mn3/mol] = 2.35 [mn3/kgfuel]
d) Calculating the LHV of a humid fuel:
Higher Heating Value (HHV) for fuels, also called “calorimetric”, expresses all
thermal energy that the fuel releases during combustion including the heat
hidden in the condensation of all moisture from the flue gases.
Lower Heating Value (LHV) of a fuel, also called “effective”, doesn’t take into
account the heat of condensation of moisture in flue gases.
Moisture in the flue gas comes from hydrogen combustion and from the
evaporation of free water in the fuel. The more wet the fuel is, and the more H2
it contains, the higher will be the difference between its LHV and HHV.
If we try to condense the last drop of water in a gas, we would need to cool it
down close to 0oC. The difference between HHV and LHV can thus be
approximated to the heat of condensation at 0oC (which is around 2.5 MJ/kg)
of all water vapour present in the gas.
A laboratory would usually report the HHV of a dry fuel.
Exactly such a value is given in the exercise.
Finding out the LHV of the proper (wet) fuel requires two steps:
Firstly, convert the given HHV of dry fuel into HHV of the wet fuel
HHVwet = HHVdry * (1 – F) = 12.19 * (1 – 0.618) = 4.66 MJ/kg
where F is the mass fraction of free moisture in the fuel.
Secondly, switch from HHV to LHV by subtracting the heat of condensation of
all possible moisture in the gas (coming from hydrogen combustion and from
the free water in the fuel):
LHV = HHVwet-fuel – 2.5 * (8.93*H2 + F) =
= 4.66 – 2.5 * (8.93*0.0134 + 0.618) = 2.82 MJ/kgfuel
where H2 is the mass fraction of hydrogen in the wet fuel.
“8.93” comes from dividing the molar mass of water to the molar mass of
hydrogen in precise numbers (18.02 / 2.02), because a mol of hydrogen
produces a mol of water Æ 1 kg of hydrogen produces 8.93 kg of water.
LHV is preferred for practical calculations because moisture from flue gases
can never be entirely condensed anyway.
e) Adiabatic combustion temperature (flame temperature):
When a fuel burns, its energy is converted into heat, which results in
increasing the temperature of the products of combustion Æ hot flue gases.
Assuming no heat losses and no energy spent for undesired chemical
reactions, all heat released during combustion will heat up the produced gases
to the highest possible temperature Æ adiabatic combustion temperature.
How hot the flue gases are depends on the available energy per unit of fuel
(LHV of the fuel), and on the specific heat of the produced gases.
A high-grade fuel without moisture in it, for example natural gas, will be able to
deliver very high adiabatic temperature of combustion, above 2000 oC.
A low-grade fuel with low energy and high moisture content, for example
biomass, will not be able to heat up the flue gases so much, usually around
1000 – 1500 oC or even less.
Inert gases in the combustion process (like nitrogen) also play a role in limiting
the adiabatic temperature of combustion.
Highest possible adiabatic temperatures are therefore produced by energy-
rich fuels requiring low stoichiometry, combusted in pure oxygen – a typical
example is the acetylene burner used for cutting or welding – above 3000 oC.
The adiabatic combustion temperature can be found from a heat balance over
the combustor, assuming no heat losses. In general terms:
mfuel*LHV + mair*hair = mgases*hadiabatic
Using the parameters from this exercise and expressing per kg fuel:
LHV + l*hair = g*hgas
To solve this, we should first express the air and flue gas flows as mass flows.
The densities of air and flue gas at normal conditions would be necessary.
Air as a perfect gas has a density of 1.28 kg/mn3 (for a pure chemical element
this can be found from the equation of state), and we can assume that the flue
gas is very close to air in this sense – anyway nitrogen is the main component
of the flue gas too, in much higher amounts that any product of combustion.
Air for combustion: l = 1.44 [mn3/kgfuel] * 1.28 [kg/mn] = 1.843 [kg/kgfuel]
Flue gases: g = 2.35 [mn3/kgfuel] * 1.28 [kg/mn] = 3.01 [kg/kgfuel]
It is given that the air is preheated to 300 oC Æ air enthalpy is 305.6 kJ/kg.
2820 [kJ/kgfuel] + 1.843 [kg/kgfuel] * 305.6 [kJ/kg] = 3.01 [kg/kgfuel] * hgas
Solving this for hgas gives:
hgas = 1124 [kJ/kg] Æ this is the adiabatic enthalpy of the flue gas
From hgas we can find the flue gas temperature using the table in the help file,
if we knew the gas content (x) of the flue gas.
The gas content is directly related to the air excess factor: x = 1/m = 0.77
With a simple iteration procedure we can find (backwards from the gas
enthalpy table) which temperature corresponds to the calculated enthalpy
having in mind the gas content of 0.77
Example:
Guess a temperature of 1000 oC:
hgas at 1000oC = hair + x*Dh = 1089.5 + 0.77*102.5 = 1168 kJ/kg
we are a little above the target…
Guess a slightly lower temperature, say 960 oC:
hgas at 960oC = hair + x*Dh = 1042.4 + 0.77*97 = 1117 kJ/kg
we are much closer, but a bit below the target…
Make a new guess, say 965 oC. Some interpolation in the gas enthalpy table
will be necessary:
hgas at 965oC = hair + x*Dh = 1048 + 0.77*97.7 = 1123 kJ/kg
This is now close enough to the calculated value of 1124 kJ/kg, therefore the
adiabatic flue gas temperature seems to be 965 oC
We can find the temperature also by using the specific heat of the flue gas.
However, the specific heat of a gas mixture varies with the composition of the
mixture and with its temperature, and interpolation is again necessary.
Precise calculations by computer simulations can derive the proper value for
specific heat of the gases in order to find their adiabatic temperature.
