CHAPTER 5

Fuels
The raw materials of the heat power plant are the potential energy dormant in a fuel and the
oxygen necessary to convert it to a dynamic high temperature condition. A fuel is composed of
chemical elements which, in rapid chemical union with oxygen, produce combustion.
Combustion is the rapid chemical union with oxygen of an element whose exothermic heat of
reaction is sufficiently great and whose rate of reaction is sufficiently fast that useful quantities of
heat are liberated at elevated temperatures. Coal is the most used solid fuel for generating steam,
but sometimes industrial wastes are used. Fuel oil is the most important liquid type of fuel.
Gas
Natural gas is widely distributed in the United States, and a growing network of pipe lines is
making it increasingly available to industry. Its cost per unit heat content at the wells compares
favourably with other fuels, but the cost of transportation through expensive pipelines, having
compressor stations at periodic intervals, adds a delivery charge which causes it to be an
expensive fuel, compared to oil or fuel. Its advantage is its convenience in use, stemming from
ease of control, smokeless combustion, and absence of ash. Methane is the major constituent of
natural gas. Most samples of natural gas average about 37,260 Joules/litres measured at standard
conditions of 762 mm Hg and 15.6 C.
Oil
The liquid fuels of power plant practice are nearly always by-products of petroleum. Crude
petroleum oil contains mainly carbon and hydrogen, along with some small amounts of oxygen,
nitrogen, and sulfur. The hydrogen is present always in the form of hydrocarbon mixtures. The
approximate chemical composition of petroleum and its derivatives is: carbon, 85%; hydrogen,
15%. Many special fuels are produced from crude oil by distillation and by chemical cracking,
which is decomposition under conditions of high temperature and pressure.
The total proved reserves of crude oil in the United States in 1947 were 24.7 billion barrels.
Internal Combustion Engine Fuel
The I.C. engine as used in the United States is operated almost exclusively on fuels derived from
petroleum. The exception if fuel gas for an occasional gas or dual-fuel engine. Crude petroleum
has been abundant in this country. The largest demand has been for gasoline on account of
automobile, truck, and airplane. Refineries process the crude for maximum gasoline production.
The typical petroleum substance is a complex of carbon and hydrogen, mixed in various
compounds each having its own boiling range. Since the Diesel is the principal I.C. engine for
stationary power plants, the important comparative properties of fuels suitable for it are to be
considered.
Density. Mass per unit volume is the universal definition of density.
The hydrometer furnishers the simplest method of determining gravity. The volumetric
coefficient of expansion of oil is 0.0007 per C.
Hydrometer scales will be found to be marked in degrees as well as S.G. The degrees may
be expressed in Baume or API units.
The American Petroleum Institute scale of degrees is accepted as the standard by the petroleum
industry.

Viscosity. The property that measures a fluids resistance to flow. In the C.G.S. system the
absolute unit is the poise. Kinematic Viscosity is absolute viscosity divided by density. In
C.G.S. system the unit is stokes.
The time taken by a fluid flowing through a calibrated tube at specified temperature and head is
proportional to kinematic viscosity. Laboratory measures of viscosity is made with the Saybolt
viscometer, consisting of a temperature bath surrounding a standard oil tube. Most diesel fuels
have viscosity between 30 and 45 Saybolt Seconds Universal (SSU) at 37.8 C. Another viscosity
index is Saybolt Seconds Furol. 62 SSF = 600 SSU
Volatility and Residue. Diesel fuel being a mixture of hydrocarbons, it is important to know the
distribution of volatility, especially the two extremes of low and high volatile compounds. This
can be tested by the ASTM Distillation Test in which a measured sample of the oil is slowly
heated. The average coiling point and end point is 163 C to 371 C. High speed engines require
larger fractions of low-boiling-point compounds than do the low-speed, since the latter allow
considerably more time for combustion.
A test is sometimes made for residue by carbonizing the fuel in a covered dish and weighing the
dry remainder.
Ignition quality. Of many factors influencing fuel ignition, the chemical nature of the fuel itself
is one of the most important. Means of measuring and controlling this quality in a fuel are not yet
perfected, but Cetane Number and Diesel Index are extensively employed. Cracked oils show
lower cetane number than straight-run distillates.
The aniline point is that temperature where equal parts of oil or aniline (a coal tar derivative)
will dissolve in each other.
Diesel index is 5-10 units higher than cetane number of the same fuel. The additive in principal
use is Amyl Nitrate. One percent of this in fuel oil will increase cetane number approximately 10
points.
Determined as the time lag between injection and ignition if the fuel under running conditions.
This is the CFR Diesel method. (CFR is from the title of the SAE Cooperative Fuel Research
Committee). Alternately the lowest or critical compression ratio at which the fuel will ignite is
used.
Calorific Value. Determination of the heats of combustion of petroleum oils may be made with
the bomb calorimeter, results so obtained being the higher heating values Q h. The net or lower
heating value is a better indication of heat energy available to the engine, since exhaust gases are
hot enough to contain the H2O in the form of vapour.
The relative carbon and hydrogen content of oil is closely allied to its density, for the impurities
in commercial engine oil are an insignificant fraction of the total.
Lower pour points may be specified whenever required by local temperature conditions to
facilitate storage and use.
Fuel oils vary from 40,705 to 46,520 J per g; the higher the density, the lower the heat content.
High-gravity fuel will have more heat units per litre, although fewer per gram than light fuel.
Pour, Flash and Color.
The flash point is the temperature at which ignition of the fuel vapors rising above the heated oil
will occur when exposed to an open flame.

Pour point is the minimum temperature at which the fuel will no longer pour freely.
Color is sometimes specified on the basis that good color indicates clean fresh stock of
satisfactory volatility.
Purity. Although oil is relatively pure fuel it may contain some sediment and water, ash or sulfur,
all of which are undesirable impurities and limited to low permissible amounts in specifications.
Sediment and water are determined by diluting the fuel with benzol and centrifuging.
Sulfur to an excessive amount may produce corrosion and deposits in the engine. All oils have
some sulfur, but the allowable content is small, less than 2% at any case.
Manufacturers establish minimum fuel specifications for their engines based in their individual
experiences.
Furnace Fuel Oil
The characteristics qualities employed to measure the value of furnace oil are mainly the same as
those mentioned which are: heating value, specific gravity, viscosity, flash and pour points,
carbon residue and impurities.
The common unit of measure for oil sales is volumetric, either the litre or the barrel, which is
159 litres (42 US gallons).
Coal
Coal is a heterogeneous compound difficult to define. While its constituents are always carbon,
hydrogen, oxygen, sulfur, nitrogen and certain mineral non-combustibles, not ordinarily
analysed but lumped together as ash, the many ways in which these elements are
compounded in coal as found at different sites precludes any simple definition. The presence in
coal, as found in storage files, or ready-to-fire, or as-received at the laboratory, of both moisture
and ash gives rise to certain variations of analysis of the constituents. These variations are:
1.) As-received. As sampled from car deliveries, storage piles, stoker hoppers, then tightly
sealed for delivery to the analysing laboratory.
2.) Air-dried. When the as-received sample, partly ground or crushed, is laid out in the
laboratory room until it no longer loses moisture to the surrounding atmosphere, its
condition is said to be air-dried.
3.) Moisture-free. This coal could actually be produced by holding the sample at slightly above
100C for a sufficient length of time to drive off all the surface moisture. The moisture
content of air-dried coal varies from time to time, but the moisture-free basis is a
duplicatable condition.
4.) Moisture- and ash-free. This is a hypothetical substance. Actually one is not able to
separate ash from coal except by the process of combustion. Moisture- and ash-free coal os
generally called combustible.
The sulfur content of a coal varies from as low as 0.5% to as much as 5%.
Based upon the composition of the hypothetical moisture- and ash-free coal, there have been
several different systems devised for the classification of the different grades or ranks.
Two Forms of coal analysis are used by combustion engineers. The first, the proximate
analysis, is the separation of the coal into moisture, volatile material, fixed carbon, and ash.
The grindability index is an important characteristic in pulverized coal plants, since it is a
measure of the relative ease of difficulty of pulverizing different kinds of coal. The weight of
the ground product that will pass a 75 micron sieve is employed to calculate an index number

called the Hardgrove Grindability (HG). Typical values of this index are 50 to 60 for good
bituminous coal.
Coals having 69% or more fixed carbon on the dry, mineral-matter-free basis shall be classified
according to fixed carbon, regardless of J.
Another important physical characteristic is the ash fusion temperature.
The proximate analysis is of little use in combustion calculations, which are essentially
chemical equations. A chemical, or ultimate, analysis, is required for that kind of work. Studies
have been made of the possibility of constructing a synthetic ultimate analysis from the
proximate analysis.
In order to climate the random elements, the transfer is made from the proximate to the ultimate
analysis of combustible.
The firing qualities of a coal are highly important in selection if the coal or combustion
equipment if being considered, for if it were not for the effects of these qualities, coal could be
purchased on the basis of heating value alone.
The purchaser of small quantities of coal rarely pays any attention to other than its cost per
tonne, and, occasionally, if firing characteristics have forced him to it, the sulfur and moisture
content.
Fuel Tests for Heating Value
Most modern central power stations have a laboratory in which routine test are made,
including tests of fuel.
Heating value tests are performed by the use of one of the standard fuel calorimeters.
The apparatus for heating value testing falls into two general categories: (1) continuous flow
and (2) individual sample or batch apparatus.
Solid fuels are tested with individual sample apparatus, gaseous fuels by continuous flow
apparatus, and liquid fuels by either type, depending upon the volatility. Most type of
calorimeters measure the heat released by absorbing it in water. If the maximum temperature
of the absorbing medium is low enough to cool the products of combustion below 100C, the
latent heat of vaporization in the products will be released.
Coal Calorimeter. The heating value of coal is determined either by the peroxide or oxygen
bomb calorimeter. The bomb is constructed of two pieces held together with a screwed collar.
The bomb has a fuel tray, oxygen valve, two external electrical leads, and internal poles to
which fuse wire can be connected.
The heat released by the ensuing combustion is absorbed by the water, by the bomb, and by
the container via a small rise in temperature. It is convenient to express the heat absorbing
capacity of the bomb and container per degree temperature rise that of an equivalent weight of
water which would absorb the same heat with the same temperature rise.
After adding or deducting any necessary corrections, Q is divided by the initial weight if the
coal sample to get the higher heating value.
It is important that the temperature rise be rationally determined. Before the bomb is ignited,
the temperature rise is gradual.

Gas Calorimeter. Fuel is burned in a steady flame, with air as the oxidant. To test gas in
continuous flow calorimeter, a special gas burner was devised for perfect combustion.
The quantity of gas burned is indicated by a wet type gas meter, which shows the
temperature of the gas as well as the volume consumed. The customary way of expressing the
heating value of gas is Joules per litre under standard conditions of temperature and pressure.
The calorimeter is equipped with thermometers in wells for the measurement of temperature
rise of the water and temperature of the outgoing products of combustion.
If the air used for combustion is not saturated, a part of the heat released will be carried off in
the latent heat of the vapor required for saturation of the products.
In this calorimeter the products are cooled nearly to room temperature.
The lower heating value is obtained by deducting the latent heat of the moisture in the
products.
Proximate Analysis
This analysis is made by heating the coal until it decomposes successively into three of the
four complex items of the proximate analysis.
The dessicator is a closed vessel containing a dehumidifying substance which will keep the
test samples from absorbing the moisture from the atmosphere as they cool.
Ash and Refuse Analysis
The complete ultimate analysis of a coal ash is a major job in the chemistry of quantitative
analysis, which would not be expected of a power plant engineer. In this test, a special furnace
is necessary, since the heating is to be carried out in a reducing atmosphere.
Analysis of the refuse of a coal fire is needed after a heat balance test in order to determine
the combustible content, if any. The combustible content of the refuse is generally assumed to
have been carbon, although this is probably not always exactly true. The refuse analysis is
used to determine the dry refuse per kg coal burned.