Classification and characteristics of Gaseous and Liquid and Solid Fuels November 16 and 18, 2015

Gaseous

Natural gas: A gaseous mixture of hydrocarbon compounds, the primary one being methane.

Synthetic Natural Gas (SNG): (Also referred to as substitute natural gas) A manufactured product,
chemically similar in most respects to natural gas, resulting from the conversion or reforming of
hydrocarbons that may easily be substituted for or interchanged with pipeline‐quality natural gas.

Compressed Natural Gas (CNG): Natural gas which is comprised primarily of methane, compressed to a
pressure at or above 2,400 pounds per square inch and stored in special high‐pressure containers. It is
used as a fuel for natural gas powered vehicles.

Liquefied Natural Gas: Natural gas (primarily methane) that has been liquefied by reducing its
temperature to ‐ 260 degrees Fahrenheit at atmospheric pressure.

Biogas: A gas containing methane and carbon dioxide, resulting from the anaerobic digestion of organic
materials by microorganisms.

Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG): Industry term for any material composed predominately of the following
hydrocarbons or mixtures of them: propane, propylene, butanes, and butylenes. LPG is recovered from
crude oil, and natural and refinery gases.

Manufacture gasses (Secondary gaseous fuel): A gas obtained by destructive distillation of coal, or by the
thermal decomposition of oil, or by the reaction of steam passing through a bed of heated coal or coke.

From wood (Wood gas)

From peat (Peat gas)

From coal (Coal gas, Producer gas, water gas, Lurgi gas, Blast furnace gas)

From petroleum and oil shale (Refinery gas, Oil gas)

From carbides with water (Acetylene)

By electrolysis (Hydrogen gas)

Pyrolysis gas

**As a group provide an overview or description on how the above gasses are obtained or produce and
their common application. To be submitted on November 23, 2015 at 5:00 PM. Please use proper citation
and referencing
Liquid

Light oils or Spirits – suitable for use with internal combustion engines and jet engines

Heavy oils or Furnace oils – include the heaviest grades of natural petroleum oil and lubricating oils and
fractions remaining as residues after distillation.

Knock: The sound of “ping” associated with autoignition of a portion of the fuel– air mixture ahead of the
advancing flame front in the combustion chamber of a gasoline engine.

Crude Oil: Crude petroleum. A naturally occurring mixture, consisting predominately of hydrocarbons and
organic compounds containing sulfur, nitrogen, oxygen, and traces of metallic constituents, which is
capable of being removed from the earth in a liquid state. Crude petroleum is commonly accompanied by
varying quantities of extraneous substances such as water, inorganic matter, and gas. Basic types of
crudes are asphaltic, naphthenic, paraffinic, or intermediate, depending on the relative proportion of
these types of hydrocarbons present.

Octane Number – is the % by volume iso-octane in an iso-octane (C8H18) – n-heptane (C7H16) mixture
with the same knocking tendency as the fuel.

Cetane Number – is the %by volume of cetane (C16H34) in a cetane – methyl naphthalene (C11H10)
mixture that has the same performance as the fuel.

Smoke point: A test made of kerosene and jet fuels that indicates the highest point to which the flame
can be turned before it will smoke. The smoke point is the maximum flame height, in millimeters, at which
the fuel will burn without smoking under specified conditions in a smoke point apparatus. This is an
important test for kerosene and indicates the aromatic content of kerosene. Higher smoke point is better
for domestic use.

Flash point: is the lowest temperature at which a volatile material can vaporize to form an ignitable
mixture in air. Measuring a flash point requires an ignition source. At the flash point, the vapor may cease
to burn when the ignition source is removed.

The flash point is a descriptive characteristic that is used to distinguish flammable liquids from combustible
liquids. Liquids which have a flash point less than 37.8 or 60.5 °C (100.0 or 140.9 °F), depending on the
standard that is used, are called flammable — whereas liquids having a flash point above that temperature
are called combustible

Autoignition Temperature or kindling point: is the lowest temperature at which a substance will
spontaneously ignite at normal atmosphere without an external source of ignition, such as a flame or
spark. This temperature is required to supply the activation energy needed for combustion. The
temperature at which a chemical will ignite decreases as the pressure or oxygen concentration increases.

Fire point: is the temperature at which the vapour produced by that given fuel will continue to burn for
at least 5 seconds after ignition by an open flame. At the flash point, a lower temperature, a substance
will ignite briefly, but vapor might not be produced at a rate to sustain the fire. Most tables of material
properties will only list material flash points, but in general the fire points can be assumed to be about
10 °C higher than the flash points.
 Petroleum Based Liquid Fuels Renewable Liquid Fuels
Gasoline Bio-ethanol, Bio-butanol
Diesel Biodiesel
Kerosene Bio-kerosen
Natural Solid Fuels Artificial Solid Fuels
Wood Wood Charcoal
Peat Peat Charcoal
Lignites Lignite Briquettes
Coals Lignite Coke
Biomass (other than wood) Coke

**As a group provide an overview or description on how the above fuels are obtained or produce and
their common applications. To be submitted on November 23, 2015 at 5:00 PM. Please use proper
citation and referencing

Fuel Composition and Characteristics

Characteristics Gaseous Liquid Solid

Volume Percent Volume Percent Ultimate Analysis/
Elemental Analysis
Elemental Analysis
Composition (Weight Percent) Modified Ultimate
Analysis

Proximate Analysis
• Determined Experimentally

• Calculated as the on the heat of combustion of the individual

Heating Value
gaseous component(s) present in the mixture.

• Predicted or estimated based on its composition

Ultimate Analysis

CHONS: precise chemical determination of the % by weight of the six basic elements: Carbon, Hydrogen,
Nitrogen, Sulfur and Oxygen (usually obtained by difference).

Ash: Residue that remains after when a biomass sample is slowly heated and completely combusted in a
muffle furnace until a constant weight at 500 to 950°C

Modified Ultimate Analysis

Moisture: water expelled when a solid sample is heated at 103 to 110°C to a constant weight.

Combined Water (CW): the oxygen in the coal (not present in moisture) is treated as though it were
already combined with hydrogen.
Carbon (C): Determined via combustion and analyzed using an elemental analyzer or by absorbing the
CO2 in the combustion gases after complete combustion with potash water. Total Carbon (TC) and Total
Organic Carbon (TOC) analyzer may also be used for determining of the carbon content of the sample.

Net or Available Hydrogen: Hydrogen which requires oxygen gas from air for combustion.

Sulfur (S): Determined via combustion and analyzed using an elemental analyzer or with the aid of a bomb
calorimeter, where the condensed sulfur in the form of sulfuric acid and is determined gravimetrically by
precipitating the recovered sulfur as barium sulfate.

Nitrogen (N): Determined via combustion and analyzed using an elemental analyzer or through Kjeldahl
Nitrogen analysis which only accounts for organic nitrogen present in the biomass sample.

Ash: Residue that remains after when a biomass sample is slowly heated and completely combusted in a
muffle furnace until a constant weight at 500 to 950°C

Proximate Analysis

Moisture: water expelled when a solid sample is heated at 103 to 110°C to a constant weight.

Volatile Combustible Matter (VCM)/ Volatile Matter (VM): Total loss in weight less that of the moisture
in the biomass when a biomass sample is heated to 900°C in a nitrogen atmosphere.

Ash: Residue that remains after when a biomass sample is slowly heated and completely combusted in a
muffle furnace until a constant weight at 500 to 950°C

Fixed Carbon (FC): Obtained by difference from 100% of the sum of moisture, VCM and ash.

Calorific Values – the quantity of heat released on combustion. Calorific value is a measure of the heat-
producing ability of a fuel.

Gross Calorific Value (GCV) / Higher Heating Value (HHV) – is defined as the amount of heat released by
a specified quantity (initially at 25°C) once it is combusted and the products have returned to a
temperature of 25°C, which takes into account the latent heat of vaporization of water in the combustion
products.

Net Calorific Value (NCV) / Lower Heating Value (LHV) – is defined as the amount of heat released by
combusting a specified quantity (initially at 25°C) and returning the temperature of the combustion
products to 150°C, which assumes the latent heat of vaporization of water in the reaction products is not
recovered.
𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤 𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘
𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿 = 𝐻𝐻𝐻𝐻𝐻𝐻 − 𝐻𝐻𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣 × ; 𝐻𝐻𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣 = 44.01
𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 𝐻𝐻2 𝑂𝑂
Fuel Mixtures
𝑛𝑛

𝐻𝐻𝐻𝐻𝐻𝐻 = � 𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖 𝐻𝐻𝐻𝐻𝐻𝐻𝑖𝑖

𝑖𝑖=1
For gaseous fuels calorific values are expressed in SI as dry (MJ/dry SCM) or wet (MJ/SCM) basis at 15.56 °C,
760 mmHg and 100 % RH.

Standard Temperature and Pressure

Standards Temperature Pressure

Standard temperature and
0 oC (273.15 K) 105 pascals (1 bar)
pressure (stp)
Standard Temperature and
15.6 oC (288.75 K) 1 atm (1.01325 bar)
Pressure (STP)
Normal Temperature and
20 oC (293.15 K) 1 atm (1.01325 bar)
Pressure (NTP)
Standard Ambient Temperature
25 oC (298.15 K) 1 atm (1.01325 bar)
and Pressure (SATP)
International Standard
15.6 oC (288.15 K) 1 atm (1.01325 bar)
Atmosphere (ISA)

Sample Problem 1: Calculate the gross and net calorific value of a natural gas at 25°C which has the
following composition: 89.4% CH4, 5% C2H6, 1.9 C3H8, 0.4% i-C4H10, 0.6% n-C4H10, 0.7% CO2 and 2% N2.
Express in MJ/kmol, kcal/mol, MJ/kg, MJ/dry m3, MJ/ m3.

Dulong’s Formula

𝑶𝑶
𝑯𝑯𝑯𝑯𝑯𝑯 (𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴/𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌) = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑 + 𝟏𝟏. 𝟒𝟒𝟒𝟒 �𝑯𝑯 − � + 𝟎𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎
𝟖𝟖

Calderwood’s Equation
𝟏𝟏.𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓
𝑽𝑽𝑽𝑽𝑽𝑽
𝑪𝑪 = 𝟓𝟓. 𝟖𝟖𝟖𝟖 + 𝟐𝟐. 𝟔𝟔𝟔𝟔(𝑯𝑯𝑯𝑯𝑯𝑯 (𝑲𝑲𝑲𝑲/𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌) − 𝟎𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎) ± 𝟎𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎 �𝟖𝟖𝟖𝟖 − 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏�
𝑭𝑭𝑭𝑭

If the origin of the coal is known, it usually is safe to assume that the ultimate analysis of its total
combustible matter is identical with that of other samples from the same field, particularly from the same
vein.

Sample Problem 2: Sub-bituminous B (Sub-B) coal containing 10.3% moisture, 34% VCM and 7.7% ash. It
is also known to contain 1.2% N and 1.57% S. Its calorific value is 22 MJ/kg. Calculate its: Proximate analysis;
Modified analysis; Ultimate analysis; Analysis of VCM and calorific value of VCM.

Stack/Flue Gas: The product gas mixture that leaves a combustion chamber.

Complete analysis – normally includes CO2, CO. SO2, H2, free oxygen gas, N2, H2O, CH4 and other unburnt
combustible gaseous fuel.
Free Oxygen Gas: excess oxygen and oxygen for the unburnt combustible.

H2O: moisture from fuel, moisture from air and water formed during combustion.

N2: nitrogen from air and from the fuel.

Orsat analysis – does not include the water found in the gas mixture.

Sample Problem 3: Ethane is burned completely with 20% excess air. Air is supplied at 25°C, 740 torr and
is substantially dry. Calculate:

a. Orsat analysis of the combustion products

b. kg dry air supplied per kg of fuel gas
c. cubic meters of air per kg ethane
d. cubic meters of products of combustion measured at 400°C, 100 kPa per kg ethane
e. Partial pressure of water in products of combustion

Sample Problem 4: An automobile engine uses an unleaded gasoline with an octane rating of 85. Air is
supplied 30% in excess such that the molal ratio of CO2 to CO is 5:2 and H2 to CO is 1:1 in the exhaust gas.
Calculate the orsat analysis of the exhaust gases. Density of iso-octane is 0.6918 and n-heptane is 0.684
g/mL.