FUELS & COMBUSTION

What is COMBUSTION ?

3 Ts of Combustion
TIME
All combustion requires sufficient Time which depends
upon type of Reaction
TEMPERATURE
Temperature must be more than ignition temperature
TURBULENCE
Proper turbulence helps in bringing the fuel and air in
intimate contact and gives them enough time to
complete reaction.

What are the various types

of combustion?

There are three types of combustion:

-- Perfect
-- Complete
-- Incomplete

Perfect Combustion is achieved when all the fuel is burned using only the
theoretical amount of air, but perfect combustion cannot be achieved in a boiler.

Complete Combustion is achieved when all the fuel is burned using the minimal
amount of air above the theoretical amount of air needed to burn the fuel.
Complete combustion is always our goal. With complete combustion, the fuel is
burned at the highest combustion efficiency with low pollution.

Incomplete Combustion occurs when all the fuel is not burned, which results in
the formation of soot and smoke.

Oil
The various types of oils used as fuel are
Furnace oil, LSHS, H.P.S., L.D.O,
Kerosene, Diesel etc
The properties of liquid fuels of importance
are water content, density, specific gravity,
Viscosity, Calorific value, Sulphur, Ash and
carbon residue
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Oil Combustion
Stoichiometric or theoretical air is ideal
amount of air required for burning 1 kg of
fuel
1 kg of fuel oil requires ~14.1 kg of air for
complete combustion
C + O2 CO 2 + 8084 Kcals/kg of Carbon
2C + O2 2 CO
+ 2430 Kcals/kg of Carbon
2H 2 + O2 2H2O + 28,922 Kcals/kg of Hydrogen
S
+ O2 SO2 + 2,224 Kcals/kg of Sulphur

Optimising Excess Air

In practice Excess Air over Stoichiometric air
is needed for complete combustion
Less Air Incomplete combustion & Smoke
More Air Heat loss through stack

CO2 or O2 values will indicate excess air level

Typical Excess Air Level for Oil Fuel is 25

30 %
CO2 %

14.5 - 15 %

O2%

2-3%

Relation Between CO2 and Excess air

100
90

Excess air %

80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
8.4

10

11

12

13

14

Carbon dioxide %

Relation Between Residual O2 and Excess air

250

Excess air (%)

200
150

100
50
0
1

7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Oxygen (%)
Relation between residual oxygen and excess air

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Burners

Burners convert fuel oil into millions of small

droplets process called atomization

High surface to volume ratio in oil to facilitate

evaporation and combustion

3 basic types of burners are pressure jet, air or

steam blast burners and Rotary Cup
TURNDOWN ratio is the relationship between the maximum
and minimum fuel input without affecting the excess air level
is called Turn-Down Ratio.
For example, a burner whose maximum input is 250,000
Kcals and minimum rate is 50,000 Kcals, has a Turn-Down
Ratio of 5 to 1.

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What the Nozzle Does

Atomizing
speeds up the vaporization process
One litre of oil becomes 15 billion droplets at
7kg/cm2 with size 0.0002 inch 0.010 inch

Metering
deliver a fixed amount of atomized fuel to the
combustion chamber

Patterning
uniform spray
pattern and spray angle

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Effects of Excess Air On Nozzle

Performance
If amount of air is increased, the transfer of heat is
reduced.
A delicate balance must be achieved between
smoke problems (caused by insufficient excess air)
and reduced heat transfer (caused by unnecessary
excess air).deliver a fixed amount of atomized fuel
to the combustion chamber
An air leak in the system also causes lost
efficiency. It cools down combustion gases, lowers
temperature, and raises stack temperature.
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What Affects Droplet Size?

Higher Flow Rate Nozzles usually produce
larger droplets
Wider Spray Angles produce smaller droplets
High Viscosity fuel produces larger droplets in
the spray
Heating Fuel reduces its viscosity and produces
smaller droplets.
Increasing Fuel Pressure reduces droplet size.
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Spray at 10 psi pressure

Spray at 100-psi pressure

Spray at 300-psi pressure

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Effects of Viscosity
On Nozzle Performance

16

The nozzle orifice is polished to

a glasslike finish. Dont ruin it with
a wire or pin, or by bumping it with a
wrench. This can cause streaks in the
spray.

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Dont blow into the nozzle. While

this may seem to be the handiest and
quickest way to clean a nozzle, you
run the risk of contaminating it instead.

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Make sure the fuel tank is clean.

Water and sludge in the tank can
clog lines, filter or nozzles.

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Energy Efficiency Measures

Replace old, oversized burner and
inefficient burners with modern, efficient
and properly sized burner.
Consider variable firing rates and/or
dual fuel capabilities allowing you to
choose low cost fuel at any time.
Potential efficiency improvement-upto 5%

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