ME-230, Thermodynamics-II Lecture 04

Example: One kmol of octane (C8H18) is burned with air that contains 20 kmol of O2. Assuming the products contain only
CO2, H2O, O2, and N2, determine the mole number of each gas in the products and the air–fuel ratio for this combustion process.
Data:
Octane C8H18 number of moles = Noctane = 1 kmol
Oxygen number of moles = Noxygen = 20 kmol
Products: CO2, H2O, O2, and N2

Find:
a. Mole number (number of moles) of each gas in products = Ni = ?
b. Air fuel ratio of combustion process = (A/F) ratio = ?

Solution:
a. to find number of moles one must balance the combustion equation by equating number of moles on both sides of the equation:
𝐶8 𝐻18 + 20(𝑂2 + 3.76𝑁2 ) → 𝑥𝐶𝑂2 + 𝑦𝐻2 𝑂 + 𝑧𝑂2 + 𝑤𝑁2
That is:
C: 8=𝑥 ⇒𝑥=8
H2: 18 = 2𝑦 ⇒𝑦=9
O2: 20 × 2 = 2𝑥 + 𝑦 + 2𝑧 ⇒ 𝑧 = 7.5
N2: 20 × 3.76 = 𝑤 ⇒ 𝑤 = 75.2
These are the required number of moles. By Putting values the equation becomes:
𝐶8 𝐻18 + 20(𝑂2 + 3.76𝑁2 ) → 8𝐶𝑂2 + 9𝐻2 𝑂 + 7.5𝑂2 + 75.2𝑁2
ME-230, Thermodynamics-II Lecture 04

b. To find air fuel ratio we have the equation:

𝐴 𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑟
( ) =
𝐹 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 𝑚𝑓𝑢𝑒𝑙
Where
𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑟 = 𝑁𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑀𝑎𝑖𝑟
And 𝑚𝑓𝑢𝑒𝑙 = 𝑁𝑓𝑢𝑒𝑙 𝑀𝑓𝑢𝑒𝑙 = 𝑁𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑏𝑜𝑛 𝑀𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑏𝑜𝑛 + 𝑁ℎ𝑦𝑑𝑟𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑛 𝑀ℎ𝑦𝑑𝑟𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑛
So by putting the values we get
𝐴 𝑁𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑀𝑎𝑖𝑟
( ) =
𝐹 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 𝑁𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑏𝑜𝑛 𝑀𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑏𝑜𝑛 + 𝑁ℎ𝑦𝑑𝑟𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑛 𝑀ℎ𝑦𝑑𝑟𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑛
𝑘𝑔
𝐴 20 × 4.76 𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙 × 29
( ) = 𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙
𝐹 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 𝑘𝑔 𝑘𝑔
8 𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙 × 12 + 9 𝑘𝑔 × 2
𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙
𝐴 𝑘𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑖𝑟
( ) = 24.2
𝐹 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 𝑘𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑢𝑒𝑙

THEORETICAL AND ACTUAL COMBUSTION PROCESSES:

A combustion process is complete if all the carbon in the fuel burns to CO2, all the hydrogen burns to H2O, and all the sulfur (if any)
burns to SO2. That is, all the combustible components of a fuel are burned to completion during a complete combustion process. Whereas
combustion process is incomplete if the combustion products contain any unburned fuel or components such as C, H2, CO, or OH.
Insufficient oxygen is an obvious reason for incomplete combustion, but it is not the only one. Incomplete combustion occurs even when
more oxygen is present in the combustion chamber than is needed for complete combustion. This may be attributed to insufficient
mixing in the combustion chamber during the limited time that the fuel and the oxygen are in contact.
The minimum amount of air needed for the complete combustion of a fuel is called the stoichiometric or theoretical air. Thus, when a
fuel is completely burned with theoretical air, no uncombined oxygen is present in the product gases. The theoretical air is also referred
to as the chemically correct amount of air, or 100 percent theoretical air and the ideal combustion process during which a fuel is burned
completely with theoretical air is called the stoichiometric or theoretical combustion of that fuel. For example in the equation below:
ME-230, Thermodynamics-II Lecture 04

𝐶𝐻4 + 20(𝑂2 + 3.76𝑁2 ) → 𝐶𝑂2 + 2𝐻2 𝑂 + 7.52𝑁2

Notice that the products of the theoretical combustion contain no unburned methane and no C, H2, CO, OH, or free O2.
In actual combustion processes, it is common practice to use more air than the stoichiometric amount to increase the chances of complete
combustion or to control the temperature of the combustion chamber. The amount of air in excess of the stoichiometric amount is called
excess air. The amount of excess air is usually expressed in terms of the stoichiometric air as percent excess air or percent theoretical
air. For example, 50 percent excess air is equivalent to 150 percent theoretical air, and 200 percent excess air is equivalent to 300 percent
theoretical air. Of course, the stoichiometric air can be expressed as 0 percent excess air or 100 percent theoretical air. Amounts of air
less than the stoichiometric amount are called deficiency of air and are often expressed as percent deficiency of air. For example, 90
percent theoretical air is equivalent to 10 percent deficiency of air. The amount of air used in combustion processes is also expressed in
terms of the equivalence ratio, which is the ratio of the actual fuel–air ratio to the stoichiometric fuel–air ratio.

Example: Coal from Pennsylvania which has an ultimate analysis (by mass) as 84.36 percent C, 1.89 percent H2, 4.40 percent
O2, 0.63 percent N2, 0.89 percent S, and 7.83 percent ash (non-combustibles) is burned with theoretical amount of air.
Disregarding the ash content, determine the mole fractions of the products and the apparent molar mass of the product gases.
Also determine the air-fuel ratio required for this combustion process. (Combustion products contain CO2, H2O, SO2 and N2
only)
Data:
By mass analysis:
𝐴𝑠ℎ: 7.83 % (non-
𝐶: 84.36% 𝐻2 : 1.89% 𝑂2 : 4.40% 𝑁2 : 0.63% 𝑆: 0.89%
combustible)
Fuel burns with theoretical amount of air i.e. (O2+3.76N2)
Complete combustion process
ME-230, Thermodynamics-II Lecture 04

Find:
a. Mole fractions of products = 𝑦𝑖 products = ?
b. Apparent molar mass of products = 𝑀products = ?
c. Air to fuel ratio = (𝐴/𝐹)𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 = ?
Solution:
First finding number of moles of reactants:
Molecular mass
Percent Mass Number of moles
Reactants 𝒌𝒈
𝒎𝒊 (𝒌𝒈) 𝑴𝒊 ( ) 𝑵𝒊 = 𝒎/𝑴(𝒌𝒎𝒐𝒍)
𝒌𝒎𝒐𝒍
C 84.36 12 7.03
H2 1.89 2 0.945
O2 4.4 32 0.1375
N2 0.63 28 0.0225
S 0.89 32 0.02781

Thus the chemical equation becomes:

7.03𝐶 + 0.945𝐻2 + 0.1375𝑂2 + 0.0225𝑁2 + 0.02781𝑆 + 𝑎𝑡ℎ (𝑂2 + 3.76𝑁2 ) → 𝑥𝐶𝑂2 + 𝑦𝐻2 𝑂 + 𝑧𝑆𝑂2 + 𝑤𝑁2

now finding number of moles of products one by one:

C: 7.03 = 𝑥 ⇒ 𝑥 = 7.03
H2: 0.945 = 𝑦 ⇒ 𝑦 = 0.945
S: 0.02781 = 𝑧 ⇒ 𝑧 = 0.02781
N2: 0.0225 + 𝑎𝑡ℎ × 3.76 = 𝑤 ⇒ 𝑤 = 27.80
O2: 0.1375 + 𝑎𝑡ℎ = 𝑥 + 0.5𝑦 + 𝑧 ⇒ 𝑎𝑡ℎ = 7.392

Thus the chemical equation becomes:

7.03𝐶 + 0.945𝐻2 + 0.1375𝑂2 + 0.0225𝑁2 + 0.02781𝑆 + 7.392(𝑂2 + 3.76𝑁2 )

→ 7.03𝐶𝑂2 + 0.945𝐻2 𝑂 + 0.02781𝑆𝑂2 + 27.80𝑁2
ME-230, Thermodynamics-II Lecture 04

The mole fractions and apparent molar mass of the products can be found easily now:
Mole fractions and apparent molar mass of products:
Apparent molar mass
Mole fractions
Number of moles 𝑵𝒊 Mass of products of products
Products 𝒎𝒎 𝒌𝒈
𝑵𝒊 (𝒌𝒎𝒐𝒍) 𝒚𝒊 = 𝒎𝒊 = 𝑵𝒊 𝑴𝒊 (𝒌𝒈)
𝑵𝒎 𝑴𝒎 = ( )
𝑵𝒎 𝒌𝒎𝒐𝒍
CO2 7.03 0.196 309.32
H2O 0.945 0.026 17.01
30.9
SO2 0.02781 0.0007 1.779
N2 27.80 0.776 778.4
𝑵𝒎 = 𝟑𝟓. 𝟖 𝒎𝒎 = 𝟏𝟏𝟎𝟔. 𝟓𝟎𝟗

For air to fuel ratio, we have the equation:

𝐴 𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑁𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑀𝑎𝑖𝑟
( ) = =
𝐹 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 𝑚𝑓𝑢𝑒𝑙 𝑚𝑐𝑜𝑎𝑙
𝑘𝑔
𝐴 7.39 × 4.76 𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙 × 29
( ) = 𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙
𝐹 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 100 𝑘𝑔
𝐴 𝑘𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑖𝑟
( ) = 10.20
𝐹 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 𝑘𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑢𝑒𝑙