Results and Discussions The heating value of fuels is one of the properties used to compare characteristics of one sample

from another. The total heating value of the sample fuels were determined by burning the fuel in a bomb calorimeter and measuring the amount of energy released. In the experiment conducted, diesel fuel and an unknown sample fuel have been tested. The parts of the experiment were conducted. First, the unknown sample is used and on the second, the diesel sample is used. Three trials were done for each fuel sample to compare. In the experiment, 2L of water has been used. Bomb calorimeter at constant volume is a process used to determine the energy of combustion reactions. The constant volume of the process restricts the energy produced in the reaction to be turned entirely into heat energy. After the motor stirrer has been turned on and the set up was allowed to stand for 2 minutes, the temperature at one-minute interval was obtained, this is the pre-period. This is the time were the fuel hasnt been burned yet, but has already been exposed to the oxygen and water. After 7 minutes of temperature measurement, the bomb calorimeter has been ignited. The energy after the ignition is fast and violent. The steel container of the bomb calorimeter holds in the explosion. In air, not all the samples will burn, but this is not a problem in the bomb. Pure oxygen promotes combustion, and high-pressure oxygen greatly enhances combustion. The burned fuel in the calorimeter has evaporated almost completely, leaving fragments of the fine iron wire used. The calorimeter turns the energy stored in these fuel samples into heat flow. The temperature increase of the water and metal of the calorimeter reveals the heating values of the samples used. At this point, there has been a drastic rise in temperature observed. The temperatures were also obtained every 12 seconds for 3 minutes. This is the rise period. Then for the next 14 minutes, the temperatures were observed at a one-minute interval. This is the period where the rate of the temperature change has become constant. This is the post period.

Sample 1a (Temperature Vs. Time)

Temperature (C)

34 32 30 28 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1011121314151617181920212223242526 Time (s)

(a.)

Sample 1b (Temperature Vs. Time)

35 34 33 32 31 30 0 5 10 15 Time (s) 20 25 30
Temperature (C)

(b.)

Sample 1c (Temperature Vs. Time)

34 33 32 31 30 29 0 5 10 15 Time (s) 20 25 30 Temperature (C)

(c.) Figure 1. Time versus Temperature plot of the unknown sample in (a.) trial 1, (b.) trial 2, and (c.) trial 3.

Sample 2a (Temperature Vs. Time)

33
Temperature (C)

32 31 30 29 0 5 10 15 Time (s) 20 25 30

(a.)

Sample 2b (Temperature Vs. Time)

34 33 32 31 30 29 28 0 5 10 15 Time (s) 20 25 30
Temperature (C)

(b.)

Sample 2c (Temperature Vs. Time)

33
Temperature (C)

32 31 30 29 28 0 5 10 15 Time (s) 20 25 30

(c.) Figure 2. Time versus Temperature plot of the diesel sample in (a.) trial 1, (b.) trial 2, and (c.) trial 3. The time and temperature at firing and the maximum temperature with its corresponding time were obtained from the graphs. With these gathered data, the temperature at which the reaction reaches 60% of the total increase was computed using the formula:

The corresponding time b of the temperature at point b is being interpolated within the range it is closest in the given data. This is assuming that between the two points where temperature b is located, the relationship between time and temperature is approximately linear. Given that points a, b and c of the graph is located, the corrected ignition temperature and the corrected final temperature has been computed using the following equations: [ ]

The corrected temperature rise is computed by subtracting the corrected ignition Temperature from the corrected final temperature. From this temperature rise, the heating value of the sample can be computed using the formula: ( )

Where, mcal,H2O = 2000g, mequiv,cal = 432g, CH2O = 1cal/goC. The tables below show the computed values for b, temperature b, corrected ignition temperature, corrected final temperature, corrected temperature rise and the heating value. Table 1. Computed Values for Unknown Sample Sample1a Sample1b a 7 min 7 min Ta 28.299 C 30.29 C b 8.223804878 min 8.025 min Tb 31.1478 C 32.69 C c 13 min 14 min Tc 33.047 C 34.29 C Corrected ignition temperature 28.29253132 C 30.27682143 C Corrected final temperature 33.11734033 C 34.403525 C Corrected temperature rise 4.824809011 C 4.126703571 C Heating Value 11030.24693 cal 11209.65091 cal Table 1. Computed Values for Unknown Sample. Table 2. Computed Values for Diesel Sample Sample2a Sample2b a 7 min 7 Ta 29.314 C 29.01 b 8.125856698 min 8.146 Tb 31.393 C 31.392 c 13 min 14 Tc 32.779 C 32.98 Corrected ignition temperature 29.30547566 C 29.00181429 Corrected final temperature 32.8463518 C 33.073664 Corrected temperature rise 3.540876142 C 4.071849714 Heating Value 11019.93945 cal 11194.76496 Table 2. Computed Values for Diesel Sample.

Sample1c 7 29.771 8.159186047 32.0978 13 33.649 29.75907694 33.72425265 3.96517571 11015.42296

min C min C min C C C C cal

Sample2c min 7 C 28.789 min 7.888502994 C 31.1188 min 14 C 32.672 C 28.84510262 C 32.75633866 C 3.911236041 cal 9153.491517

min C min C min C C C C cal

From the tables, the average heating values for the two samples were obtained. The unknown sample has an average heating value of 11085.11cal/goC. The sample diesel has an average heating value of 10456.07cal/goC. To compare the two samples, the percent difference between the heating values with respect to the diesel fuel which is known. [ ]

There is only a 6.02% deviation from the unknown sample compared to the diesel fuel. This shows that the properties of a diesel fuel are near to the properties of the unknown sample. Possible source of error that might cause deviation of the experimented data is the problem in determining the starting temperature of the combustible product and which data point are going to be the a, b, and c in the temperature versus time graph. Another possible source of error is the reaction taken place when the bomb is being pressurized at a distance from the laboratory.

Conclusions It can be concluded that in determining the heating value of a sample fuel with a bomb calorimeter, the reaction takes place in constant volume. The sample is confined in oxygen atmosphere and ignited with the thin hot wire. The heat generated during the combustion of the sample raises the temperature of the water that surrounded the bomb. And since it is known that the reaction takes place in constant volume, the heat combustion that can be calculated is the internal energy. The average heating values of the two samples were obtained from the graphs and tables. It is calculated that the average heating values of the unknown sample and the diesel fuel are 11085.11cal/goC and 10456.07cal/goC, respectively. This is computed to have a 6.02% deviation with respect to the known fuel, diesel. It is also concluded that the properties of both sample are similar due to the small % deviation.