Energy Produced by Fuel Combustion

A fuel is a substance which stores energy and then releases that energy to its surroundings, usually
when it it burned. Examples of fuels are wood, coal, petrol, diesel and ethanol. But, what is it about
fuels that allow this storage and release of energy, and what makes a fuel efficient and useful?

Oxygen is Required
Most fuels currently in use release their energy through a process called combustion. In this process
the fuel reacts with oxygen producing new compounds and releasing energy as heat. The energy is
released by the chemical reaction due to bonds being broken and other being formed.
Many fuels, especially fossil fuels, are hydrocarbons they are compounds of carbon and hydrogen
although some also contain some oxygen, like ethanol. When a hydrocarbon burns it reacts with
oxygen to produce carbon dioxide and water. For example, when methane (CH4) burns, each
molecule reacts with two molecules of oxygen to form one molecule of carbon dioxide and two
molecules of water.

Enthalpy Change of Combustion

The scientific term for the amount of
energy produced by the combustion of
fuel is the Enthalpy Change of
Combustion. It is measured in joules per
mole and is the amount of energy
produced by a fixed number of
molecules of the fuel.
In a chemical reaction bonds between
atoms are broken and others are
formed. Breaking bonds requires
energy, while making bonds releases
energy. Different types of bonds require
different amounts of energy to be
broken, and release different amounts of
energy when they are formed. These
quantities are called the bond
enthalpies, and can be combined to find an overall enthalpy of combustion in a combustion reaction.
So, for example, when methane is burned, four carbon-hydrogen (C-H) bonds and two oxygen-oxygen
(O=O) double bonds are broken. Then, two carbon-oxygen (C=O) double bonds and four hydrogenoxygen (H-O) bonds are formed.
The bond enthalpies of each bond are:
C-H 413 kJ/molO=O 498 kJ/molC=O 805 kJ/molH-O 464 kJ/molSo, this reaction requires 2448 kJ/mol
to break all the bonds, but will then release 3466 kJ/mol in forming the new bonds. This means that
the overall enthalpy change of combustion of methane is -1018 kJ/mol. It is negative because energy
is released overall.Energy Density
In order to decide which is the best fuel, however, there is a more important quantity to consider.
This is the energy density of a fuel or the amount of energy released per kilogram of fuel. Clearly,
larger hydrocarbon molecules, like octane or hexadecane, will have higher enthalpy change of
combustion per molecule, but each molecule also weighs more.
So, lighter fuels, like methane, have higher energy density, and so are most efficient when the
requirement to transport it is factored in. In fact, the fuel with the highest energy density is
hydrogen, which is one reason it is considered to be a fuel of the future.
Sources:
D. Denby et al, Chemical Storylines, Heinemann, 2008
Bond Enthalpy and Mean Bond Enthalpy, WebChem.net, Accessed 19th December, 2010