What is Combustion?

Combustion is a key element of many of modern

societys critical technologies.
Combustion accounts for approximately 85 percent
of the worlds energy usage and is vital to our
current way of life.
Spacecraft and aircraft propulsion, electric power
production, home heating, ground transportation,
and materials processing all use combustion to
convert chemical energy to thermal energy or
propulsive force.
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Examples of combustion applications:

Gas turbines and jet engines
Rocket propulsion
Piston engines
Guns and explosives
Furnaces and boilers
Flame synthesis of materials (fullerenes, nanomaterials)
Chemical processing (e.g. carbon black production)
Forming of materials
Fire hazards and safety
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Combustion is a complex interaction of:

physical processes

- fluid dynamics, heat and mass transfer

chemical processes

- thermodynamics, and chemical kinetics

Practical applications of the combustion phenomena

also involve applied sciences such as aerodynamics,
fuel technology, and mechanical engineering.

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 The transport of energy, mass, and momentum are

the physical processes involved in combustion.
The conduction of thermal energy, the diffusion of
chemical species, and the flow of gases all follow
from the release of chemical energy in the exothermic reaction.
The subject areas most relevant to combustion in
the fields of thermodynamics, transport phenomena, and chemical kinetics can be summarized as
follows:

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Thermodynamics:
Stoichiometry

Properties of gases and gas mixtures

Heat of formation
Heat of reaction
Equilibrium

Adiabatic flame temperature

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Heat and Mass Transfer:

Heat transfer by conduction
Heat transfer by convection
Heat transfer by radiation
Mass transfer
Fluid Dynamics:
Laminar flows
Turbulence
Effects of inertia and viscosity
Combustion aerodynamics
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Chemical Kinetics:
Application of thermodynamics to a reacting system
gives us
- equilibrium composition of the combustion
products, and
- maximum temperature corresponding to this
composition, i.e. the adiabatic flame temperature.
However, thermodynamics alone is not capable of
telling us whether a reactive system will reach equilibrium.
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Chemical Kinetics (contd):

If the time scales of chemical reactions involved in
a combustion process are comparable to the time
scales of physical processes (e.g. diffusion, fluid
flow) taking place simultaneously, the system may
never reach equilibrium.
Then, we need the rate of chemical reactions involved in combustion.

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Fundamental Definitions
Chemical Reaction:
exchange and/or rearrangement of atoms between
colliding molecules
CO + H2 O CO2 + H2
 , 1
 , 1
Reactants Products
The atoms are conserved (C, H, O)
On the other hand, molecules are not conserved.
H2 + 0.5(O2 + 3.76N2 ) H2 O + 1.88N2
Reactants Products
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Amount of substance or mole numbers (mol):

1 mol of a compound corresponds to 6.023 1023
particles (atoms, molecules, or any chemical
species).
Avagadros constant = 6.023 1023

Mole fraction i of species i with mole number of

Ni is
Ni
i = S
j=1 Nj

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 Mass fraction Yi of species i with mass of mi is

mi

Yi = S

j=1 mj

Molar or Molecular Mass, Mi (molecular weight

is misleading and should not be used)
- MCH4 = 16 g/mol
- MH2 = 2 g/mol
- MO2 = 32 g/mol
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 Mean molar mass, M , of a mixture of species denotes an average molar mass:

3
M=
i Mi
S = number of species in the system
Mi Ni

Yi = S

j=1

Mj Nj

Mi i

= S

j=1

Mj j

Yi
Yi /Mi
i =
= S
Mi M
j=1 Yj /Mj

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For a system of volume, V :

Mass density (density), = m/V (kg/m3 )

Molar density (concentration), c = N/V (kmol/m3 )

Mean molar mass is given by:
m

=
=M
c
N

Chemical kinetics convention: concentrations c of

chemical species are usually shown by species symbol
in square brackets.
cCO2 = [CO2 ]
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For most conditions involved in combustion, it is

satisfactory to use the perfect gas equation of state
for the gas phase.
P V = N Ro T
(Pa)(m3 ) = (mol)(J/molK)(K)
Ro = 8.314 J / mol K, universal gas constant
P = pressure, Pa
T = temperature, K
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When the gas phase temperatures are near or less

than the critical temperatures, or when pressures are
near or above the critical pressures, the density or concentration is not correctly predicted by the perfect gas
relationship. Real gas equations should be used.
- van der Waals
- Peng-Robinson

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Basic Flame Types:

Premixed Flames
- Laminar
- Turbulent
Non-Premixed (Diffusion) Flames
- Laminar
- Turbulent
Partially Premixed Flames
- Laminar
- Turbulent
triple flames, edge flames,...
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Laminar (Turbulent) Premixed Flames:

Fuel (in gaseous form) and oxidizer are homogeneously mixed before the combustion event
Flow is laminar (turbulent)

Turbulent premixed flames:

- combustion in gasoline engines

- lean-premixed gas turbine combustion

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Burned
Unburned

- Cross-section of a gasoline engine combustion

chamber.

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Stoichiometry:
A premixed flame is stoichiometric if the premixed
reactants contain right amount of oxidizer to consume (burn) the fuel completely.
If there is an excess of fuel: fuel-rich system

If there is an excess of oxygen: fuel-lean system

Standard air composition commonly used for combustion calculations:

O2 + 3.762N2
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Stoichiometry (contd):
C3 H8 + 5(O2 + 3.762N2 )
4H2 O + 3CO2 + 18.81N2
(A/F )stoich =air-to-fuel ratio (mass)= (mass of
air)/(mass of fuel)
(A/F )stoich =[5(32+3.762*28)]/(44) = 15.6

= (A/F )stoich /(A/F )actual = Fuel Equivalence

Ratio
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Stoichiometry (contd)::
= 1: stoichiometric combustion

< 1: lean mixture, lean combustion

> 1: rich mixture, rich combustion

European convention (and to a certain extent

Japanese) is to use Air equivalence ratio, :
= 1/
In certain industries, excess air ratio, excess oxygen,
and similar terminologies are also used.

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Laminar (Turbulent) Non- Premixed Flames:

Fuel (in gaseous form) and oxidizer are mixed/come
in to contact during the combustion process
A candle flame is a typical laminar non-premixed
(diffusion) flame
Turbulent non-premixed flames:
- hydrogen rocket engine
- current aero gas turbines
- diesel engines

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A candle flame.

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 Air Inlet
Inlet Port Design
Chamber Design
Turbocharge

AIR MOTION / TURBULENCE

IN THE
COMBUSTION CHAMBER

FUEL-AIR
MIXING
PROCESS

INJECTION AND SPRAY

CHARACTERISTICS

PARTIALLY
"PREMIXED"
COMBUSTION

IGNITION

Fuel Properties

MOSTLY
NON-PREMIXED
COMBUSTION

EXHAUST
EMISSIONS

EGR

y HEAT RELEASE
y RADIATION EXCHANGE BETWEEN
HOT AND COLD POCKETS
y NOX & SOOT FORMATION
y SOOT OXIDATION

Injection Timing
Injection System Design
Injection Duration
Injection Rate

Processes in the diesel engine combustion.

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TURBULENT

Spark-ignited gasoline engine

Low-NOx stationary gas turbine

PREMIXED
LAMINAR

Flat flame
Bunsen flame
Aircraft turbine

TURBULENT

Hydrogen-oxygen rocket motor

Diesel engine
Pulverized coal combustion

NON-PREMIXED
(DIFFUSION)

Candle flame
LAMINAR

Radiant burners for heating

Wood fire

FUEL/OXIDIZER
MIXING

FLUID
MOTION

EXAMPLES

Examples of combustion systems.

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