Instructional Manual

For
Boy’s gas calorimeter
INTRODUCTION:

The Boys gas calorimeter is a simple and effective means of measuring gases calorific
values. The Boys gas Calorimeter is named after an English physicist called Sir Charles
Boys (1855-1944). It is the standard piece of equipment used to calculate the Higher
Calorific (HCV) and the Lower Calorific (LCV) of gases.

Calorimetry is the name given to the measurement of heat. When a fuel is burnt at
constant pressure the energy transferred as heat to the surroundings per unit quantity of
fuel is called the calorific value. The products of combustion will be at the same
temperature as the fuel and air (reactants). If condensation occurs in the water on the
products side then the Higher Calorific value is determined, However if the water
remains in the vapour phase then the Lower Calorific value is sought.

OBJECTIVE:

To determine the higher and lower calorific values of natural gas. (HCV and LCV).
Sometimes referred to as the gross calorific value and the net calorific value.

METHOD:

The most important part of this experiment was to measure all constant values before we
started. This involved recording the gauge pressure, volume of gas, inlet
temperature, exhaust temperature, the temperature in and out of the cooling water and the
time which in the case of this experiment would be 60 seconds.
The experiment was repeated four times, the first two times the experiment was set up so
that the higher calorific value of the natural gas could be determined. The reason it was
done twice was to try to ensure accuracy of results. For the second part of the experiment
we set the apparatus up so that the lower calorific value could be
 Figure 1a: The Boys’ Gas Calorimeter

When the experiment is ready to start a beaker is placed under the tap that allows the
cooling water out and the pipe that that carries the condensate is moved from a position
of waste to that of being collected into a separate beaker. The time for the experiment
was recorded using a normal stopwatch; in this case we decided to do the experiment for
60 seconds.
CALCULATIONS:

Changing Volume of gas from dm 3 to litre

Volumeofgas * 2

100

Gauge pressure  gh

Absolute Pressure = Gauge Pressure + Atmospheric Pressure

Convert oC to Kelvin = Temp (oC) + 273.15

V1 T1
Corrected Volume  
V2 T2
V2T1
V1 
T2
Volume Flow Rate
CorrectedVolume

60
Mass Of Water  V

Latent heat (Q) = m(mass) * specific latent heat (l)

(massofcoolingwater ) * ( specifiche atcapacity) * (temperatureriseofwater )

HCV 
(volumeoffuelused (at1bar15 o C ))

(HCV - LCV ) *Volume of Fuel = mass of condensate collected * specific latent heat of H 2O

RESULTS:

Parameter Test No. 1 Test No. 2 Test No. 3 Test No. 4

Gas
Volume Of gas (l)
Gauge Pressure (Pa)
Absolute Pressure (Pa)
Inlet Temperature (K)
Outlet Temperature (K)
Elapsed Time (Sec)
Corrected Volume
(288.15K 1bar)
Volume flow/sec (15˚C
1bar)
 Cooling Water
Volume of coolant(ml)
Elapsed time(sec)
Mass collected(g)
Mass flow/sec(g/sec)
Temp. in(K)
Temp. out(K)
Specific heat capacity
(J kg–1 K–1)

Condensate
Volume collected(ml)
Elapsed time(sec)
Mass collected(g)
Mass
collected/sec(g/sec)
Latent heat

HCV
LCV

DISCUSSION:

It appears from published values of natural gas’ higher calorific values and lower
calorific that we were not to far away with our values. Having said that there does appear
to quite a large error margin for our last attempt with a value of 103050 for the HCV
appearing to be extremely high. The most apparent error here seems to be the rise in
temperature of the water. The rise in temperature was concurrent with the first two parts
of the experiment i.e. 35K however in my opinion the rise in temperature of the water
should have been considerably less. The reason for this error could be explained away by
human error, not reading the thermometer correctly or there could have been a more
serious flaw in that there may have been an equipment malfunction. Another possible
source of error may have been to do with a rise in the ambient temperature.

It does appear that for the main our values were quite accurate and consistent
With know data for HCV and LCV of natural gas
CONCLUSION:

The Boys Gas Calorimeter is a very useful way of measuring out experimentally the
HCV and LCV of different gases. American power plants prefer to use the higher
calorific values (gross calorific value) to measure the thermal efficiency of their power
plants, whereas the Europeans prefer to us the lower calorific value (net calorific value)