Calorific value

GCV & HCV

CALORIFIC VALUE

• It is defined as “the total amount of heat liberated

,when a unit mass of fuel is burnt completely”.
• It is used to identified “the Efficiency of a Fuel “.
• Wood has calorific value of 17 Kj/g.
• The amount of heat can be measured by the
following units :
calorie,
kilocalorie,
British Thermal Unit (B.T.U),
Centigrade Heat Unit (C.H.U).

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TYPES OF CALORIFIC VALUES

With fuels containing hydrogen, two calorific values are

distinguished,
Higher Or Gross Calorific Value
Lower Or Net Calorific Value

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Higher Calorific Value

• It is defined as
• “the total amount of heat liberated ,when a unit mass of fuel
is burnt completely
• The product of the combustion are cooled to room
temperature”.
• When a Fuel containing hydrogen is burnt, the hydrogen is
converted into steam.
• If the combustion products are cooled to room temperature
,the steam gets condensed into water and latent heat is
evolved.
• The latent heat of condensation of steam is also included in
gross calorific value.
• A good Fuel posses HCV

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Lower Calorific Value

• It is defined as
• “the net heat produced ,when a unit quantity of the fuel is
completely burnt
• The product of the combustion are allowed to escape”.
• Under normal working conditions, water vapours produced
during combustion are not condensed and escape as such
along with the hot gases.
• Hence lesser amount of heat is available, which is called
Lower or net calorific value.

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Calculation of Net calorific value
Net calorific value=gross calorific value-latent heat of water vapours
Ncv=Gcv-weight of hydrogen x 9 x latent heat of water vapours
Latent heat of water vapours is 587 kcal/kg
Image size 210x302

Hydrogen in the fuel reacts with oxygen to give water

H2 + 1/2 O2 → H2O
2H = 1/2O2 = H2O
2parts = 16parts = 18parts
1parts = 8parts = 9parts
Thus,
NCV=GCV-0.09H*587
where H-% of Hydrogen in the Fuel

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Theoretical Calculation Of Calorific Value

Dulong’S Formula :
• If both hydrogen and oxygen are present, it may be
assumed that all the oxygen are already combined with 1/8
of its weight of hydrogen to form water.
• This fraction is then deducted from the hydrogen content of
the fuel in the calculation.
• Thus for a fuel containing carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and
sulphur, the calorific value of the fuel is given by DULONG
FORMULA
Calorific value =1/100[8080 C + 34500 {H − O/8 } +2240 S] kcal/kg
where C, H, O, S refer to % of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and sulphur
respectively.

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ANY DOUBT ???????

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 Let us discuss few multiple choice questions
• Que1.Agood fuel possess:
a. Net calorific value
b. Lower calorific value
c. Higher calorific value
d. Both (a) and (b)
• Ans (c)

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• Que2. Latent heat of water vapours is
a. 578 kcal/kg

b. 587 kcal/kg

c. 598 kcal/kg

d. None of these
• Ans (b)

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 By
Kishore thangapandi
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