Calculation of combustion gas ow rate and residence time based on

stack gas data

Anthony R. Eicher *
Focus Environmental, Inc., 9050 Executive Park Drive, Suite A-202, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
Accepted 6 December 1999
Abstract
In many situations, it is desired to estimate the combustion chamber gas residence time of operating combustion systems. This is
typically accomplished by performing a mass and energy balance around the combustion chamber. Unfortunately, the detailed
physical, chemical, and thermodynamic data needed for each of the feed streams, euents, and combustion gases are often not
readily available. Further, a rigorous mass and energy balance calculation can be time-consuming unless a computerized routine is
available. It is possible, however, to calculate the combustion gas ow rate and the gas phase residence time of a combustion
chamber when only stack gas data and the combustion chamber temperature are available. The technique presented is applicable to
systems that incorporate adiabatic saturation cooling of the ue gas using direct water evaporation in a quench chamber or similar
device. The technique can be extended to systems in which adiabatic saturation cooling is not achieved (i.e. partial quenching) or
those systems incorporating external heat removal (i.e. boilers, indirect scrubber water cooling, etc.). The procedure for determining
the combustion chamber ow rate utilizes the concept of a mass and energy balance (in a simplied form) to relate stack gas data to
combustion chamber conditions. In the case of a system using adiabatic saturation cooling, the energy in the hot combustion gas is
used to directly evaporate water sprayed into the combustion gas stream. The temperature of the combined combustion gas and
water vapor stream decreases as energy (expressed as sensible heat and heat of vaporization) is transferred from the combustion gas
to the water. This temperature decrease reaches a practical limit when the combustion gas stream becomes saturated with water (the
adiabatic saturation temperature). Therefore, assuming that there is negligible leakage of air into the system, the mass of stack gas
is equal to the mass of combustion gas plus the amount of water added for cooling. Further, since the water vapor and combustion
gas are combined, no energy has left the system, thus the total enthalpy of the cooled stack gas stream is equal to the total enthalpy
of the hot combustion gas stream. A simplied mass and energy balance is used to determine the moisture added to the combustion
gas stream for cooling, and then the mass ow rate of combustion gas is determined by subtracting this amount of moisture from
the measured stack gas mass ow rate. The paper describes the theory behind this calculation technique, presents the formulas
needed to perform the calculations, discusses the sensitivity of the calculations to errors in the assumptions used and the data
measurements, and describes how the technique can be extended to systems which achieve cooling of the combustion gases through
means other than adiabatic saturation. #2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Combustion gas ow rate; Adiabatic saturation; Calculations; Stack gas
1. Introduction
In many situations, it is desired to estimate the com-
bustion chamber gas residence time of operating com-
bustion systems. This is typically accomplished by
performing a mass and energy balance around the
combustion chamber. Unfortunately, the detailed phy-
sical, chemical, and thermodynamic data needed for
each of the feed streams, euents, and combustion gases
are often not readily available. Further, a rigorous mass
and energy balance calculation can be time-consuming
unless a computerized routine is available. It is possible,
however, to calculate the combustion gas ow rate and
the gas phase residence time of a combustion chamber
when only stack gas data and the combustion chamber
temperature are available.
The procedure for determining the combustion
chamber ow rate utilizes the concept of a mass and
energy balance (in a simplied form) to relate stack gas
data to combustion chamber conditions. In the case of a
system using adiabatic saturation cooling, the energy in
the hot combustion gas is used to directly evaporate
water sprayed into the combustion gas stream. The
0956-053X/00/$ - see front matter # 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PI I : S0956- 053X( 99) 00342- 6
Waste Management 20 (2000) 403407
www.elsevier.nl/locate/wasman
* Tel.: +1-865-694-7517; fax: +1-865-531-8854.
E-mail address: areicher@focusenv.com (A.R. Eicher).
temperature of the combined combustion gas and water
vapor stream decreases as energy (expressed as sensible
heat and heat of vaporization) is transferred from the
combustion gas to the water. This temperature decrease
reaches a practical limit when the combustion gas
stream becomes saturated with water (the adiabatic
saturation temperature). Therefore, assuming that there
is negligible leakage of air into the system, the mass of
stack gas is equal to the mass of combustion gas plus
the amount of water added for cooling. Further, since
the water vapor and combustion gas are combined, no
energy has left the system, thus the total enthalpy of the
cooled stack gas stream is equal to the total enthalpy of
the hot combustion gas stream.
A simplied mass and energy balance is used to
determine the moisture added to the combustion gas
stream for cooling, and then the mass ow rate of com-
bustion gas is determined by subtracting this amount of
moisture from the measured stack gas mass ow rate.
2. Basis and assumptions
The following data requirements and assumptions are
needed to use the technique presented.
1. The following stack gas data must be available
(typically determined in any measurement pro-
gram where stack gas particulate matter is col-
lected isokinetically):
Stack gas ow rate (dry, standard conditions).
Stack gas temperature.
Stack gas moisture content.
Stack gas dry molecular weight.
2. Combustion gas temperature is known.
3. Stack gas is saturated with moisture at the mea-
sured stack gas temperature.
4. Inltration of air between the combustion cham-
ber temperature measurement point and the stack
gas sampling point is suciently small that it can
be ignored.
5. Heat losses from devices between the combustion
chamber temperature measurement point and the
stack gas sampling point are suciently small that
they can be ignored.
6. The volume of gaseous contaminants removed in the
air pollution control system is not signicant in rela-
tion to the total volume of gas entering the system.
7. The stack gas enthalpy can be determined from high
temperature psychrometric data, assuming that stack
gas behaves like air. This is a typical assumption
made in EPA stack sampling methods where the
measured stack gas moisture content is compared to
the theoretical saturation moisture content.
8. Standard conditions are 0

C (32

F), and 101.325

kPa (1 standard atmosphere) pressure. These specic
conditions are commonly referred to as ``normal
conditions'' and are designated by the prex letter
``N'' (e.g. Nm
3
is normal cubic meters). (Constants
used in the equations can be changed for other
standard conditions.)
3. Calculation method
If any air inltration between the combustion cham-
ber temperature measurement point and the stack gas
sampling point can be ignored, then the dry stack gas
mass ow rate is equal to the dry combustion gas mass
ow rate.
Determine the dry stack gas mass ow rate:
m
X
sd
=
Q
sd
M
d
22X4
(I)
where:
m
X
sd
= Stack gas dry mass ow rate (kg/h).
Q
sd
= Stack gas dry volumetric ow rate (Nm
3
/h, dry).
M
d
= Stack gas dry molecular weight (kg/kg mol).
The factor 22.4 is used to convert mass to volume,
and is in units of (Nm
3
/kg mole).
Determine the total stack gas enthalpy:
H
st
= m
X
sd
h
s
(P)
where:
H
st
= Enthalpy of wet stack gas (J/h) (total enthalpy).
m
X
sd
= Stack gas dry mass ow rate (kg/h).
h
s
= Unit enthalpy of saturated stack gas (J/kg dry
gas) from psychrometric data.
Determine the dry stack gas enthalpy:
H
sd
= m
X
sd
h

(Q)
where:
H
sd
= Enthalpy of dry stack gas (J/h).
m
X
sd
= Stack gas dry mass ow rate (kg/h).
h

= Unit enthalpy of dry stack gas (J/kg dry gas)

from psychrometric data.
Since the mass of dry stack gas is equal to the mass of
dry combustion gas, the enthalpy of the dry combustion
gas can be determined from the ow rate of dry stack
gas and the temperature dierence between the com-
bustion gas and the stack gas, as follows:
H
d
= H
sd
m
X
sd
C
p
T

T
s
( ) (R)
404 A.R. Eicher / Waste Management 20 (2000) 403407
where:
H
d
= Enthalpy of dry combustion gas (J/h).
H
sd
= Enthalpy of dry stack gas (J/h).
m
X
sd
= Stack gas dry mass ow rate (kg/h).
C
p
= Combustion gas heat capacity (J/kg-

C).
T

= Combustion gas temperature (

C).
T
s
= Stack gas temperature (

C).
Since the total enthalpy of the combustion gas is
equal to the total enthalpy of the stack gas, the dier-
ence between the calculated dry combustion gas
enthalpy (from Eq. 4) and the calculated total stack gas
enthalpy (from Eq. 2) must be attributed to water vapor
in the combustion gas. Thus, the amount of water vapor
in the combustion gas can be determined as follows:
H
w
= H
st
H
d
(S)
where:
H
w
= Enthalpy of water vapor in the combustion gas
(J/h).
H
st
= Enthalpy of wet stack gas (J/h) (total enthalpy).
H
d
= Enthalpy of dry combustion gas (J/h).
m
X
w
=
H
w
h
w
(T)
where:
m
X
w
=Mass ow rate of water vapor in combustion gas
(kg/h).
H
w
=Enthalpy of water vapor in the combustion gas
(J/h).
h
w
=Unit enthalpy of water vapor (superheated steam)
at combustion gas temperature (J/kg).
As stated earlier, the mass ow rate of dry stack gas is
equal to the mass ow rate of dry combustion gas.
Thus, the total combustion gas mass ow rate is equal
to the sum of the dry gas mass ow rate plus the mass
ow rate of water vapor in the combustion gas:
m
X

= m
X
sd
m
X
w
(U)
where:
m
X

=Total combustion gas mass ow rate (kg/h).

m
X
sd
=Stack gas dry mass ow rate (kg/h).
m
X
w
=Mass ow rate of water vapor in combustion gas
(kg/h).
The total volumetric ow rate of the combustion gas,
at normal conditions, is determined as:
Q
std ( )
= Q
sd

m
X
w
22X4
M
w
!
(V)
where:
Q
std
= Total combustion gas volumetric ow rate at
normal conditions (Nm
3
/h).
M
w
= Molecular weight of water (18 kg/kg mol).
The factor 22.4 is used to convert mass to volume,
and is in units of (Nm
3
/kg-mol).
The total volumetric ow rate of combustion gas, at
combustion chamber conditions, is determined as:
Q

= Q
std ( )

T

273 ( )
T
std
273 ( )
!

P
std
P

!
(W)
where:
Q

= Total combustion gas volumetric ow rate at

combustion chamber conditions (m
3
/h).
Q
std
= Total combustion gas volumetric ow rate at
normal conditions (Nm
3
/h).
T

= Combustion gas temperature (

C).
T
std
= Standard temperature (

C).
P
std
= Standard pressure (absolute).
P

= Combustion gas pressure (absolute).

Finally, the combustion chamber gas residence time
can be determined as follows:

=
V

3600
Q

(IH)
where:

= Combustion chamber gas residence time (s).

V

= Combustion chamber useful volume (m

3
).
Q

= Total combustion gas volumetric ow rate at

combustion chamber conditions (m
3
/h).
The value of 3600 is the number of seconds per hour.
4. Discussion of assumptions
As noted earlier, the calculations are based on several
assumptions. The impact of these assumptions on the
calculations is discussed below:
4.1. Ignoring air inltration
The most important assumption is that the inltration
of air between the combustion chamber temperature
measurement point and the stack gas sampling point is
small enough that it can be ignored. The calculations
A.R. Eicher / Waste Management 20 (2000) 403407 405
are based on the assumption that the mass of dry gas
exiting the stack is equal to the mass of dry gas exiting
the combustion chamber. If air were to leak into the
system between the combustion chamber and the stack,
this air would be measured as part of the total stack gas
ow and would then be included in the calculation of
combustion gas ow.
For negative draft systems, where any leakage would
be into the system, the assumption of ignoring air inl-
tration is conservative, and tends to over-predict the
actual combustion gas ow rate, and under-predict the
combustion chamber residence time. The magnitude of
the error is equal to the ratio of the air inltration rate
to the total stack gas ow rate. Most systems are
expected to be operated under negative pressure and
will experience some air inltration, therefore, the cal-
culations will be likely to yield conservative results in
most cases. If air inltration is expected to be sig-
nicant, appropriate corrections should be made.
For systems under positive pressure, the assumption
that air inltration can be ignored is completely valid
since it is virtually impossible for air to leak into a sys-
tem under positive pressure. However, if there are areas
where gases can leak out of the positive pressure system,
the calculations will under-predict the combustion gas
ow and will over-predict the combustion chamber
residence time. Normally, leakage from positive pres-
sure systems can be readily seen and corrected, thus
ignoring any change in the mass of dry gas between the
combustion chamber and the stack is probably reason-
able for most well maintained systems.
4.2. Ignoring heat losses
The calculations utilize both a mass balance and an
energy balance. Thus, ignoring the heat loss may have
an impact on the energy balance portions of the calcu-
lation, just as ignoring air inltration may have an
impact on the mass balance portions of the calculation.
The assumption of adiabatic cooling is commonly used
for wet gas quenching and wet scrubbing systems. As
long as the combustion gas enters the adiabatic cooling
device relatively quickly after leaving the combustion
chamber (i.e. there are no long runs of hot gas ducting
between the combustion chamber and the quench
chamber) then ignoring heat losses should be reason-
able. Heat loss from the devices carrying the cooled
gases will be very low. The impact of heat losses
between the combustion chamber and the stack is to
under-predict the combustion gas ow rate and over-
predict the combustion chamber residence time. This
occurs since the calculations use the dierence between
the total enthalpy of the stack gas and the dry gas
enthalpy of the combustion gas to determine the
amount of water vapor contained in the actual com-
bustion gas. If the total stack gas enthalpy is lowered
through heat losses, then the calculations will under-
predict the water vapor mass in the combustion gas,
thus under-predicting the total ow rate of combustion
gas. The magnitude of possible eects resulting from
ignoring heat losses is proportional to the true moisture
content of the combustion gas, with higher moisture
content combustion gases showing greater potential
impact. In an eort to quantify the magnitude of error
potentially introduced by ignoring heat losses, calcula-
tions were performed for a combustion gas with no heat
loss, and for the same combustion gas experiencing a
20% heat loss between the combustion chamber exit
and the stack (this is an extremely high heat loss for a
cooled gas at 8085

C). In this case, the loss of 20% of

the total enthalpy of the gas between the combustion
chamber and the stack resulted in an approximately
10% decrease in the calculated combustion gas ow
rate.
For systems with high heat losses, or those incorpor-
ating boilers or heat exchangers, the calculation techni-
que presented can be extended to those systems if the
heat loss or heat removal can be quantied. For exam-
ple, the enthalpy of the steam produced in a boiler
represents the heat removal from the combustion gas. If
the heat loss or heat removal can be quantied, then the
calculations presented earlier can be used if that heat is
added back to the dry combustion gas enthalpy prior to
the calculation of the combustion gas moisture content.
This approach is valid as long as the heat loss or heat
removal experienced in the system does not result in the
condensation of moisture from the combustion gas.
4.3. Assuming stack gas is saturated
The calculations, as presented, assume that the stack
gas is saturated with moisture at the measured stack gas
temperature. This is a valid assumption for many sys-
tems utilizing adiabatic quenching and wet scrubbers. In
fact, EPA stack sampling methods utilize this same
assumption for high moisture content stack gases. In the
case where the measured stack gas moisture content is
not at the theoretical saturation value, the calculations
can be modied by using psychrometric data for an
unsaturated gas rather than the saturated gas data, or
by using absolute humidity relationships.
Since the basic set of equations presented earlier in the
paper assume saturated stack gas conditions, they will
over-predict the total stack gas enthalpy if the stack gas
actually contains less moisture than would be present at
saturation. This, in turn, will over-predict the amount of
moisture present in the combustion chamber, and sub-
sequently will also over-predict the volumetric ow rate
in the combustion chamber. The end result is to calcu-
late a lower residence time than was actually experi-
enced in the combustion chamber. The converse is true
if the stack gas contains more moisture than would be
406 A.R. Eicher / Waste Management 20 (2000) 403407
present at saturation. The calculations can be modied,
as described in the next several paragraphs, to account
for non-saturation using absolute humidity relation-
ships.
Part of the isokinetic stack sampling eort is to
determine the stack gas moisture content, which is typi-
cally reported in terms of volume percent moisture. This
value can be expressed in terms of stack gas moisture
ow rate as follows:
m
X
ws
=
Q
sd
1
B
ws
100
Q
sd
H
f
d
I
g
e
1 kgmol
22X4 xm
3
M
w
(II)
where:
m
X
ws
= Mass ow rate of water in stack gas (kg/h).
Q
sd
= Stack gas dry volumetric ow rate (Nm
3
/h, dry).
B
ws
= Stack gas moisture content (volume %).
M
w
= Molecular weight of water (18 kg/kg mol).
The measured moisture content of the stack gas can
then be compared to the theoretical moisture present at
saturation using additional psychrometric data as fol-
lows:
t =
m
X
ws
am
X
sd
hum
(IP)
where:
t =Fraction of saturation moisture in actual stack
gas (dimensionless).
m
X
ws
=Mass ow rate of water vapor in stack gas (kg/h).
m
X
sd
=Stack gas dry mass ow rate (kg/h).
hum=Absolute humidity of saturated stack gas at
measured stack temperature (kg H
2
O/kg dry gas)
from psychrometric data.
The error in unit enthalpy of the saturated stack gas
due to non-saturated conditions can then be determined
as:
h = h
s
h

( ) 1 t ( ) (IQ)
where:
h=Error in unit enthalpy of wet stack gas due to
non-saturation (J/kg dry gas).
h
s
=Unit enthalpy of saturated stack gas (J/kg dry gas)
from psychrometric data.
h

=Unit enthalpy of dry stack gas (J/kg dry gas) from

psychometric data.
t=Fraction of saturation moisture in actual stack gas
(dimensionless).
The error is then corrected in the calculation of total
stack gas enthalpy by modifying Eq. 2 as follows:
H
st
= m
X
sd
h
s
h ( ) (IR)
Where:
H
st
= Enthalpy of wet stack gas (J/h) (total enthalpy).
m
X
sd
= Stack gas dry mass ow rate (kg/h).
h
s
= Unit enthalpy of saturated stack gas (J/kg dry
gas) from psychometric data.
h = Error in unit enthalpy of wet stack gas due to
non-saturation (J/kg dry gas).
All remaining calculations are performed as discussed
earlier in the paper using the total enthalpy value
determined using the adjusted unit wet gas enthalpy as
shown in Eq. 14.
4.4. Assuming gaseous component removal is not signicant
Since the calculations use a mass balance which is
based on the assumption that the mass of dry gas exit-
ing the stack is equal to the mass of dry gas exiting the
combustion chamber, the removal of gaseous compo-
nents from the combustion gas stream will reduce the
measured stack gas volume, and thus the calculated
combustion gas volume. For example, an incinerator
burning an extremely high chlorine content liquid waste
as the sole fuel, may produce a combustion gas con-
taining a very high concentration of hydrogen chloride.
When this hydrogen chloride is removed in a scrubbing
system, the volume of gas decreases in proportion to the
number of moles of hydrogen chloride removed. For
most systems, this issue is not of concern, but if the
situation arises, corrections must be made.
5. Conclusions
This paper has presented a technique to calculate the
combustion gas ow rate and the combustion chamber gas
residence time when only stack gas data and the combus-
tion chamber temperature are available. The technique
presented is applicable to systems that incorporate adiabatic
saturation cooling of the ue gas using direct water
evaporation in a quench chamber or similar device. The
technique can be extended to systems in which adiabatic
saturation cooling is not achieved (i.e. partial quenching)
or those systems incorporating external heat removal (i.e.
boilers, indirect scrubber water cooling, etc.). A discussion
of assumptions has been presented which shows that
under the most likely conditions, this technique is reason-
able and is likely to yield conservative results (generally
over-prediction of combustion gas ow rate and under-
prediction of combustion chamber gas residence time).
A.R. Eicher / Waste Management 20 (2000) 403407 407