Unit 1 : FUELS

Fuel : Any source of heat energy is called as fuel. The term

fuel is applied to a combustible substance which on burning
in presence of O2 produces a large amount of heat that can
be used economically for domestic and industrial purposes.
Fuel contains carbon as main constituent. Combustion of
these fuels results in a chemical reaction involving breaking
of bonds of reactants and formation of new bonds in the
products which is accompanied by a large amount of heat.
E.g. wood, charcoal, coal, kerosene etc. Hence these are
termed as chemical fuels.

Nuclear fuels : They are also a source of heat. Energy is

liberated by fission or fusion of nuclei and not combustion.
The energy released is very much greater than in the case
of chemical fuels.
How are fuels termed as stored energy source?
Solar energy by the process of photosynthesis forms carbohydrates in plants, this carbohydrate gets
stored as cellulose in the vegetable matter. The vegetable matter is a source of chemical potential
energy in the form of organic matter. This organic matter gets converted into peat. Peat gets finally
converted to coal which has residual potential energy.
Classification of fuels
On the basis of occurrence fuels can be either
primary or secondary.

Primary fuels occur in nature as such. They are

used with or without processing which do not
alter the chemical composition of the fuel e.g.
wood, peat, coal, petroleum, natural gas.

Secondary fuels are derived from primary fuels

by further chemical processing. E.g. charcoal,
kerosene, coal gas, producer gas etc.
On the basis of physical state fuels can be of
3 types

Solid fuels : e.g. wood, peat, coal

Liquid fuels : e.g. petroleum, kerosene oil,
petrol, diesel
Gaseous fuels : natural gas, coal gas, oil gas
 Characteristics of a good fuel :
1. High calorific value, because amount of heat liberated
and temperature attained depends on the calorific value of
fuel.
2. Ignition temperature should be low so that it burns
smoothly.
3. Moisture content should be low as it reduces the heating
value or the effective calorific value.
3. Good fuel should not have non-combustible matter
content as it reduces the heating value.
4. It should not be spontaneously combustible as it causes
fire hazards.
5. It should be readily available in bulk and at a
cheap rate.
6. Fuel on burning should not give out harmful
gases and unpleasant odours.
7. Solid fuel should be uniform in size to enable
regular combustion.
8. Good fuel should be easy to handle, store and
transport at low cost.
9. Velocity of combustion should be moderate,
neither too high nor too low(too low velocity of
combustion causes heat loss due to radiation).
Properties Solid fuels Liquid fuels Gaseous fuels
Price and Cheap and easily Costlier than solid They are also costly
available. fuel, but cheaper except natural gas.
availability in the countries of
origin.

Transport and Easy, chance of Easily transported They are stored in

spontaneous through pipes and leakproof tanks and
storage explosion is rare. must be stored in can be
closed containers transported/distrib
carefully. uted.

Combustion Slow Quick Very fast

Fire hazards Less risk Greater risk Even greater risk

than liquid fuels

Smoke and ash Both are always Ash is not Neither ash nor
produced due to produced but smoke is produced.
which calorific value smoke is produced.
is reduced.
Properties Solid fuels Liquid fuels Gaseous fuels

Calorific Least Higher Highest

value
Thermal Least Higher Highest
efficiency
Use in Not used in internal Used in internal Used in internal
combustion engine combustion engine combustion engine
internal
combustion
engine

Storage Needs considerable Storage space Needs leakproof

storage space required is less containers and
conditions considerable
storage space.

Labour Labour is required for Labour demand is Labour demand is

stocking coal. less. less.
requirement
 Calorific value of a fuel :
It is defined as the amount of heat produced in
calories in the combustion of 1 g of a substance (fuel)
in oxygen completely. For a good fuel calorific value
should be high.
It is generally expressed in kcal/kg.
In the CGS system the unit of solid or liquid fuel is
cal/g and that of a gaseous fuel is cal/cm3
In the MKS system the unit of solid or liquid fuel is
kcal/kg and that of a gaseous fuel is kcal/m3
In the BTU system the unit of solid or liquid fuel is
BTU/lb and that of gaseous fuel is BTU/ft3
 Units of heat
Calorie : The amount of heat required to raise the
temperature of one gram of water through 10C is known
as a calorie.
1 cal = 4.18 joule = 4.18 X 107ergs
Kilocalorie : The amount of heat required to raise the
temperature of one kg of water through 10C.
1 kcal = 1000 calorie
British Thermal Unit : The amount of heat required to
raise the temperature of one pound of water through
one degree Fahrenheit.
1 B.Th.U. = 252 cal =0.252 kcal
1kcal = 3.968 B. Th. U.
Centigrade Heat Unit : The amount of heat required to
raise the temperature of one pound of water through
one degree centigrade. It is denoted by C.H.U.
Relation between different heat units :
1kcal = 1000 cal = 3.968 B.Th.U=2.2 C.H.U.

Units of calorific value :

(a) For solid and liquid fuels : cal/g or kcal/kg or B.Th.U/lb
(b) For gaseous fuels : Kilocalorie per cubic
metre(kcal/m3) or British Thermal Unit per cubic feet (B.
Th. U/ft3).
Relation between the different units :
1 cal/g = 1kcal/kg = 1.8 B.Th.U/1b
 Classification of calorific
value :
Fuels invariably contain hydrogen. On combustion
hydrogen present in fuel is converted into steam.
Calorific values can be classified into two types
Depending upon the fact whether combustion
products are allowed to cool down at room
temperature or they are allowed to escape there
are two types of calorific values.

Net calorific value : It is defined as the amount of

heat liberated when one unit of fuel is burnt
completely and the combustion products are
allowed to escape. It is also called as Low calorific
Gross calorific value : It is defined as the amount of
heat liberated when one unit of fuel is burnt completely
and the products of combustion have been cooled at
room temperature (150C or 600F). It is also termed as
Higher calorific value.
Hydrogen present in the fuel is converted into steam,
H2O(v) during combustion. On cooling the products of
combustion at room temperature, steam changes into
water H2O(liq.) and the latent heat of steam also gets
included in the measured heat.
H2O(v) gives H2O(liq.) Q=mL
Net Calorific value = Gross calorific value - Latent heat
of water vapour formed
OR
LCV = HCV - Latent heat of water vapour formed
 Difference between Gross and Net calorific value

Gross calorific value Net calorific value

• It is the amount of heat • It is the amount of heat released
released when unit mass or when unit mass or unit volume of
unit volume of fuel is burnt fuel is burnt completely and the
products are allowed to escape.
completely and the products
of combustion are allowed to
cool at room temperature.
• Latent heat of condensation is not
• Latent heat of steam is included.
included. • It is also known as lower calorific
• It is also known as higher value.
calorific value. • It is less than gross calorific value.
• It is greater than net calorific
value.
Theoretical calorific value of a fuel
It can be calculated if the percentage of constituent
elements are known. Acc. To Dulong, the calorific
value of a fuel is the sum of the calorific values of its
constituents.

Substrate Calorific value

in kcal/g
Carbon 8080
Hydrogen 34500
Sulphur 2240
If oxygen is also present it combines with hydrogen to
form H2O. Thus hydrogen in the combined form is not
available for combustion and is called fixed hydrogen.
Amount of hydrogen available for combustion = Total
mass of hydrogen-hydrogen combined with oxygen.
H2 + 1/2O2 gives H2O
2g 8g 18g
Acc. to above eq. one part of hydrogen gets fixed
Fixed hydrogen = Mass of oxygen in the fuel
therefore amount of hydrogen available for combustion
= total mass of hydrogen - 1/8 mass of oxygen in fuel
= H - O/8
Dulong’s formula for calculating
the calorific value :
Gross calorific value = 1/100[8080C + 34500(H
-O/8) + 2240S]kcal/g
Where C, H, O and S are percentage of carbon,
hydrogen, oxygen and sulphur respectively.
Net calorific value = [Gross calorific value -
9/100H X 587]
=[Gross calorific value - 0.09H X 587]kcal/kg