Fuel and Combustion

COAL
Definition
 Coal is a combustible fossil fuel
sedimentary rock composed mostly of
carbon and hydrocarbons.
 Sedimentary rock
 A rock that is formed by sedimentation of
material at the Earth's surface and within bodies
of water.
 Sedimentation is the collective name for
processes that cause mineral and/or organic
particles to settle and accumulate or minerals to
precipitate from a solution. Particles that form a
sedimentary rock by accumulating are called
sediment
 Over time, layers of dead plants were
covered by layers of water and dirt,
trapping the energy of the dead plants.
The heat and pressure from the top
layers turned the plant remains into
coal.
Coal Energy
 The energy in coal comes from the
energy stored by plants that lived
hundreds of millions of years ago.
Advantages of Coal
 Easily combustible, produces high energy
upon combustion helping in locomotion and
in the generation of electricity and various
other forms of energy.
 Widely and easily distributed all over the
world.
Advantages of Coal
 Comparatively inexpensive due to large
reserves and easy accessibility
 Very large amounts of electricity can be
generated in one place using coal, fairly
cheaply.
 Good availability
 It is relatively easy to transport. The oil and
gas transportation needs to setup high-
pressure pipelines and back them with
necessary security cover.
 Most of the coal mining regions are well
connected to the industrial belts by a rail
network, which is again the one of the
cheapest mode of transportation available.
 Inexpensive energy source, Various attributes
such as abundant availability, easy
transportation, easy processing etc make it
one of the most inexpensive source of energy
in the world.
Disadvantages of Coal
 it is Nonrenewable and fast depleting.
 One of the biggest disadvantage of coal is air
pollution. Numerous harmful gases, including
carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide and ash, are
released. In fact, it tends to emit twice as
much CO2 than the other fossil fuels.
 Coal storage cost is high especially if
required to have enough stock for few years
to assure power production availability.
 Coal power puts the lives of the people who
dig the coal in danger, and it gives them poor
lung quality.

 Coal-fired power plants emit mercury,

selenium, and arsenic which are harmful to
human health and the environment
 A coal plant generates about 3,700,000 tons
of carbon dioxide every year, this is one of
the main causes of global warming.

 A single coal plant creates 10,000 tons of

sulfur dioxide, which causes acid rain that
damages forests, lakes, and buildings.
 Types of Coal
 Coal is a complex resource and can vary in
composition even within the same deposit.
Generally, there are five different types or
ranking levels of coal, each with differences in
energy output as a result of increased
pressurization, heat, and time.
Types of Coal
 Peat
 Lignite
 Sub bituminous coal
 Bituminous coal
 Anthracite
 Peat
 It is initial stage of Coal formation.
 A soft brown mass of compressed,
partially decomposed vegetation that
forms in a water-saturated environment
and has a carbon content of .
 Dried peat can be burned as fuel
 Lignite

 Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, is

brownish-black in color.
 It has a carbon contents of around 25-35%, a
high inherent moisture content sometimes as
high as 66%, and an ash content ranging
from 6% to 19%.
 It is considered an “immature” coal that is still
soft.
 The energy content of lignite ranges
from 10 to 20 MJ/kg on a moist,
mineral-matter-free basis.
 Lignite has a high content of volatile
matter which makes it easier to convert
into gas and liquid petroleum products
than higher ranking coals.
 It is used for generating electricity.
 Its high moisture content and
susceptibility to spontaneous
combustion can cause problems in
transportation and storage.
 Sub bituminous coal
 This is a dull black coal with a higher
heating value than lignite, and is used
principally for electricity and space
heating.
 It has 35-45 percent carbon contents.
 The heat content of sub-bituminous
coals range from 19,306 to 26,749
kJ/kg.
 used primarily as fuel for steam-electric
power generation.
 Bituminous coal
 Bituminous Coal or Black Coal is of
higher quality than lignite coal but of
poorer quality than anthracite coal.
 The carbon content of bituminous coal
is around 60-80%; the rest is composed
of water, air, hydrogen, and sulfur.
 The heat content of bituminous coal
ranges from (24 to 35 MJ/kg) on a
moist, mineral-matter-free basis.
 Bituminous coal is used primarily to
generate electricity and make coke for
the steel industry.
 Anthracite
 Also known as "hard coal" that was
formed from bituminous coal under
increased.
 It is very hard and shiny. This type of
coal is the most compact and therefore,
has the highest energy content of the
five levels of coal. It is used for space
heating and generating electricity.
 Anthracite is coal has the highest
carbon contents, between 86 and 98
percent
 The heat content of anthracite ranges
from 26 to 33 MJ/kg on a moist,
mineral-matter-free basis.
Physical Properties of Coal
 Moister Contents
 Volatile Matter
 Ash
 Fixed Carbon
 Heating Value
 Moisture Contents

 Moisture is an important property of

coal.
 Moisture is basically water contents
inside the coal.
 %ge of moisture in coal is (0.5 –
10%)
 Reduces heating value of fuel
Types of Moisture
 Moisture may occur in following possible
forms within coal:
 Surface moisture: water held on the
surface of coal particles.
 Hydroscopic moisture: water held by
capillary action within the microfracture of the
coal
 Decomposition moisture: water held
within the coal's decomposed organic
compounds
 Volatile matter

 Volatile matter in coal refers to the

components of coal, except for
moisture, which are liberated at high
temperature in the absence of air.
 This is usually a mixture of short and
long chain hydrocarbons, aromatic
hydrocarbons and some sulfur.
Volatile matter
 Examples of volatile matters are the
methane, hydrocarbons, hydrogen, carbon
monoxide, incombustible gases like carbon
dioxide and nitrogen found in coal.
 The percentage of volatile matter is usually
25-35%
 Importance: High volatile matter content
indicates easy ignition of fuel.
Ash
 Ash is an impurity that will not burn.
Typical range is 5% to 40%
 The ash content is important in the
design of the furnace, combustion
volume, pollution control equipment
and ash handling systems of a furnace.
Fixed Carbon
 Fixed carbon is the solid fuel left in the
furnace after volatile matter is distilled
off. It consists mostly of carbon but also
contains some hydrogen, oxygen,
sulphur and nitrogen not driven off with
the gases.
 Fixed carbon gives a rough estimate of
the heating value of coal.
Fixed Carbon
 Fixed carbon = 100 – (moisture +
volatile matter + ash)

 Importance: Fixed carbon acts as heat

generator during burning
 Heating Value
 The heating value or calorific value
of a substance, usually a fuel is the
amount of heat released during the
combustion of a specified amount of it.
 The heat of combustion for fuels is
expressed as the HHV and LHV,
Higher Heating Value
 Amount of heat released when a unit amount
of fuel at a given initial temperature (usually
20 °C or 25 °C) is completely combusted at
stoichiometric conditions and constant
pressure with the combustion products being
cooled to the initial temperature and any
water vapor produced being condensed.
 Condensing any water vapor produced during
determination of the HHV means that the
HHV includes the heat of vaporization

 Stoichiometric combustion means that the

combustion products do not contain any
oxygen (i.e., there was no excess of
combustion air during the combustion).
lower heating value
 lower heating value is determined by
subtracting the heat of vaporization of the
water vapor from the higher heating value.
 This treats any H2O formed as a vapor. The
energy required to vaporize the water
therefore is not realized as heat.
Expressions of heating values

 As Received (AR): Indicates the the fuel heating

value was measured with all inherent moisture and
ash forming minerals present.
 Moisture Free (MF) or Dry: Indicates that the fuel
heating value was measured after the fuel has been
dried of all inherent moisture but still retained its ash
forming minerals.
 Moisture and Ash Free (MAF) or Dry and Ash
Free (DAF): Indicates that the fuel heating value
has been measured in the absence of both inherent
moisture and ash forming minerals.