Combustion

Combustion occurs when fossil fuels, such as natural gas, fuel oil, coal or
gasoline, react with oxygen in the air to produce heat. The heat from burning
fossil fuels is used for industrial processes, environmental heating or to
expand gases in a cylinder and push a piston. Boilers, furnaces and engines
are important users of fossil fuels.
Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons, meaning they are composed primarily of
carbon and hydrogen. When fossil fuels are burned, carbon dioxide (CO2)
and water (H2O) are the principle chemical products, formed from the
reactants carbon and hydrogen in the fuel and oxygen (O2) in the air.
In actual combustion processes, other products are often formed. A typical
example of an actual combustion process is shown in Figure 1. Fuel has
reacted with air to produce the products shown on the right.

Fuel Efficiency
Fuel efficiency or Fuel Economy is the energy efficiency of a vehicle,
expressed as the ratio of distance traveled per unit of fuel consumed in
km/liter. Fuel efficiency depends on many parameters of a vehicle, including
its engine parameters, aerodynamic drag, weight, and rolling resistance.
Higher the value of fuel efficiency, the more economical a vehicle is (i.e., the
more distance it can travel with a certain volume of fuel). Fuel efficiency also
affects the emissions from the vehicles.

Fuel Consumption

Fuel consumption is the reciprocal of Fuel Efficiency. Hence, it may be

defined as the amount of fuel used per unit distance, expressed in
liters/100km. Lower is the value of fuel consumption, more economical is the
vehicle. That is less amount of fuel will be used to travel a certain distance.

Automobile Pollution
The pollution caused due to the emissions from vehicles is generally referred
to as automobile pollution. The transportation sector is the major contributor
to air pollution. Vehicular emissions are of particular concerns, since these
are ground level sources and hence have the maximum impact on the
general population.
The vehicle obtains its power by burning the fuel. The automobile pollution is
majorly caused due to this combustion, which form the exhaust emissions, as
well as, due to the evaporation of the fuel itself. The chemical reactions
occurring during ideal combustion stages may be represented as follows:

Similarly, the typical engine combustion which occurs in vehicles can be

represented by the below chemical equation.

Types of Vehicular Emissions

The fuel loss of vehicles may be due to emissions or refueling. The emissions
maybe evaporative or exhaust emissions. The fuel losses in a vehicle are
shown in Fig.2

1. Exhaust emissions: Exhaust emissions are those which are emitted

through the exhaust pipe when the vehicle is running or is started.
Hence, the exhaust emissions maybe of 2 types - start up emissions
and running emissions.
1. Startup emissions: Emissions when the vehicle is started
initially. Based on how long the vehicle had been turned off after
use, they may be cold start and hot start. Cold start refers to
when the vehicle is started suddenly after a long gap of use,
whereas, hot start refers to when the vehicle is started without
the vehicle getting enough time to cool off after its previous use.
2. Running emissions: Emissions during normal running of the
vehicle, i.e., when the vehicle is in a hot stabilized mode.
2. Evaporative emissions: These include running losses and hot soak
emissions produced from fuel evaporation when an engine is still hot at
the end of a trip, and diurnal emissions (daily temperature variations).
Exhaust Pollutants
The pollutants which are emitted from the exhaust pipe of the automobiles
are known as exhaust pollutants. They are formed as a result of combustion
of the fuel in the engine.

Sulphur Oxides
Combustion of petroleum generates Sulfur Dioxide. It is a colorless, pungent
and non flammable gas. It causes respiratory illness, but occurs only in
very low concentrations in exhaust gases. Further oxidation of
forms

and thus acid rains.

Nitrogen Oxides
Combustion under high temperature and pressure emits Nitrogen dioxide. It
is reddish brown gas. Nitrogen oxides contribute to the formation of ground
level Ozone and acid rain.
Carbon Dioxide
It is an indicator of complete combustion of the fuel. Although it does not
directly affect our health, it is a greenhouse gas which causes global
warming.
Carbon Monoxide
It is a product of the incomplete burning of fuel and is formed when Carbon is
partially oxidized.
is an odorless, colorless gas, but is toxic in nature. It
reaches the blood stream to form Carboxyhemoglobin, which reduces the
flow of Oxygen in blood.
Lead

It is a malleable heavy metal. Lead present in the fuel helps in preventing

engine knock. Lead causes harm to the nervous and reproductive systems.
Particulate Matter

These are tiny solid or liquid particles suspended in gas (soot or smoke).
Particulate Matter in higher concentrations may lead to heart diseases and
lung cancer.

Combustion Analysis

Combustion analysis is part of a process intended to improve fuel economy,

reduce undesirable exhaust emissions and improve the safety of fuel burning
equipment. Combustion analysis begins with the measurement of flue gas
concentrations and gas temperature, and may include the measurement of
draft pressure and soot level. To measure gas concentration, a probe is
inserted into the exhaust flue and a gas sample drawn out. Exhaust gas
temperature is measured using a thermocouple positioned to measure the
highest exhaust gas temperature. Soot is measured from a gas sample
drawn off the exhaust flue. Draft is the differential pressure between the
inside and outside of the exhaust flue. Once these measurements are made,
the data is interpreted using calculated combustion parameters such as
combustion efficiency and excess air. A more in depth analysis will examine
the concentration of the undesirable products described earlier.

Why Perform Combustion Analysis for a

vehicle exhaust?
-Improve Fuel Efficiency
-Reduce Emissions Energy is obtained from the combustion of gasoline by
the conversion of a hydrocarbon to carbon dioxide and water. The
combustion of octane follows this reaction:
2 C8H18 + 25 O2 16 CO2 + 18 H2O
Molecular weights of the above reagents are C8H18 114, O2 32, CO2 44,
H2O 18; therefore 1 kg or 1 liter of fuel reacts with 3.51 kg of oxygen to
produce 3.09 kg of carbon dioxide and 1.42 kg of water.

Case study

-Using Transportation Economics for selecting the right part of a trucks fleet
for the right place depending on the reading of the analysis.
Suppose we have three companies, each company has a fleet of different
numbers of trucks and we want to send these trucks to their dealers, the
dealers by their turn have an optimum time for the goods to be delivered.
What we will do here is pretty simple we will detect the most suitable fleet of
trucks to send the right dealer on time. we can use this method for the other
pollutants such as CO2

Companies
Dealers

NOx/hr.

(Sources)
(Demands)
4

137g/hr.
19
7
g
/h
r.

13
6g
/h
19
r.
4g
/h
r.

7.3g/hr.

10g/hr.

20

17 r.
4g/h
g /h
5
9
r.

10

16

By using the North West corner, we can fit the suitable

number of trucks from each fleet to the right dealer
137

136

95

194

174

197
2

0.21

7.3

4
10

6
16

16

10

8
20

And we can use also the least cost method but here we will
change its name a little bit to be least NOx amount in hour for truck

137

136

95
4

197

194

174
8

0.21

7.3
6

16

10
4

10

10

20

Transportation
Economics
Emissions for one liter of gasoline

Name: Mohamed Ashraf Sayed

Section :2