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Combustion Basics Combustion Classification
Combustion
Combustion & Flame Combustion of fuel-air mixture inside engine cylinder is one of the
processes that controls engine power, efficiency and emissions.
Combustion commonly observed involves flame, which is a thin
Dr. Md. Zahurul Haq
region of rapid exothermic chemical reaction.
Professor Flame propagation is the result of strong coupling between
Department of Mechanical Engineering chemical reaction, transport processes of mass diffusion, heat
Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology (BUET)
Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh conduction and fluid flow.
Conventional spark-ignition (SI) flame is premixed unsteady
zahurul@me.buet.ac.bd
http://teacher.buet.ac.bd/zahurul/
turbulent flame, and the fuel-air mixture through which it
propagates is in the gaseous state.
ME 401: Internal Combustion Engines Diesel engine (CI) combustion process is predominantly an
unsteady turbulent diffusion flame, and the fuel is initially in the
liquid phase.
c Dr. Md. Zahurul Haq (BUET) Combustion & Flame ME 401 (2016) 1 / 22 c Dr. Md. Zahurul Haq (BUET) Combustion & Flame ME 401 (2016) 2 / 22
Combustion Basics Combustion Classification Combustion Basics Combustion Chemistry & Thermodynamics
Classification of Flames Combustion Stoichiometry

1 Premixed Flame: fuel and oxidizer are essentially uniformly mixed
prior to combustion. It is a rapid, essentially isobaric, exothermic C H O N + as (O2 + 3.76N2 ) n1 CO2 + n2 H2 O + n3 N2
| {z } | {z } | {z }
reaction of gaseous fuel & oxidizer, and propagates as a thin zone fuel air complete combustion product
with speeds of less than a few m/s. as stoichiometric molar fuel-air ratio
2 Diffusion Flame: reactants are not premixed and must mix (A/F )s stoichiometric air-fuel ratio
together in the same region where reactions take place. It is 1 28.85(4.76as )
as = + 4 2 = FA s = FA s =

dominated by the mixing of reactants, which can be either laminar 12++16+14
or turbulent, and reaction takes place at the interface between the fuel-air equivalence ratio, simply equivalence ratio
fuel and oxidizer. relative air-fuel ratio or excess-air factor
1 Laminar: flow, mixing and transport are by molecular process.
2 Turbulent: flow, mixing and transport are enhanced by (A/F )s (F /A)a < 1 : lean mixture
= 1 = = : = 1 : stoichiometric mix.
macroscopic relative motion of fluid eddies of turbulent flow. (A/F )a (F /A)s
> 1 : rich mixture
Steady / Unsteady
(A/F )a actual air-fuel ratio
Solid phase / Liquid phase / Gaseous phase. Homework: Heywood: Ex. 3.1, pp. 69
Combustion Basics Combustion Chemistry & Thermodynamics Combustion Basics Combustion Chemistry & Thermodynamics
Heating Values of Fuels fuel vap

Reactants
H fuel liq
H2 O vap
Reactants Products
U H2 O liq
or
H mf hf g,f uel
Products
(U )V,To mH2 O hf g,H2 O

or
(H)P,To
d002
To T
To
h i
T mH2 O
T296 d001 QHHV ,P = QLHV ,P + mf hfg,H2 O
Heating value at constant pressure QHV ,P = (H )P ,To QHHV ,P Higher (Gross) Heating Value (water in liquid form)
Heating value at constant volume QHV ,V = (U )V ,To
QLHV ,P Lower (Net) Heating Value (water in gaseous form)
QHV ,P QHV ,V = P (Vprod Vreac ) = Ru (nprod nreac )To
mH2 O /mf mass ratio of water produced to fuel burned.
Ru universal gas constant (8.314 kJ/kmol-K)
Example: Methane-Air Combustion Adiabatic Flame Temperature

Reactants
U
or
H
or
Products
URo = Uprod (Tad , V = constant)
URo HRo
HRo = Hprod (Tad , P = constant)

To Tad T
d003
e716 Adiabatic Flame Temperature is the product temperature in an ideal

CH4 + as (O2 + 3.76N2 ) n1 CO2 + n2 H2 O + n3 N2
adiabatic combustion process. Actual peak temperatures in engines are
several hundred degrees less due to:
as = 2.0, n1 = 1.0, n2 = 2.0, n3 = 7.52
heat loss from the flame
= LHV = (802.33/16.0) MJ/kg = 50.14 MJ/kg combustion efficiency is less than 100%: a small fraction of fuel
= HHV = 50.14 + 2 18 /16 2.445 = 55.64 MJ/kg does not get burned, and some product components dissociate
Homework: Estimate HHV of CH4 at constant volume. (endothermic reaction) at high temperatures.
Typical Equilibrium Combustion Product
e714
iso-octane at 30 bar
e717
Combustion Efficiency in ICEs

Exhaust gas of an ICE contains incomplete combustion products
Major products of lean combustion are H2 O, CO2 , O2 and N2 ;
(e.g. CO, H2 , unburned hydrocarbon, soot) as well as complete
while, for rich combustion they are H2 O, CO2 , CO, H2 and N2 .
combustion products (CO2 and H2 O). The amounts of incomplete
Maximum flame temperature is at slightly rich condition
combustion products are small in case of lean mixture, however
( 1.05) as a result of both the heat of combustion & heat
these amounts become more substantial under fuel-rich conditions.
capacity of products decaying beyond = 1.0.
Between 1.0 (Tmax ) heat capacities decays more rapidly HR (To )HP (To )
with than Hc and beyond (Tmax ), Hc falls more rapidly c = mf QHV
than does the heat capacity. c combustion efficiency
Increase in temperature promotes dissociation (endothermic) To ambient temperature
reactions and increase in pressure decreases dissociation. HR enthalpy of reactants
HP enthalpy of products
mf mass of fuel
QHV heating value of fuel
e694
Auto-ignition & Self-ignition Temperature (SIT) Data for some Fuels

If the temperature of an air-fuel mixture is raised high enough, the
mixture will self ignite without the need of an external igniter. The
temperature above which this occurs is called the SIT. Fuel Symbol (A/F )s as LHV Tad,P SIT
If the mixture temperature is lower than
(MJ/kg) (K) (K)
SIT, no ignition will occur and the
Hydrogen H2 (g) 34.01 0.5 119.95 2383 673
mixture will cool off.
Methane CH4 (g) 17.12 2.0 50.0 2227 810
If mixture temperature is above SIT,
Methanol CH4 O(l) 6.43 1.5 19.9 2223 658
self-ignition will occur after a short time
Gasoline C7 H17 (l) 15.27 11.25 44.5 2257 519
delay called ignition delay (ID).
Octane C8 H18 (l) 15.03 12.50 44.4 2266 691
The higher mixture temperature above Diesel C14.4 H24.9 (l) 14.3 20.63 42.94 2283 483
SIT, the shorter will be the ID.
ID depends on initial temperature,
pressure, density, turbulence, swirl,
e732
fuel-air-ratio presence of inert gases, etc.
Combustion Basics Combustion Chemistry & Thermodynamics Flame
Flammability Limits Flame
As the combustible mixture gets too rich or too lean, flame

temperature decreases and consequently, flame cannot propagate Flame is the result of the self-sustaining chemical reaction
when the equivalence ratio is larger than an upper limit or smaller occurring within a region of space called flame front where
than a lower limit. unburned mixture is heated & converted into products.
These two limits are referred to as the rich and the lean Flame reaction zone temperatures are around 2800 K. At these
flammability limits (RFL and LFL respectively), and they are temperatures, flame contains highly reactive atoms & radicals.
often expressed as fuel percentage by volume in the mixture. Flame propagation arises from heat transfer & diffusion of active
particles from the hot flame to the relatively cold mixture.
Flame speeds are significantly increased by turbulence which
distorts flame front to increase burning area and enhances heat &
mass diffusion.
T356
Flame Laminar Flame Flame Laminar Flame
Laminar Flame Propagation

Flame location at
t = t0
t = t1
Laminar burning velocity, SL is an intrinsic property of a fuel-air
burned unburned
mixture. It is defined as the velocity, relative to & normal to the
flame front, with which unburned gas moves into the front & is Ss = SL
transformed to products under laminar flow conditions.
1 dmb
SL = u Af dt : Ss = SL + ug t = t1
dmb /dt is mass burning rate & Af is flame front surface area. burned ug = SL unburned
Ss flame speed: space velocity of flame front normal to itself. It Ss = 0

is not a unique property of combustible fuel-air premixture.
ug gas expansion velocity & is a function of u & b . t = t1

SL,0 T
SL = f (fuel , T , P , ) = P burned unburned
To Po
unburned mixture, datum pressure & temperature. S s = S L + ug

u 0 d004
Flame Laminar Flame Flame Laminar Flame
Effect of Equivalence Ratio, Effect of Unburned Mixture Temperature, Tu
0.6 Iso-octane-air mixture
= 1.0
0.5
= 0.8
SL (m/s)
0.4
Methane-air mixture
0.3
Pu = 0.1 MPa
0.25
300 350 400 450
Tu (K)
e731
is +ve and close to 2.0. Increase in temperature increases chemical

reaction rates & dissociations. So, more active radicals are produced to
e713
enhance flame propagation.
Flame Laminar Flame Flame Turbulent Flame
Effect of Unburned Mixture Pressure, Pu Turbulent Flame Propagation

0.7
0.6 Tu = 358 K
0.5 = 1.0 Methane-air mixture
0.4 Iso-octane-air mixture

SL (m/s)
0.3 = 0.8
0.2
0.1 e728
0.1 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
Pu (MPa) ST
e730
ST = f (fuel , T , P , , turbulence) = = f (turbulence)
is either zero or negative. Increased pressure increases flame SL
temperature because of less dissociation, and less dissociation means In engines, propagating flame fronts are wrinkled by turbulence which
less active radicals are available to diffuse upstream to enhance flame result in higher burning rate. The effect of turbulence is not always
propagation. beneficial as too much turbulence can lead to extinction of flame.

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Combustion Basics Combustion Classification

Classification of Flames Combustion Stoichiometry

Heating Values of Fuels fuel vap

(U )V,To mH2 O hf g,H2 O

Example: Methane-Air Combustion Adiabatic Flame Temperature

HRo = Hprod (Tad , P = constant)

e716 Adiabatic Flame Temperature is the product temperature in an ideal

Typical Equilibrium Combustion Product

Combustion Efficiency in ICEs

Auto-ignition & Self-ignition Temperature (SIT) Data for some Fuels

Combustion Basics Combustion Chemistry & Thermodynamics Flame

Flammability Limits Flame

As the combustible mixture gets too rich or too lean, flame

Laminar Flame Propagation

Ss flame speed: space velocity of flame front normal to itself. It Ss = 0

unburned mixture, datum pressure & temperature. S s = S L + ug

Flame Laminar Flame Flame Laminar Flame

Effect of Equivalence Ratio, Effect of Unburned Mixture Temperature, Tu

0.6 Iso-octane-air mixture

is +ve and close to 2.0. Increase in temperature increases chemical

Effect of Unburned Mixture Pressure, Pu Turbulent Flame Propagation

0.4 Iso-octane-air mixture

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