Combustion and Burning

Fuel volatility is an extremely important factor related to fuel combustion and burning efficiency. Evaporation, vaporization, and vapor pressure of fuel can all be reduced in cold environments. Poor startability and warmup of gasoline and diesel engines can be directly related to fuel volatility. Also, cold kerosene will not vaporize and bum as efficiently in wick-fed systems. 

Burning (Combustion) and Burning Characteristics of Explosives. See Vol 2, p B343-R and the following... 

Burning (Combustion) and Burning Characteristics of Propellants for Artillery V/eapons and Small Arms. In describing the characteristics in Vol 2 of Encycl, pp B346-L to B350-R, the following papers were not included ... 

Following are some Addnl Refs on Combustion and Burning ... 

It is mentioned under "Burning (ot Combustion) and Burning Characteristics of Gases, Vapors and Dusts , described in this Vol, that while burning rate depends to a certain extent on the diameter of pipe in which the gas burns, the detonation rate does not de-(Eq 1) pend on diameter, provided it is sufficiently large... 

The theoretical formula is very near the center of the diagram. Analysis of Sienko Hanabi compositions residues shows them to be largely potassium disulfide in the first part of the reaction. Potassium disulfide is combustible and burns to yield the potassium sulfide as the reaction continues. 

The physical and mechanical properties of the nitrile rubbers are very similar to those of natural rubber. Buna-N does not have exceptional heat resistance. It has a maximum operating temperature of 200°F/93°C and has a tendency to harden at elevated temperatures. The nitrile rubbers will support combustion and burn. NBR has good abrasion resistance and tensile strength. 

In the stoker-type furnace, municipal solid waste is fed on to grates by a hopper and burnt by the air which is usually blown from the bottom. The resulting ash which drops from the grates is collected at the bottom and carried away by a riddling conveyor. There are mainly three zones drying, combustion and burn-out. First the waste is dried... 

Organic compounds are a major constituent of the FPM at all sites. The major sources of OC are combustion and atmospheric reactions involving gaseous VOCs. As is the case with VOCs, there are hundreds of different OC compounds in the atmosphere. A minor but ubiquitous aerosol constituent is elemental carbon. EC is the nonorganic, black constituent of soot. Combustion and pyrolysis are the only processes that produce EC, and diesel engines and wood burning are the most significant sources. 

Incineration. Gases sufftciendy concentrated to support combustion are burned in waste-heat boilers, dares, or used for fuel. Typical pollutants treated by incineration are hydrocarbons, other organic solvents and blowdown gases, H2S, HCN, CO, H2, NH, and mercaptans. VOC... 

Flammability. The results of small-scale laboratory tests of plastic foams have been recognized as not predictive of their tme behavior in other fire situations (205). Work aimed at developing tests to evaluate the performance of plastic foams in actual fire situations continues. All plastic foams are combustible, some burning more readily than others when exposed to fire. Some additives (131,135), when added in small quantities to the polymer, markedly improve the behavior of the foam in the presence of small fire sources. Plastic foams must be used properly following the manufacturers recommendations and any appHcable regulations. 

The carbon black (soot) produced in the partial combustion and electrical discharge processes is of rather small particle si2e and contains substantial amounts of higher (mostly aromatic) hydrocarbons which may render it hydrophobic, sticky, and difficult to remove by filtration. Electrostatic units, combined with water scmbbers, moving coke beds, and bag filters, are used for the removal of soot. The recovery is illustrated by the BASF separation and purification system (23). The bulk of the carbon in the reactor effluent is removed by a water scmbber (quencher). Residual carbon clean-up is by electrostatic filtering in the case of methane feedstock, and by coke particles if the feed is naphtha. Carbon in the quench water is concentrated by flotation, then burned. 

Thermal Process. In the manufacture of phosphoric acid from elemental phosphoms, white (yellow) phosphoms is burned in excess air, the resulting phosphoms pentoxide is hydrated, heats of combustion and hydration are removed, and the phosphoric acid mist collected. Within limits, the concentration of the product acid is controlled by the quantity of water added and the cooling capabiUties. Various process schemes deal with the problems of high combustion-zone temperatures, the reactivity of hot phosphoms pentoxide, the corrosive nature of hot phosphoric acid, and the difficulty of collecting fine phosphoric acid mist. The principal process types (Fig. 3) include the wetted-waH, water-cooled, or air-cooled combustion chamber, depending on the method used to protect the combustion chamber wall. 

In wetted-wall units, the walls of a tall circular, slightly tapered combustion chamber are protected by a high volume curtain of cooled acid flowing down inside the wall. Phosphoms is atomized by compressed air or steam into the top of the chamber and burned in additional combustion air suppHed by a forced or induced draft fan. Wetted-waU. plants use 25—50% excess combustion air to reduce the tail-gas volume, resulting in flame temperatures in excess of 2000°C. The combustion chamber maybe refractory lined or made of stainless steel. Acid sprays at the bottom of the chamber or in a subsequent, separate spraying chamber complete the hydration of phosphoms pentoxide. The sprays also cool the gas stream to below 100°C, thereby minimising corrosion to the mist-collecting equipment (typically type 316 stainless steel). 

Combustion. The burning of soHd, Hquid, and gaseous fuels as a source of energy is very common. Using sufficient and reHable combustion controls, this process seldom causes serious problems. However, some combustion processes are deHberately carried out with an inadequate oxygen supply in order to obtain products of incomplete combustion. Explosive mixtures sometimes occur, and then flashback is a serious problem. 

The vapor cloud of evaporated droplets bums like a diffusion flame in the turbulent state rather than as individual droplets. In the core of the spray, where droplets are evaporating, a rich mixture exists and soot formation occurs. Surrounding this core is a rich mixture zone where CO production is high and a flame front exists. Air entrainment completes the combustion, oxidizing CO to CO2 and burning the soot. Soot bumup releases radiant energy and controls flame emissivity. The relatively slow rate of soot burning compared with the rate of oxidation of CO and unbumed hydrocarbons leads to smoke formation. This model of a diffusion-controlled primary flame zone makes it possible to relate fuel chemistry to the behavior of fuels in combustors (7). 

The impact that variations in coke content and burning conditions can have on the overall heat of coke combustion is shown in Table 2. Because the heat balance dictates the amount of heat that is required from burning coke, the heat of combustion then determines the amount of coke that must be burned. 

Theoretical modeling of single-droplet combustion has provided expressions for evaporation and burning times of the droplets and the subsequent coke particles. A more thorough treatment of this topic is available (88,91—93,98). 

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