Products combustion

The principal sources of utility waste are associated with hot utilities (including cogeneration) and cold utilities. Furnaces, steam boilers, gas turbines, and diesel engines all produce waste as gaseous c bustion products. These combustion products contain carbon... 

Other methods for analyzing combustion products can be substituted for chromatography. Gravimetry can be used, for example, after a series of absorption on different beds, as in the case of water absorption in magnesium perchlorate or CO2 in soda lime infra-red spectrometry can be used for the detection of CO2 and water. 

The mass or volume heating value represents the quantity of energy released by a unit mass or volume of fuel during the chemical reaction for complete combustion producing CO2 and H2O. The fuel is taken to be, unless mentioned otherwise, at the liquid state and at a reference temperature, generally 25°C. The air and the combustion products are considered to be at this same temperature. 

Bechtel J H and Chraplyvy A R 1982 Laser diagnostics of flame, combustion products and sprays Proc. IEEE 70 658-77... 

In gas-solid extractions the sample is passed through a container packed with a solid adsorbent. One example of the application of gas-solid extraction is in the analysis of organic compounds for carbon and hydrogen. The sample is combusted in a flowing stream of O2, and the gaseous combustion products are passed through a series of solid-phase adsorbents that remove the CO2 and 1T20. 

Acrylonitrile is combustible and ignites readily, producing toxic combustion products such as hydrogen cyanide, nitrogen oxides, and carbon monoxide. It forms explosive mixtures with air and must be handled in weU-ventilated areas and kept away from any source of ignition, since the vapor can spread to distant ignition sources and flash back. 

Whenever unvented combustion occurs iadoors or when venting systems attached to combustion units malfunction, a variety of combustion products win be released to the iadoor environment. Iadoor combustioa units include nonelectric stoves and ovens, furnaces, hot water heaters, space heaters, and wood-burning fireplaces or stoves. Products of combustion include CO, NO, NO2, fine particles, aldehydes, polynuclear aromatics, and other organic compounds. Especially dangerous sources are unvented gas and kerosene [8008-20-6] space heaters which discharge pollutants directly into the living space. The best way to prevent the accumulation of combustion products indoors is to make sure all units are properly vented and properly maintained. 

Oxidizers. The characteristics of the oxidizer affect the baUistic and mechanical properties of a composite propellant as well as the processibihty. Oxidizers are selected to provide the best combination of available oxygen, high density, low heat of formation, and maximum gas volume in reaction with binders. Increases in oxidizer content increase the density, the adiabatic flame temperature, and the specific impulse of a propellant up to a maximum. The most commonly used inorganic oxidizer in both composite and nitroceUulose-based rocket propellant is ammonium perchlorate. The primary combustion products of an ammonium perchlorate propellant and a polymeric binder containing C, H, and O are CO2, H2, O2, and HCl. Ammonium nitrate has been used in slow burning propellants, and where a smokeless exhaust is requited. Nitramines such as RDX and HMX have also been used where maximum energy is essential. 

Secondary smoke is produced mosdy by the condensation of water in humid or cold air. The presence of hydrogen chloride or hydrogen fluoride in the combustion products increases the extent and rate of condensation. Composition modifications to reduce primary smoke may reduce secondary smoke to some extent, but complete elimination is unlikely. The relatively small amount of smoke produced in gun firings by modem nitrocellulose propellants, although undesirable, is acceptable (102—109). 

Another factor potentially affecting the market for halogenated fire retardants is the waste disposal of plastics (see Wastes, industrial). As landfiU availabihty declines or becomes less popular, two alternatives are incineration and recycling (qv). The nature of the combustion products from halogenated products requires carefiil constmction and maintenance of incinerators (qv) to avoid damage to the incinerator itself and a pubHc health problem from the exhaust. The ease of recycling used products also has a potential effect on fire retardants. 

Toxicology. Two factors should be considered when discussing the toxicity of flame-retardant materials the toxicity of the compounds themselves and the effect of the flame retardants on combustion product toxicity. 

E. D. Wed and A. M. Aaronson, "Phosphoms Flame Retardants— Some Effects on Smoke and Combustion Products," lecture at University of Detroit Polymer Conference on Recent Advances in Combustion and Smoke Retardance of Polymers, Mich., May 1976. 

Because PTFE resins decompose slowly, they may be heated to a high temperature. The toxicity of the pyrolysis products warrants care where exposure of personnel is likely to occur (120). Above 230°C decomposition rates become measurable (0.0001% per hour). Small amounts of toxic perfiuoroisobutylene have been isolated at 400°C and above free fluorine has never been found. Above 690°C the decomposition products bum but do not support combustion if the heat is removed. Combustion products consist primarily of carbon dioxide, carbon tetrafluoride, and small quantities of toxic and corrosive hydrogen fluoride. The PTFE resins are nonflammable and do not propagate flame. 

Health and Safety Factors. VDE is a flammable gas its combustion products are toxic. Liquid VDE on contact with the skin can cause frostbite. Acute inhalation toxicity of VDE is low median lethal concentrations (LC q) for rats were 128,000 ppm after a single 4-h exposure (52) and 800,000 ppm after a 30-min exposure (53). Cumulative toxicity is low exposure of rats and mice at levels of up to 50,000 ppm for 90 days did not cause any... 

Formation of Airborne Emissions. Airborne emissions are formed from combustion of waste fuels as a function of certain physical and chemical reactions and mechanisms. In grate-fired systems, particulate emissions result from particles being swept through the furnace and boiler in the gaseous combustion products, and from incomplete oxidation of the soHd particles, with consequent char carryover. If pile burning is used, eg, the mass bum units employed for unprocessed MSW, typically only 20—25% of the unbumed soHds and inerts exit the combustion system as flyash. If spreader-stoker technologies are employed, between 75 and 90% of the unbumed soHds and inerts may exit the combustion system in the form of flyash. 

Some beehive ovens, having various improvements and additions of waste heat boilers, thereby allowing heat recovery from the combustion products, may stiU be in operation. Generally, however, the beehive oven has been replaced by waH-heated, horizontal chamber, ie, slot, ovens in which higher temperatures can be achieved as well as a better control over the quality of the coke. Modem slot-type coke ovens are approximately 15 m long, approximately 6 m high, and the width is chosen to suit the carbonization behavior of the coal to be processed. For example, the most common widths are ca 0.5 m, but some ovens may be as narrow as 0.3 m, or as wide as 0.6 m. 

The third characteristic of interest grows directly from the first, ie, the high thermal conductance of the heat pipe can make possible the physical separation of the heat source and the heat consumer (heat sink). Heat pipes >100 m in length have been constmcted and shown to behave predictably (3). Separation of source and sink is especially important in those appHcations in which chemical incompatibilities exist. For example, it may be necessary to inject heat into a reaction vessel. The lowest cost source of heat may be combustion of hydrocarbon fuels. However, contact with an open flame or with the combustion products might jeopardize the desired reaction process. In such a case it might be feasible to carry heat from the flame through the wall of the reaction vessel by use of a heat pipe. 

In summary, the bad features of partial combustion processes are the cost of oxygen and the dilution of the cracked gases with combustion products. Flame stability is always a potential problem. These features are more than offset by the inherent simplicity of the operation, which is the reason that partial combustion is the predominant process for manufacturing acetylene from hydrocarbons. 

The remaining unoxidized hydrocarbons react endothermically with steam and the combustion products from the primary reaction. The main endothermic reaction is the reforming of hydrocarbon by water vapor ... 

Starved-Air or Partial Combustion. To obtaia the temperatures aeeded for the pyrolysis reactioa to occur, a limited amouat of oxygea is allowed to eater the combustioa zoae. This oxygea reacts with the feed or pyrolysis products and releases the needed energy within the combustor. Both pyrolysis and combustion products are obtained. The products leaving the system contain a large amount of chemical energy. 

The furnace is constmcted with a steel shell lined with high temperature refractory (see Refractories). Refractory type and thickness are deterrnined by the particular need. Where combustion products include corrosive gases such as sulfur dioxide or hydrogen chloride, furnace shell temperatures are maintained above about 150—180°C to prevent condensation and corrosion on the inside carbon steel surfaces. Where corrosive gases are not present, insulation is sized to maintain a shell temperature below 60°C to protect personnel. 

U.S. National Bureau of Standards, Further Development of a Test Methodfor the Assessment of the Mcute Inhalation Toxicity of Combustion Products, NBSIR 82-2532, Washington, D.C., June 1982. 

---