Fuels energy released

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. 

Exothermic oxidation—reduction reactions provide the energy released in both propellant burning and explosive detonation. The reactions are either internal oxidation—reductions, as in the decomposition of nitroglycerin and pentaerythritol tetranitrate, or reactions between discrete oxidizers and fuels in heterogeneous mixtures. 

A PWR can operate steadily for periods of a year or two without refueling. Uranium-235 is consumed through neutron irradiation uranium-238 is converted into plutonium-239 and higher mass isotopes. The usual measure of fuel bumup is the specific thermal energy release. A typical figure for PWR fuel is 33,000 MWd/t. Spent fuel contains a variety of radionucHdes (50) ... 

Power—Combustion of the fuel results in the release of energy. This energy release results in increase in temperature and pressure in the cylinder. The expansion of this mixture against the piston converts a portion of the energy released to mechanical energy. 

The major mechanism of a vapor cloud explosion, the feedback in the interaction of combustion, flow, and turbulence, can be readily found in this mathematical model. The combustion rate, which is primarily determined by the turbulence properties, is a source term in the conservation equation for the fuel-mass fraction. The attendant energy release results in a distribution of internal energy which is described by the equation for conservation of energy. This internal energy distribution is translated into a pressure field which drives the flow field through momentum equations. The flow field acts as source term in the turbulence model, which results in a turbulent-flow structure. Finally, the turbulence properties, together with the composition, determine the rate of combustion. This completes the circle, the feedback in the process of turbulent, premixed combustion in gas explosions. The set of equations has been solved with various numerical methods e.g., SIMPLE (Patankar 1980) SOLA-ICE (Cloutman et al. 1976). 

Some environmentalists have also touted natural gas as a way station on the road to a hydrogen fuel (carbon dioxide-free) economy. As seen in Table 1, per unit of energy released, natural gas generates about 23 percent less carbon dioxide than gasoline and about 30 percent less than heavy fuel oil. This is helpful in reducing greenhouse emissions, but the other excellent properties of natural gas are even... 

Why Do We Need to Know This Material The laws of thermodynamics govern chemistry and life. They explain why reactions take place and let us predict how much heat reactions release and how much work they can do. Thermodynamics plays a role in every part of our lives. For example, the energy released as heat can be used to compare fuels, and the energy resources of food lets us assess its nutritional value. The material in this chapter provides a foundation for the following chapters, in particular Chapter 7, which deals with the driving force of chemical reactions. 

Hydrogen, a fuel that releases a large amount of chemical energy when it bums, is used as an energy source in fuel cells. Use standard enthalpies of formation to calculate the change in mass that occurs when 1.00 mol of H2 is burned. 

An example of reducing energy consumption in use is found in 4-stroke automobile lubricants.Only about 20-35% of the energy released by the combustion of fuel is turned into useful mechanical work. The rest is lost as heat and friction. Lubricants play an important role in the overall efficiency of the vehicle. 

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