INTRODUCTION TO FUELS

The various types of fuels like liquid, solid and gaseous fuels
are available for firing in boilers, furnaces and other
combustion equipments.
The selection of right type of fuel depends
on various factors such as availability, storage, handling,
pollution and landed cost of fuel.
The knowledge of the fuel properties helps in selecting the
right fuel for the right purpose and efficient use of the fuel.
PROPERTIES OF LIQUID FUELS:
Furnace oil and LSHS
1.Density
This is defined as the ratio of the mass of the fuel to the
volume of the fuel at a reference temperature of 15C.
Density is measured by an instrument called hydrometer.
The knowledge of density is useful for quantity calculations
and assessing ignition quality. The unit of density is kg/m3.

Specific gravity
Defined as the ratio of the weight of a given volume of
oil to the weight of the same volume of water at a
given temperature. The density of fuel, relative to
water, is called specific gravity. The specific gravity of
water is defined as ONE.
Since specific gravity is a ratio, it has no units.
Measurement of specific gravity is generally made by a
hydrometer.

Viscosity
The viscosity of a fluid is a measure of its internal
resistance to flow.
Viscosity depends on temperature and decreases as
the temperature increases.
The measurement of viscosity is made with an
instrument called Viscometer

Flash point
The flash point of a fuel is the lowest temperature at which the fuel
can be heated so that the vapour gives off flashes momentarily
when an open flame is passed over it. Flash point for furnace oil is
66C.
Pour Point
The pour point of a fuel is the lowest temperature at which it
will flow when cooled under prescribed conditions. It is a very
rough indication of the lowest temperature at which fuel oil is
readily pumpable.
Specific Heat

Specific heat is the amount of k-cals needed to raise the

temperature of 1 kg of oil by 1oC.
The unit of specific heat is kcal/kg oC. It varies from 0.22 to 0.28
depending on the oil specific gravity.
The specific heat determines how much steam or electrical energy it
takes to heat oil to a desired temperature. Light oils have a low
specific heat, whereas heavier oils have a higher specific heat.

Calorific Value
The calorific value is the measurement of heat or energy
produced, and is measured either as gross calorific value
or net calorific value.
The calorific value of coal varies considerably depending on the
ash, moisture content and the type of coal while calorific value
of fuel oils are much more consistent.
NCV and GCV.
Sulphur

The amount of sulphur in the fuel oil depends mainly on the

source of the crude oil and to a lesser extent on the refining
process
The normal sulfur content for the residual fuel oil (furnace oil) is
in the order of 2-4 %.

The main disadvantage of sulphur is the risk of corrosion

by sulphuric acid formed during and after combustion, and
condensing in cool parts of the chimney or stack, air pre heater
and economizer.

Ash Content
The ash value is related to the inorganic material in the fuel
oil.

Residual fuels have more of the ash-forming constituents. These

salts may be compounds of sodium, vanadium, calcium,
magnesium, silicon, iron, aluminum, nickel, etc.
Typically, the ash value is in the range 0.03-0.07 %.
Carbon Residue :

Carbon residue indicates the tendency of oil to deposit a

carbonaceous solid residue on a hot surface, such as a burner or
injection nozzle, when its vaporisable constituents evaporate.
Residual oil contains carbon residue ranging from 1 percent or more.
Water Content :

Water content of furnace oil when supplied is normally

very low as the product at refinery site is handled hot and
maximum limit of 1% is specified in the standard.

Water may be present in free or emulsified form and can cause

damage to the inside furnace surfaces during combustion especially
if it contains dissolved salts.

PROPERTIES OF COAL
Coal is classified into three major types namely
anthracite, bituminous, and lignite.
Coal is also further classified as semi- anthracite, semibituminous, and sub-bituminous.
Anthracite is the oldest coal from geological perspective.
It is a hard coal composed mainly of carbon with little
volatile content and practically no moisture.
Lignite is the youngest coal from geological perspective. It is a
soft coal composed mainly of volatile matter and moisture
content with low fixed carbon.
Fixed carbon refers to carbon in its free state, not combined
with other elements. Volatile matter refers to those
combustible constituents of coal that vaporize when coal is
heated.
The common coals used in Indian industry are
bituminous and sub-bituminous coal. Normally D,E and F
coal grades are available to Indian Industry.

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
Fixed Carbon
Fixed carbon is the solid fuel left in the furnace after volatile
matter is distilled off.
It consists mostly of carbon but also contains some hydrogen,
oxygen, sulphur and nitrogen not driven off with the gases.
Fixed carbon gives a rough estimate of heating value of coal.
Volatile Matter:
Volatile
matters
are
the
methane,
hydrocarbons,
hydrogen and carbon monoxide, and incombustible gases
like carbon dioxide and nitrogen found in coal.
It is the volatile matter is an index of the gaseous fuels present.
Typical range of volatile matter is 20 to 35%.
Ash Content:
Ash is an impurity that will not burn. Typical range is 5 to
40%

Ash
Increases handling costs.
Affects combustion efficiency and boiler efficiency.
Causes slagging.
Moisture Content:
Moisture in coal must be transported, handled and stored.
Since it replaces combustible matter, it decreases the heat
content per kg of coal. Typical range is 0.5 to 10%
Moisture
Increases heat loss, due to evaporation and superheating of
vapour
Helps, to a limit, in binding fines.
Aids radiation heat transfer.

Sulphur Content :
Typical range is 0.5 to 0.8% normally.
Sulphur
Affects clinkering and slagging tendencies
Corrodes chimney and other equipment such as air heaters
and economisers.
Limits exit flue gas temperature.
Preparation of Coal :
Preparation of coal prior to feeding into the boiler is an
important step for achieving good combustion. Large and
irregular lumps of coal may cause the following problems:
Poor combustion conditions and inadequate
temperature.
Higher excess air resulting in higher stack loss.
Increase of un-burnts in the ash.
Low thermal efficiency.

furnace

Sizing of Coal

Proper coal sizing is one of the key measures to ensure

efficient combustion.
Proper coal sizing, with specific relevance to the type of
firing system, helps towards even burning, reduced ash
losses and better combustion efficiency.
Coal is reduced in size by crushing and pulverizing. Precrushed coal can be economical for smaller units.
In a coal handling system, crushing is limited to a top
size of 6 or 4mm.
It is necessary to screen the coal before crushing, so that
only oversized coal is fed to the crusher. This helps to
reduce power consumption in the crusher.

PROPERTIES OF GASEOUS FUELS

Gaseous fuels in common use are liquefied petroleum gases
(LPG), Natural gas, producer gas, blast furnace gas, coke
oven gas etc.
The calorific value of gaseous fuel is expressed in
Kilocalories per normal cubic meter (kCal/Nm3) i.e. at normal
temperature (20oC) and pressure (760 mm Hg).
For gaseous fuels we are preferring NCV.
LPG
LPG is a predominant mixture of propane and Butane with
a small percentage of un-saturates (Propylene and
Butylene) and some lighter C2 as well as heavier C5
fractions. Included in the LPG range are propane (C3H8),
Propylene(C3H6),
normal
and
iso-butane (C4H10) and
Butylene (C4H8).
LPG may be defined as those hydrocarbons, which are gaseous
at normal atmospheric pressure, but may be condensed to the
liquid state at normal temperature, by the application of
moderate pressures.

Although they are normally used as gases, they are stored

and transported as liquids under pressure for convenience
and ease of handling. Liquid LPG evaporates to produce
about 250 times volume of gas.
LPG vapour is denser than air: butane is about twice as
heavy as air and propane about one and a half times as
heavy as air.
The vapour may flow along the ground and into drains
sinking to the lowest level of the surroundings and be
ignited at a considerable distance from the source of
leakage.
In still air vapour will disperse slowly. Escape of even small
quantities of the liquefied gas can give rise to large
volumes of vapour / air mixture and thus cause
considerable hazard. To aid in the detection of atmospheric
leaks, all LPG's are required to be odorized.

NATURAL GAS

Methane is the main constituent of Natural gas and

accounting for about 95% of the total volume.
Other components are: Ethane, Propane, Butane,
Pentane, Nitrogen, Carbon Dioxide, and traces of other
gases.
Since methane is the largest component of natural gas,
generally properties of methane are used when comparing
the properties of natural gas to other fuels.
Natural gas is a high calorific value fuel requiring no
storage facilities. It mixes with air readily and does not
produce smoke or soot.
It is lighter than air and disperses into air easily in case of
leak.

TYPES OF LIQUID FUELS

FURNACE OIL / FUEL OIL (FO):
Internationally Furnace oil is known as Fuel oil and is traded in
many varieties based on its specifications of viscosity and
sulfur percentage.
Fuel Oil is used as an industrial fuel. It is a dark viscous
residual fuel obtained by blending mainly heavier
components from crude distillation unit, short residue and
clarified oil from fluidized catalytic cracker unit.
LOW SULPHUR HEAVY STOCK (LSHS)
It is a residual fuel processed from indigenous crude. This
fuel is used in the same applications where furnace oil is
suitable.

Its key features include the following:

Has higher pour point than that of FO and hence to be
maintained at 75oC at all times.
Low sulphur content is its main advantage.
Emits lesser quantity of sulphur dioxide.
Gross calorific value of LSHS is more than that of furnace oil
hence consumption of fuel oil will be reduced.
It is a low viscosity fuel oil.
Chemically stable and incompatible with strong oxidizers.
Ingestion may cause spontaneous vomiting, irritation of
mouth throat and gastro intestinal tract.

LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS (LNG)

Liquefied natural gas, or LNG, is natural gas in a

liquid form that is clear, colorless, odorless, noncorrosive, and non-toxic.
LNG is produced when natural gas is cooled to -259 degrees
Fahrenheit through a process known as liquefaction.
During this process, the natural gas, which is primarily
methane, is cooled below its boiling point, whereby
certain concentrations of hydrocarbons, water, carbon
dioxide, oxygen, and some sulfur compounds are either
reduced or removed.
LNG is also less than half the weight of water, so it
will float if spilled on water.

DIESEL FUELS(HSD/LDO)
A diesel fuel is any fuel suitable for burning in diesel or
compression ignition engines.
Petroleum diesel fuels may be distillates or blends of
distillates and residual fuel.
The average compression ratio of a diesel engine is much
higher (about 15:1) than that of a gasoline engine (about 8:1)
and this is the reason for the higher thermal efficiency of the
diesel engine (about 33% as compared to about 25% of the
gasoline engine) which makes for economy in operation.
Two main grades of diesel fuel are marketed in India, High
Speed Diesel (HSD) and Light diesel oil (LDO). The
former is a 100% distillate fuel while the latter is a
blend of distillate fuel with a small proportion of residual fuel.
HSD is normally used as a fuel for high speed diesel engines
operating above 750 rpm i.e. buses, lorries, generating sets,
locomotives, pumping sets etc.

 Gas turbine requiring distillate fuels normally make use of

HSD as fuel. LDO is used for diesel engines, generally
of the stationery type operating below 750 rpm.
When fuel is injected into the combustion chamber of a diesel
engine, ignition does not occur immediately. The interval
between the commencement of fuel injection and
the commencement of combustion is known as the " ignition
delay" and is a measure of the ignition quality of the fuel.
This delay period depends on the nature of the fuel, the
engine design, and on the operating conditions. If the delay is
too long, the engine may be hard to start and when the
accumulated fuel does ignite, the rate of pressure rise may
be so great that it causes roughness or diesel knock.
The effects of diesel knock are similar to the effects of
knocking in gasoline engines, viz. loss of efficiency and
power output and a possibility of mechanical damage to the
engine if the knocking is prolonged.

CETANE NUMBER
The most accurate method of assessing the ignition quality
of a diesel fuel is by measuring its cetane number in a test
engine, the higher the cetane number the higher the ignition
quality.
The cetane number of a fuel is defined as the percentage of
cetane, arbitrarily given a cetane number of 100, in a blend with
alphamethyl-naphthaline (cetane number -0 ), which is equivalent
in ignition quality to that of the test fuel.
OCTANE NUMBER
Measure of the ignition quality of gas (gasoline or petrol). Higher
this number, the less susceptible is the gas to 'knocking'
(explosion caused by its premature burning in the combustion
chamber) when burnt in a standard (spark-ignition internal
combustion) engine.
Octane number denotes the percentage of volume of iso-octane
in a combustible mixture (containing iso-octane and normalheptane) whose 'anti-knocking' characteristics match those of the
gas being tested

In the older vehicles, high octane numbers were achieved

by adding lead tetraethyl to the gas (the 'leaded gas'), a
pollutant that contributes to lead poisoning.
In the newer vehicles, the same result is achieved by the
engine design that increases turbulence in the
combustion chamber or by adding aromatic hydrocarbons
such as xylenes and oxygenates (oxygen-containing
compounds such as alcohols) to the gas. Also called Octane
rating.

Gear Drives

Gears are toothed members which transmit power / motion

between two shafts by meshing without any slip. Hence,
gear drives are also called positive drives.
In any pair of gears, the smaller one is called pinion(Driver)
and the larger one is called gear(Driven) immaterial of
which is driving the other.
When pinion is the driver, it results in step down drive in
which the output speed decreases and the torque
increases. On the other hand,
when the gear is the driver, it results in step up drive in
which the output speed increases and the torque
decreases.

 Speed ratio is given by the formula.

Let, N1 and N2 be the speed of driving and driven
respectively

1 and 2 be the angular velocities of driving and driven

respectively
D1 and D2 be the diameters of driving and driven
respectively
t1 and t2 be the number of teeth of driving and driven
respectively
Then
N1/N2 =1/2= t2/t1= D2/D1
Power =T*=2NT/60
CLASSIFICATION OF GEARS
Gears are classified according to the shape of the tooth pair
and disposition into spur, helical, double helical, straight
bevel, spiral bevel and hypoid bevel, worm and spiral

PARALLEL SHAFTS

Regardless of the manner of contact, uniform rotary motion

between two parallel shafts is equivalent to the rolling of
two cylinders, assuming no slipping.
Depending upon the teeth of the equivalent cylinders i.e.
straight or helical, following are the main types of gears to
join parallel shafts:
SPUR GEARS
Spur gears have their teeth parallel to the axis and are used
for transmitting power between two parallel shafts.
They are simple in construction, easy to manufacture and
cost is less. they have highest efficiency and excellent
precision rating.

HELICAL GEARS

Helical gears are used for parallel shaft drives. They have
teeth inclined to the axis.
For the same width, their teeth are longer than spur gears
and have higher load carrying capacity.
Their contact ratio is higher than spur gears and they
operate smoother and quieter than spur gears. Their
precision rating is good.
They are recommended for very high speeds and loads.
Thus, these gears find applications in automotive gear
boxes.
Efficiency is slightly lower than spur gears.

DOUBLE HELICAL GEAR OR HERRINGBONE GEAR:

Double helical or Herringbone gears used for transmitting

power between two parallel shafts.
They have opposing helical teeth with or without a gap
depending on the manufacturing method adopted.
Axial thrusts oppose each other and nullify. Hence the shaft
is free from any axial force.
Though their load capacity is very high, manufacturing
difficulty makes them costlier than single helical gear.

INTERNAL SPUR GEAR

Internal gears are used for transmitting
power between two parallel shafts.
In these gears, annular wheels are having
teeth on
the inner periphery. This makes the drive
very compact Fig.
In these drives, the meshing pinion and
annular gear are running in the same
direction
Their precision rating is fair. They are useful
for high load and high speed application with
high reduction ratio.
Applications of these gears can be seen in
planetary gear drives of automobiles,
automatic
transmissions,
reduction
gearboxes of cement mills, step up drives of
wind mills.

Spur Rack and

Pinion

Rack is a segment of a gear of

infinite diameter.
The tooth can be spur as in Figure.
This type of gearing is used for
converting
rotary
motion
into
translatory motion or visa versa.
Typical example of rack and pinion
are lathe carriage.

INTERSECTING SHAFTS

Kinematically the motion between two intersecting shafts is

equivalent to the rolling of two cones, assuming no slipping.
The gears, are knows as bevel gears.
When teeth formed on the cones are straight, the gears are
known as straight bevel and inclined, they are know as spiral
or helical bevel gear

STRAIGHT BEVEL GEAR

Straight bevel gears are used for transmitting power

between intersecting shafts.
They can operate under high speeds and high loads. Their
precision rating is fair to good.
They are suitable for 1:1 and higher velocity ratios.
Wide application of the straight bevel
drives
is in
automotive differentials, right angle drives of blenders and
conveyors.
A typical application of straight bevel used in differential
gear application in automobiles.

SPIRAL BEVEL GEAR

Spiral bevel gears are also used for transmitting power

between intersecting shafts.
Because of the spiral tooth, the contact length is more and
contact ratio is more.
They operate smoother than straight bevel gears and have
higher load capacity.
Their efficiency is slightly lower than straight bevel gear.
Usage of spiral bevel gears in an automobile differential.

WORM GEAR

Worm and worm gear pair consists of a worm, which is very

similar to a screw and a worm gear, which is a helical gear
as shown in Figure.
They are used in right-angle skew shafts.
In these gears, the engagement occurs without any shock.
The sliding action prevalent in the system while resulting in
quieter operation produces considerable frictional heat.
High reduction ratios from 8 to 400 are possible.

Efficiency of these gears is low anywhere from 90% to 40%.

Higher speed ratio gears are non-reversible.
Their precision rating is fair to good. They need good
lubrication for heat
dissipation and for improving the
efficiency.
The drives are very compact. Worm gearing finds wide
application in material handling and transportation
machinery, machine tools, automobiles etc.