FUELS AND COMBUSTION

(CHE 2706)
Dr. Aabid Hussain Shaik
Assistant Professor (sr.)
Chemical Engineering Department,
SCALE

Contact information:
Room no. SMV 221
Email: [email protected]
 SYLLABUS
 Unit I: Classification of fuels and solid fuels
 Fuels – Types and characteristics of fuels – Determination
of properties of fuels -
 Fuel analysis - Proximate and ultimate analysis - Moisture
determination –
 Calorific value – Gross and net calorific values -
Calorimetry – Dulong’s formula for CV estimation,
 Origin of coal – Rank of coal, Composition of coal
 Analysis and properties of different grades of coal, coal
mining and extraction Coal washing, cleaning and storage
of coal
 Briquetting, coal carbonisation and conversion to coke, coal
tar and its applications.
 Unit II: Liquid fuels
 Liquid fuels: Advantages of Liquid fuels and physical
properties – testing
 Origin of petroleum fuels – Production Recovery –
Composition – Fractional distillation,
 Petroleum refining-thermal cracking, catalytic
cracking, hydrocracking etc.
 Various grades of petro products – Properties and
testing – other liquid fuels
 Alcohols jet fuels, oil shale and Shale oil – tar sands
bitumens, asphalt and other
 synthetic fuels –Coal to Liquid fuels, Fischer Tropsch
Process
 Storage and handling of liquid fuels
 Unit III: Gaseous fuels
 Advantages of gaseous fuels, properties of
gaseous fuels, Classification –
 Composition and properties – Estimation of
calorific value - Gas calorimeter -
 Rich and lean gas – Wobbe index - Natural gas -
Dry and wet natural gas -
 Stripped NG - Foul and sweet NG - LPG - LNG –
CNG – Methane - Producer Gas -
 Gasifiers – Water gas – Town gas - Coal
gasification - Gasification efficiency –
 gasification of oils.
 Unit IV: Combustion stoichiometry and kinetics, flames
and types
 Combustion in oxygen, and in air, Stoichiometry - Mass basis
and volume basis –
 Rich and Lean mixtures, mixture strengths, Equivalence ratio,
Excess air
 calculations - Fuel and flue gas compositions – Calculations -
Rapid methods of
 combustion – Modes of combustion - Spontaneous combustion,
Surface or
 flameless combustion – Submerged combustion - Pulsating
and slow combustion
 - Explosive combustion Flame types - Stationary flame -
Laminar and diffusion
 flames, Flame propagation - Flame temperature – Theoretical,
adiabatic and
 actual, Flammability limits Flame extinction and flame
quenching, Ignition and
 ignition energy - Spontaneous ignition temperatures –-
Ignition limits
 Mechanism of combustion of Solid, Liquid and gaseous fuels.
 Unit V: Air pollution and control of
emissions from combustion appliances
 Flue gas analysis - Orsat apparatus - Fuel and
ash storage and handling – Types of
 pollution - Combustion generated air pollution -
Effects of air pollution Draft systems, -
 Pollution of fossil fuels and its control of CO,
CO2, SOx, Pre and post combustion
 methods - Pollution from automobiles and its
control
BOOKS
 1. Samir Sarkar (1992), Fuels and Combustion,
Orient Longman.
 2. D.P. Mishra, Fundamentals of Combustion”,
Eastern Economy Edition
 3. S.P. Sharma and Chandramohan (1994), Fuels
and Combustion, Tata McGraw-Hill.
TIME LINE

CAT I will be based on Unit – 1 & 2

CAT II will be based on Unit – 3 & 4
 UNIT I
CLASSIFICATION OF FUELS AND SOLID
FUELS
FUELS
Fuel is a combustible substance which gives large
amount of heat during combustion .
There are chemical fuels, nuclear fuels and fossil fuels.
Classification of Fuels
These can be classified on the basis of their occurrence
and physical state
(I) On the basis of occurrence they are of two types:
Primary Fuels: Fuels which occur in nature as such are
called primary fuels. E.g., wood, peat, coal, petroleum,
and natural gas.
Secondary Fuels: The fuels which are derived from the
primary fuels by further chemical processing are called
secondary fuels. E,g., coke, charcoal, kerosene, coal gas,
producer gas etc.

(II) On the basis of physical state these may be classified

as:
Solid Fuels
Liquid Fuels
Gaseous Fuels
Calorific value: It is defined as the total quantity of heat
liberated when a unit mass of a fuel is burnt completely.
Units of Calorific value:

System Solid/Liquid Gaseous

Fuels Fuels
CGS Calories/gm Calories/cm3
MKS k cal/kg k cal/m3
B.T.U BTU/lb BTU/ft3

The quantity of heat can be measured in the following units:

(i) Calorie: It is defined as the amount of heat required to
raise the temperature of 1gm of water by 1oC
1 calorie = 4.184 Joules
(ii) Kilo Calorie: 1 k cal = 1000 cal
(iii) British thermal unit: (B. T. U.) It is defined as the
amount of heat required to raise the temperature of 1
pound of water through 1oF.
1 B.T.U. = 252 Cal = 0.252 k cal
(IV) Centigrade heat unit (C.H.U): It is defined as the
amount of heat required to raise the temperature of 1
pound of water through 1oC.
1k cal = 3.968 B.T.U.
= 2.2 C.H.U.
Characteristics of Good Fuel:
(i) Suitability: The fuel selected should be most suitable for
the process. E.g., coke made out of bituminous coal is
most suitable for blast furnace.
(ii) High Calorific value
(iii) Ignition Temperature: A good fuel should have moderate
ignition temperature.
(iv) Moisture content: Should be low
(v) Non combustible matter content
(vi) Velocity of combustion: It should be moderate
(vii) Nature of the products
(viii) Cost of fuel, (ix) Smoke, (x) Control of the process
Gross and net calorific Value
Gross Calorific Value: It is the total amount of heat
generated when a unit quantity of fuel is completely
burnt in oxygen and the products of combustion are
cooled down to the room temperature.
As the products of combustion are cooled down to room
temperature, the steam gets condensed into water and
latent heat is evolved. Thus in the determination of gross
calorific value, the latent heat also gets included in the
measured heat. Therefore, gross calorific value is also
called the higher calorific value.
The calorific value which is determined by Bomb
calorimeter gives the higher calorific value (HCV)
Net Calorific Value: It is defined as the net heat
produced when a unit quantity of fuel is completely burnt
and the products of combustion are allowed to escape.
The water vapor do not condense and escape with hot
combustion gases. Hence, lesser amount than gross
calorific value is available. It is also known as lower
calorific value (LCV).
LCV=HCV - Latent heat of water vapor formed
Since 1 part by weight of hydrogen gives nine parts by
weight of water i.e.

H  1O  H O
2 2 2 2
Therefore,
LCV=HCV-weight of hydrogen x 9 x latent heat of steam
= HCV-weight of hydrogen x 9 x 587
Determination of Calorific value
1. Determination of calorific value of solid and non
volatile liquid fuels: It is determined by bomb
calorimeter.
Principle: A known amount of the fuel is burnt in
excess of oxygen and heat liberated is transferred to a
known amount of water. The calorific value of the fuel
is then determined by applying the principle of
calorimetery
i.e. Heat gained = Heat lost
Bomb Calorimeter
Calculations
Let weight of the fuel sample taken = X g
Weight of water in the calorimeter = W g
Water equivalent of the Calorimeter, stirrer, bomb,
thermometer = w g
Initial temperature of water = t1oC
Final temperature of water = t2oC
Higher or gross calorific value = C cal/g
Heat gained by water = W x Dt x specific heat of water
= W (t2-t1) x 1 cal
Heat gained by Calorimeter = w (t2-t1) cal
Heat liberated by the fuel = XC cal
Heat liberated by the fuel = Heat gained by water and
calorimeter
XC = (W+w) (t2-t1) cal
C=(W+w)(t2-t1) cal/g
X
Net Calorific value:
Let percentage of hydrogen in the fuel = H
Weight of water produced from 1 gm of the fuel =
9H/100 gm
Heat liberated during condensation of steam
= 0.09H  587 cal
Net (Lower calorific value) = GCV-Latent heat of water
formed
= C-0.09H  587 cal/gm
Theoretical calculation of Calorific value of a
Fuel: The calorific value of a fuel can be calculated
if the percentages of the constituent elements are
known.
Substrate Calorific value

Carbon 8080

Hydrogen 34500

Sulphur 2240
If oxygen is also present, it combines with hydrogen to
form H2O. Thus the hydrogen in the combined form is
not available for combustion and is called fixed
hydrogen.
Amount of hydrogen available for combustion = Total
mass of hydrogen-hydrogen combined with oxygen.
1
H 2  O2  H 2O
2
1g 8g 9g
Fixed Hydrogen = Mass of oxygen in the fuel
Therefore, mass of hydrogen available for combustion
= Total mass of hydrogen-1/8 mass of oxygen in fuel
=H-O/8
Dulong’s formula for calculating the calorific value is
given as:
Gross calorific Value (HCV)
1 O
 [8080C  34,500( H  )  2,240S ]kcal / kg
100 8

Net Calorific value (LCV)

9H
 [ HCV   587]kcal / kg
100
 [ HCV  0.09 H  587]kcal / kg
 Goutal (1902)

GCV= 82F+aV
a= Constant depend upon value of volatile matter expressed as
d.a.f basis
Modified Mazumdar formulae for estimation of calorific value of
indian coal is:
For low moisture, M ≤ 2
GCV= 91.7F+75.6(V-0.1A)-60M
For high moisture coals, M ≥ 2
GCV= 85.6[100-(1.1A+M)-60M]
Where M,A,V and F denotemoisture, ash, volatile matter and fixed
carbon in percent air dried respectively.
1. Calculate the gross calorific value and net calorific value of a
sample of coal 0. 5g of which when burnt in a bomb calorimeter,
raised the temperature of 1000g of water from 293K to 301.6K.
The water equivalent of calorimeter is 350 g. The specific heat of
water is 4.187 kJ kg-1, latent heat of steam is 2457.2 kJkg-1. The
coal sample contains 93% carbon, 5% hydrogen and 2% ash.

2. Calculate the gross calorific value and net calorific value of a

gaseous fuel, 0.012m3 of which when burnt raised the
temperature of 3.5kg of water by 8.2K. Specific heat of water is
4.2 kJ kg-1K-1. Latent heat of steam is 2.45 kJ kg-1. The volume
of water collected is 6.5cm3 . Latent heat of steam is 2457.2kJ/kg
 Ash in percent dry = [A/(100-M)] X 100
Volatile matter, percent d.a.f = [VM/(100-M-A)] X 100

Volatile matter, percent d.m.m.f = [(VM-0.1A)/(100-M-1.1A)] X 100

Fixed carbon, percent d.a.f = [FC/(100-M-A)] X 100

Fixed carbon, percent d.m.m.f = [FC/(100-M-1.1A)] X 100

On Air dried basis,

Hydrogen (organic) = H(100-M-1.1A)/100

GCV-NCV = 53(H (organic)+ M/9 + 0.1A/9)

On dry basis,
Hydrogen (organic) = H[(100-M-1.1A)/(100-M)]

GCV-HCV = 53 (H (organic) +(0.1A/9)

Problems
1. A coal from the bararee colliery gave the following proximate
analysis:
Moisture : 16%, ash 15.7%, volatile matter 27.8 % and fixed
carbon 54.9% on air dried basis.
Calculate its ash on a dry basis and volatile matter, fixed carbon on
d.a.f and d.m.m.f.

2. The following data are available for a Chanch coal of the

Raniganj coalfield:

M A VM FC C H S N O calorific value(a.d)

1.3 16 30.1 52.6 86.52 5.27 0.64 2.37 5.20 6890 kcal/kg

Calculate its calorific value using at least two emperical formulae

and compare value with experimental
The following data are available for a coal of the Singareni coalfield
located at Telangana:
M A VM FC S O

1.3 16 30.1 52. 0.64 5.20

Caculate Carbon, Hydrogen and nitrogen percentage present in the

sample.

Also calculate GCV and NCV.

1. Calculate the Gross and Net calorific values of a coal having the
following compositions, C = 80 %, H2 =08 %, O2 = 08 %, S = 2 %
and ash=2. Latent heat of steam is = 587 cal/gm.
2. Calculate the Gross and Net calorific values of a coal having the
following compositions, C = 63 %, H2 = 19 %, O2 = 03 %, S = 13
% and ash=2. Latent heat of steam is = 587 cal/gm.
3. Calculate the Gross and Net calorific values of a solid fuel having
80% of carbon & 20% of hydrogen. Latent heat of steam is = 587
cal/gm

4. A coal sample on analysis gives C = 75%,H2= 6 %,O2 = 3.5 % S

= 03 % and the rest ash. Calculate the Gross and Net calorific values
of the fuel. Latent heat of steam is = 587 cal/gm

5. On analysis, a coal sample has the following composition by

weight; C = 75 %, O2 = 04 %, S = 05 %, and ash = 3%. Net calorific
value of the fuel is 9797.71kcal / kg. Calculate the percentage of
hydrogen and gross calorific value of coal.
SOLID FUEL
 Origin of coal
Solid Fuels: Primary as well as secondary are widely
used in domestic and industrial purposes.
e.g., wood, coal, charcoal and coke.
Wood: Wood has been used as a fuel from ancient
times. Due to large scale deforestation, wood is no
longer used except in forest areas where wood is
available at a low cost.
Wood when freshly cut contains 25-50% moisture.
Normally it is used in air dried condition with 10-15
percent moisture content.
The calorific value of air dried wood is about 3500-
4500 kcal/kg.
When wood burns, the ash content is low but the
oxygen content is very high. This makes even dry
wood a fuel of low calorific value.
Wood charcoal is obtained by destructive distillation of
wood.
The major use of wood charcoal is for producing
activated carbon.
Coal: coal is regarded as a fossil fuel produced from
the vegetable debris under conditions of high
temperature and pressure over million of years.
The transformation of the vegetable debris to coal
takes place in two stages:
(a)Biochemical or peat stage: During this stage, the
plant materials were attacked by various micro
organisms.
(b)Chemical stage or metamorphism: In this stage,
the peat deposit buried under sedimentary deposits
lose moisture and volatile components under the
effect of high temperature and pressure.
The peat gets enriched in carbon whereas its oxygen
content decreases.
The spongy peat transforms into hard brittle coal
gradually. The time required for the formation of young
brown coal is of the order of 107 years.
Classification of Coal: Coals are mainly classified on
the basis of their degree of coalification from the
parent material, wood. When wood is converted into
coal, there is gradual increase in the concentration of
carbon and decrease in the percentage of oxygen and
nitrogen.
Coal is given a ranking depending upon the carbon
content of the coal from wood to anthracite.
Type of Percentage (dry, mineral matter % calorific
coal free basis) moist value
ure
C H O N VM

Wood 45-50 5-6 20-40 0-0.5 - 70-90 4000-

4500
Peat 45-60 3.5-6.5 20-45 0.75-3 45-75 70-90 4125-
5280
Brown 60-75 4.5-5.5 17-35 0.75-2 45-60 30-50 6600-
Coal/lignite 7100
6600-
75-90 4.0-5.5 20-30 0.75-2 11-50 10-20 8800
Bituminous
coal
8470-
90-95 3-4 2-3 0.5-2 3.8-10 1.5-3.5 8800
Anthracite
 Uses of Coal

• Electricity generation
• Steel production
• Cement manufacturing
• Liquid fuel
• Paper production
• Activated carbon used in filters for water
• Carbon fibre as light weight reinforcement
material for construction
• Silicon metal used to produce silicones and
silanes
Analysis of Coal
Coal is analysed in two ways:
1. Proximate analysis
2. Ultimate analysis
The results of analysis are generally reported in the
following ways:
As received basis
Air dried basis
Moisture free basis (oven dried)
Moisture and ash free basis
Proximate Analysis
The data varies with the procedure adopted and hence it
is called proximate analysis.
It gives information about the practical utility of coal.
Proximate analysis of coal determines the moisture, ash,
volatile matter and fixed carbon of coal.
1. Moisture Content: Air dried moisture is determined by
heating a known amount of coal to 105-110 oC in an
electric hot air oven for about one hour. After one hour,
it is taken out from the oven and cooled in a dessicator
and weighed.
Percentage of moisture= Loss in weight 100

Weight of coal taken
•Excess of moisture is undesirable in coal.
•Moisture lowers the heating value of coal and takes away
appreciable amount of the liberated heat in the form of
latent heat of vapourisation.
•Excessive surface moisture may cause difficulty in
handling the coal.
•Presence of excessive moisture quenches fire in the
furnace.
2. Volatile Matter: consists of a complex mixture of
gaseous and liquid products resulting from the thermal
decomposition of the coal.
It is determined by heating a known weight of moisture
free coal sample in a covered platinum crucible at 950 
20oC for 7 minutes.
Percentage of volatile matter =
Loss of weight due to volatile matter  100
Weight of coal sample taken
Significance
A high percent of volatile matter indicates that a large
proportion of fuel is burnt as a gas.
The high volatile content gives long flames, high smoke
and relatively low heating values.
For efficient use of fuel, the outgoing combustible gases
has to be burnt by supplying secondary air.
High volatile matter content is desirable in coal gas
manufacture because volatile matter in a coal denotes
the proportion of the coal which will be converted into
gas and tar products by heat.
Ash: Coal contains inorganic mineral substances which
are converted into ash by chemical reactions during the
combustion of coal.
Ash usually consists of silica, alumina, iron oxide and
small quantities of lime, magnesia etc.
Ash content is determined by heating the residue left
after the removal of volatile matter at 700  50oC for ½ an
hour without covering
 Weight of the residue left 100

Percentage of ash =
Weight of the coal

Ash can be classified as intrinsic ash and extrinsic ash.

The mineral matter originally present in vegetable matter
from which the coal was formed is called intrinsic ash. It
consists of oxides of Na, K, Mg, Ca and Si.
The mineral matter like clay, gypsum, dirt which gets mixed
up during mining and handling of coal constitute the
extrinsic ash which remains as a residue after the
combustion. E.g., CaSO4, CaCO3, Fe2O3 etc.
The high percentage of ash is undesirable. It reduces
the calorific value of coal.
In furnace grate, the ash may restrict the passage of air
and lower the rate of combustion.
High ash leads to large heat losses and leads to
formation of ash lumps.
The composition of ash and fusion range also
influences the efficiency of coal.
When coal is used in boiler, the fusion temperature of
ash is very significant. Ash having fusion temperature
below 1200oC is called fusible ash and above 1430oC is
called refractory ash.
Apart from loss of efficiency of coal, clinker formation also
leads to loss of fuel because some coal particles also get
embedded in the clinkers.
Fixed Carbon: Fixed carbon content increases from
lignite to anthracite. Higher the percentage of fixed carbon
greater is its calorific value and better is the quality of coal.
The percentage of fixed carbon is given by:
Percentage of fixed carbon = 100-[% of moisture+volatile
matter+ash]
Significance: Higher the percentage of fixed carbon,
greater its calorific value
•The percentage of fixed carbon helps in designing the
furnace and shape of the fire-box because it is the fixed
carbon that burns in the solid state.
Ultimate analysis:
It is carried out to ascertain the composition of coal.
Ultimate analysis includes the estimation of carbon,
hydrogen, Sulphur, nitrogen and oxygen.
1. Carbon and Hydrogen: A known amount of coal is
taken in a combustion tube and is burnt in excess of pure
oxygen.
C  O  CO
2 2
H  1O  H O
2 2 2 2
44 g of CO2 contain = 12 g of carbon
Y g of CO2 contain = 12  y g of carbon
44
 Percentage of carbon  12  y 100
44 weight of coal taken
18 g of water contain = 2 g of hydrogen
Z g of water contain  2 z g of hydrogen
18
Percentage of hydrogen  2  z 100
18 weight of coal taken
Significance:
Calorific value of a fuel is directly related to its carbon
content.
A higher percentage of carbon reduces the size of the
combustion chamber
High percentage of hydrogen also increases the
calorific value of coal. The content of hydrogen in coals
varies between 4.5 to 6.5 percent from peat to
bituminous stage.
2. Nitrogen: Nitrogen present in coal sample can be
estimated by Kjeldahl’s method.

Nitrogen  H SO Heat
( NH ) SO

2 4 42 4

The contents are then transferred to a round bottomed

flask and solution is heated with excess of NaOH.
( NH ) SO 2    Na SO  2 NH  2H O
NaOH
4 2 4 2 4 3 2
NH  H SO  ( NH ) SO
3 2 4 4 2 4
Fig 4. Estimation of nitrogen by Kjeldahl’s method
The ammonia gas thus liberated is absorbed in a
known volume of a standard solution of acid used.

The unused acid is then determined by titrating with

NaOH.
From the volume of acid used by NH3, the
percentage of nitrogen can be calculated.
Percent Nitrogen (N)
%N =[(VHCl x NHCl) - (VBK x NNaOH) -(VNaOH x
NNaOH)]/1.4007 X W /100
Where VNaOH = mL standard NaOH needed to titrate sample
VHCl = mL standard HCl pipetted into titrating flask for sample
NNaOH = Normality of NaOH
NHCl = Normality of HCl
VBK = mL standard NaOH needed to titrate 1 mL standard HCl minus
B
B = mL standard NaOH needed to titrate reagent blank carried through
method and distilled into 1 mL standard HCl
1.4007 = milliequivalent weight of nitrogen
W = sample weight in grams
 Sulphur percentage calculation

Coal is heated at high temperature and pressure until all sulphur

get converted into sulphuric acid. After it is washed and collected
and treated with barium chloride to form barium sulphate as ppt.

%S = 32*W2/233*W1
Typical ultimate analysis of coal
Relationship between ultimate and proximate analysis
 Ultimate analyses (% by mass) of some coals
Coal Carbon Hydrogen Oxygen Nitrogen Sulfur
Anthracite 94.4 2.9 0.9 1.1 0.7

Bituminous 89.3 5.0 3.4 1.5 0.8

 Vaporization characteristics of petroleum fractions

The volume percent distilled is plotted against corresponding

temperature which provides the vaporization characteristics of
the particular fuel.
 Flash point and fire point determination
• Different fractions may be classified based on their flash point.
• fractions below 23 C flash point are highly inflammable,
dangerous,
• between 23 to 66 C are moderately inflammable
and above 66 C are termed as safe. Gasoline lies in the first
category, kerosene in the second and higher oils, such as fuel oil
and gas oils fall in the third.
Abel apparatus is used for the oils having flash point below 50 C
and Pensky-Martens apparatus is used for the oils having flash
point above that temperature.
Both these apparausa are of closed cup type. A specified amount of
oil is heated in a definite rate in a closed cup. A provision is made to
remove a shutter to escape the fuel vapor and air mixture and an
external flame is introduced to test the flash.
 Pour point and cloud point

Pour point and cloud point of oil is determined by putting the

oil in a specified test tube, where thermometer is inserted.

The oil is cooled at specified rate and at short interval of time

the oil is tested by tilting the test tube to see whether the oil is
totally freezed.
Carbonization of Coal (Manufacture of Coke)
It is the process of heating the coal in absence of air to a
sufficiently high temperature, so that the coal undergoes
decomposition and yields a residue which is richer in
carbon content than the original fuel.
Caking and coking of coals: some coals have a
tendency to soften and swell at higher temperatures, to
form a solid coherent mass with porous structure. Such
coals are called caking coals. The residue formed is called
coke. If the coke is hard, porous and strong, than the coal,
from which it is formed, it is called coking coal.
This property is found only in bituminous type of coal.
Coals with a high percentage of volatile matter are not fit
for coking and are used for gas making. The coals
having 20-30 % volatile matter are good coking coals.
Process of carbonization:
First moisture and occluded gases are driven off.
At about 260-270oC carbon, water, H2S, some low
molecular alkenes and alkanes are evolved.
At about 350oC the decomposition of coal is
accompanied by evolution of gases and elimination of
vapor takes place.
At about 400oC, caking coal becomes soft and plastic.
At about 700oC, hydrogen is evolved
Above 800oC, main gaseous products are evolved
Gases evolved from the plastic mass, expand it to give
foam like appearance.
At further high temperatures this foam like mass solidifies
to form a solid mass with porous structure called coke.
Types of carbonization
(i) Low temperature carbonization
(ii) High temperature carbonization
(i) Low temperature carbonization: When the destructive
distillation of coal is carried out at temperatures
between 500-700oC.
It is practiced for the production of semi coke. Which is
also called soft coke.
The yield of coke is about 75-80 %.
The coke thus produced contains 5 to 15 % volatile
matter.
The various products of low temperature carbonization are
semi coke, low temperature tar, crude low temperature
spirit and gas.
LTC plants normally use low rank coals. These low rank
coals produce excessive smoke on burning.
Semi coke from LTC is highly reactive and can be easily
ignited into a smokeless flame
The gas which is obtained as a byproduct has higher
calorific value of about 6500-9500 kcal/m3.
(ii) High temperature carbonization: It is carried out at
900-1200oC. HTC is used for the production of pure, hard,
strong and porous metallurgical coke containing 1-3 %
volatile matter. The yield of the coke is 65-75%.
The byproducts-gas and tar have greater amounts of
aromatic hydrocarbons. The gas which is obtained has
lower calorific value of about 5000-6000 kcal/m3 than that
produced in LTC; but the yield of the gas is higher.
The coke obtained is very much harder than the coke
obtained from LTC process and hence is called hard coke.
Metallurgical coke: The properties of coke depend on
porosity, reactivity and the amount of volatile matter
retained by coke during carbonization. Coke is mainly
used as a heat source and reducing agent in
metallurgy. A good coke in metallurgical process
should possess the following characteristics:
(i) Purity: The metallurgical coke should contain lower
percentage of moisture, ash, sulphur and
phosphorous.
(ii) Porosity: The coke should be porous so as to provide
contact between carbon and oxygen.
(iii)Strength: The coke used in metallurgical process
should have high strength so as to withstand the
weight of the ore, flux etc. in the furnace.
(iv) Size: Metallurgical coke should be of medium size.
(v) Combustibility: Coke should burn easily. The
combustibility of coke depends on the nature of the coal,
carbonization temperature and reaction temperature.
(vi) Calorific value: It should be high.
(vii) Reactivity: Reactivity of coke is its ability to react
with CO2, steam, air and oxygen. The reactivity should not
be too high. The reactivity toward CO2 represent the
reduction of CO2

CO ( g )  C (s)  2CO( g )
2
 Surprise Class Test
Proxi M= 7% VM=26 FC= A=21%
mate % 46%
Ultimat C=54 H=3% S=0.4 N2=2.2 O2=19. Ash=21
e (air 4
dried
basis)
Ultimat C=50.2 H=2.79 S=0.37 N2=2.0 Ash=19 O2=18. Moistur
e (As 2 % 5 .53 04 e=7
receive
d)

GCV = 23392 kJ/kg at 298 Kon dry ash free basis.

Calculate
(a) Net H2 in coal (b) combined water in coal (c) GCV
based on dulong formula and NCV
Cost: Coke should be cheap and easily available.
Manufacture of Metallurgical Coke:
(i) Beehive Oven
(ii) Otto Hoffmann oven
(i) Beehive oven: A beehive oven is a fire-brick chamber
having a dome-shaped structure. The dimensions of a
typical oven are 4m and 2.5m high. The roof is provided
with a hole for charging the coal from the top. Another
hole, the discharging hole is provided in the
circumference of the lower part of the wall. A number of
ovens are built in a row with common walls between
neighboring ovens.
Beehive coke oven
Demerits of Beehive ovens: The demerits are
•No recovery of byproducts, which are useful chemicals
and are allowed to escape.
•Lower coke yield due to partial combustion
•Lack of flexibility of operation
(ii) Otto-Hoffmann’s oven or By-product Oven: The
beehive ovens have been replaced by chamber ovens
which works on regenerative principle of heat economy. All
the valuable products are recovered from the outgoing flue
gases.
Construction: It consists of no. of narrow rectangular
chambers made of silica bricks.
A single chamber of Otto Hoffmann’s oven
Working: Coal is charged into the chamber.
The coke ovens are heated to 1200oC by burning
gaseous fuels.
The process of carbonization takes place layer by layer
in the coal charge.
As the coal adjacent to the oven walls gets heated, a
plastic zone is formed which moves away from the walls
towards the central zone.
As the coal is converted into coke, there is decrease in
volume. This is because of the removal of volatile matter
in the form of tar and gas at about 500oC. At further high
temperature, the plastic mass solidifies into hard and
porous mass called coke.
Regenerative principle is employed to achieve as
economical heating as possible.
Regenerators are built underneath the ovens. The flue
gases pass their heat to the checker brick work of
regenerators until the temperature rises to 1000oC.
Regenerators work on the principle of alternate
heating and cooling cycles. This is achieved by
periodically changing the direction of flow of gases
through the vertical flues every 30 min or so.
Carbonization of a charge of coal takes about 11-18
hours. After the process is complete, red hot coke is
pushed outside by means of a ram which is electrically
driven. The coke falls into a quenching car. The yield is
75 % of coal.
Recovery of byproducts: The gases and vapours
evolved on carbonization in coke ovens are not
allowed to mix with the combustion and are collected
separately.The coke oven gas is treated separately
for the recovery of the valuable byproducts.

Fig. 8: Coke-Oven gas treatment plant

(i) Recovery of Tar: The gas from the coke ovens is
passed through a tower in which liquor ammonia is
sprayed. Tar and dust get collected in a tank. The tank
is provided with a heating coils to recover back
ammonia.
(ii) Recovery of ammonia: The gases are then passed
through a tower where water is sprayed to recover
ammonia. The ammonia can also be recovered by
dissolving it in H2SO4 to form (NH4) 2SO4, which is
then used as a fertilizer.
(iii) Recovery of Naphthalene: The gases are passed
through a cooling tower, where water at a low
temperature is sprayed. The gas is scrubbed with
water until its temp. reduces.
(iv) Recovery of Benzole: The gases are then introduced
into a light oil or benzol scrubber, where benzene along
with its homologue is removed and is collected at the
bottom.
(v) Recovery of H2S and other S compounds: are
removed from the coke oven gas after the light oil has
been separated out.
Fe O  3H S  Fe S  3H O
2 3 2 2 3 2
2Fe S 4O  2FeO  3SO
2 3 2 2
4FeO  O  2Fe O
2 2 3
The SO2 obtained can be used for the manufacturing of
sulphuric acid, which can be used to absorb NH3 from the
coal gas.
Coal Washing
 Washing of Coal
 Most of the coals when mined contain
impurities associated with it. Impurities are
removed by washing.

 Fixed impurities:
-Originate from the coal forming plants
- Can not be removed by washing
 Free impurities:
-Adhering to the surface
-Can be removed by washing of coal
Objectives of Coal Washing

 To reduce its ash content

 To reduce transportation and storage costs
 To increase its heating value
 To increase the fusion point of its ash by
removing alkali chlorides
 To reduce its clinkering tendency
 To increase its efficiency in use
 To reduce its sulphur and phosphorous
contents
Coal Washing Processes

 Types of Coal washing/cleaning plants

 Dense Medium Separators

 Jigs
 Cyclone Washers
 Froth Floatation
 Dense Medium Washers
 Properties of the Medium
 The medium used to float the coal from its
impurities must be of low viscosity
 The medium must also have stability so that it has
effective uniform density
 High specific gravity of the medium containing solid
(the grains suspended in water) is also desirable to
have effective medium densities upto or over 2.0
 Mixture of sand and water can be used as washing
medium
Dense Medium Washers
 Many designs have been employed; not
possible to generalize
 Mainly there are two processes under
this heading
(i) Chance Process
(ii) Tromp Process
Chance Process
 Washing medium is a mixture of sand and
water
 A deep bath of sand and water having
intermediate specific gravity between clean
coal and ash is used
 Clean coal floats and dirt sinks and
removed
Tromp Process
 A shallow bath instead of deep bath of
sand and water is used
 Clean coal floats and dirt sinks which is
removed by scraper conveyor
 Requires much lesser volume of fluid
 Requires lesser building height
 Jig Washers
 A coal bed is maintained on a perforated plate
 Coal bed is subjected to action of upward and
downward current of water
 Clean coal being the lighter is concentrated at
the top while the dirt sinks and removed from the
bottom of the washer
Baum Jig

 This is the most common type of Jig Washers

 Baum Jig is U-shaped vessel divided into washing
and air compartments
 Compressed air is used to create the pulsating
movement of water
Advantages of Jig Washers

 Better separation efficiency for finer

sizes of coal (25-200mm)
Cyclone Washer
 The cyclone washer employs the same
principle as cyclone dust collector except that
the coal is fed in a STREAM OF WATER (or
dense medium) instead in air
 It is a settling chamber in which settling force
is replaced by centrifugal force
 The clean coal is obtained as an overflow
from the cyclone
 The underflow from the cyclone contains the
heavier material or impurities
Cyclone Washer

Advantages
 Efficient for small sized coal
 High flexibility of operation with respect to
near gravity material, coal size and feed size
Disadvantages :
 Higher power consumption
 Higher maintenance cost
Froth Floatation process
 Froth is made in a floatation cell by
bubbling air through water in presence
of frothing agents
 Frothing agents used are normally
cresol, pine oil or alcohols
 When dirty coal powder is added to cell,
the pure coal particles adhere to the
bubbles of the froth
 Dirt particles sink in the cell
 The clean coal is recovered by filtration
Froth Floatation process

Advantages:
 It can produce ultra pure coal
 It is suitable for fine coals
Disadvantages:
 High capital and running cost
 Coal must be grinded to less than 0.5 mm
 Coal Storage and Handling

 Solid fuels are stored in bunkers-normally

a quantity equivalent to 100 hours at peak
firing rate is the target storage capacity,
with a minimum amount of 20 tonnes.
 Coal is usually conveyed into storage from
the delivery vehicle by tipping or by
pneumatic conveyance along pipes.

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