How can incomplete combustion be prevented

These were modern bent tube boilers that should have been assembled with the tubes tangent in both the vertical and horizontal assembly. Since significant gaps existed in what was supposed to be a tangent tube furnace roof, incompletely burned fuel and CO passed quickly out of the furnace. The improper construction allowed subsequent mixing of fuel and air that generated a lot of noise and a couple of explosions within the tube bank that seriously damaged the boilers.

Many problems of incomplete combustion are revealed through complaints of flame noise. Every incident of rumbling I have investigated has included high levels of CO in the stack gases. All the foregoing involved what are really major problems with incomplete combustion. Most of the time we are dealing with it at a level that is undetectable by eye or through other means. Typical means of monitoring incomplete combustion is the measurement of CO carbon monoxide in the boiler flue gas.

Measuring CO is measuring incomplete combustion. As excess air is decreased, CO starts to form and increases exponentially as excess air approaches zero. This typical curve is not standard, as many people are willing to believe.

Since oxygen is almost always The CO curve, however, is another story. Any burner with poor mixing will generate CO regardless of the amount of excess air so CO may never reach zero. And, the characteristic of the CO curve can vary from logarithmic as shown to a simpler or more complex form. I can tell you this much-any published curve is useless to you.

Yes, you actually can control incomplete combustion. By installing a continuous CO analyzer on the outlet of a boiler and regulating the air to fuel ratio controls to maintain a constant CO at the outlet you control incomplete combustion.

CO control is favored in several installations, especially those where setting leaks, or the like, do not provide an oxygen value at the outlet that is the same as furnace conditions. Air leaking into the equipment can increase the oxygen content of flue gas to prevent accurate control of excess air at the burner.

The only effect of air in-leakage on CO measurement is slight dilution. CO control also avoids a problem with oxygen trim systems using zirconium oxide analyzers. It is possible for those analyzers to misinterpret CO as oxygen when there is no oxygen present.

When controlling excess air at low values an oxygen trim system can automatically swing into a reverse action that produces a lot of incomplete combustion.

Many oxygen trim systems also use combustible analysis to detect the problem and alarm or reverse it. A CO analyzer is not capable of misinterpreting anything else as CO. Should you encounter a situation like the one in North Carolina lightning hitting the stack , the simplest way to determine the financial impact is comparing fuel consumption rate. Then determine the loss by comparing the two. Incomplete combustion of carbon in ash is valued by determining the number of pounds of carbon in the ash and giving it a heat value of 14, Btu per pound.

Comparing the heat in that carbon collected over a given period of time with the heat value in fuel burned provides a percentage loss of the fuel burned. Loss in CO is determined similarly-calculate the mass of CO and give it a heating value of 10, Btu per pound. Incomplete combustion is costly to ignore. With every company trying to improve profitability and productivity, paying attention to those boilers can add to the bottom line in more ways than one.

Heselton spent several years as the principal design engineer of Power and Combustion Inc. Email dharrold cahners. Save Your Spot. Diagnostics, Asset Management First-Hand Experiences ofIncomplete Combustion Stories are often the best way to learn, especially when the topic is as complex as incomplete combustion.

By Kenneth E. Heselton, P. More about incomplete combustion of gas For most burners, the method of introducing natural gas is via a gas ring. Safeties, interconnections Many services contain what I call a sentinel valve.

Incomplete combustion of oils Unlike gas, fuel oils almost always provide obvious indications of incomplete combustion, and there are more ways to do it. Simple mistakes, deadly results Prime examples of the mixing problem are associated with simple mistakes. Incomplete combustion of coal and other solid fuels Most electrical energy generated in the United States is produced by coal-fired plants.

Air systems affect incomplete combustion Over the years, I have regularly seen one common mistake that causes incomplete combustion. Unique situations involving incomplete combustion The standard arrangement of cross-limited combustion controls should prevent a fuel-rich situation, right? Measuring incomplete combustion All the foregoing involved what are really major problems with incomplete combustion. You have seen the CO curves before. Controlling incomplete combustion Yes, you actually can control incomplete combustion.

Economics of incomplete combustion Should you encounter a situation like the one in North Carolina lightning hitting the stack , the simplest way to determine the financial impact is comparing fuel consumption rate.

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Are business terms exclusively for commercial transactions? Incomplete combustion is usually caused by either improper equipment, or improper use of equipment. For example, a furnace that does not aerate properly would be improper equipment, and blocking the air vent of a furnace would be improper use of equipment. If these factors are eliminated, the chances of incomplete combustion will be insignificantly small to cause any damage.

To ensure the integrity of product that burn hydrocarbons, strict standards should be enforced to ensure that products are safe to use. Products should have safety mechanisms that automatically shut the product down if the equipment is detected to be faulty.

Similarly, a high degree of automation can prevent human usage errors, as computers are less prone to making mistakes. If these measures were to be implemented, incomplete combustion would be greatly reduced, if not eradicated. That would make a safer world to live in, and a more energy efficient world too.

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Like this: Like Loading It is the product of incomplete gas combustion often because propane appliances are improperly adjusted. Carbon Monoxide poisoning can lead to severe injury and even death.

The three ingredients for combustion include fuel, ignition and air. Combustion will not occur if one of these three is missing, and even still, the ratio of air to gas must be within an acceptable range for combustion to occur. For example, a mixture consisting of equal parts propane and air will not combust with the introduction of ignition.

With propane, combustion occurs when the gas in air mixture is between 2. Simply put, 2.