..how do i calculate flue gas composition of fuel oil firing if i don't have the composition of C and H content of the oil? I only have the laboratory analysis such as: heating value, viscosity, sulphur content, CCR, and distillation (assay) because it's refinery fuel oil. Is there any way to convert those data into C and H composition?
You can measure fuel oil specific gravity (sg), then use correlations relating sg or heating value to composition for an approximate composition result. For instance, following could be useful.
1. Perry (Chemical Engineers' handbook, 7th ed, 1997) reports %H=26-15*sg, or more accurate correlations depending on sg (sg=oil density/water density). I had applied it once on the fuel oil part, after subtracting water & sediment, ash, O, organic N (interpretation); having found %H, %C=100-%H on mentioned fuel oil part. But this correlation holds for fuels free of S; found %C could be reduced by known %S (interpretation).
2. Table 27-6 of Perry has analysis of several fuel oils, that can be used as a rough guide in combination with the above.
3. Seeing that LHV is known, formulas can be used to verify fuel composition and making some corrections, if needed. One such formula (used in 1997) was rather precise compared to published data, but I cannot find it. Following
http://chestofbooks....ific-Value.html, LHV (kcal/kg) = %C*8080+(%H-%O/8)*34460+%S*2217, where the term of S has been added (standard heat of SO2 formation=-70.94 kcal/kgmol).
Terms of these formulas differ somehow, probably in an effort to represent experimental values better. Based on Perry (Heats of formation, Table 2-220), previous formula becomes LHV (kcal/kg) = %C*7800+%H*28900+%S*2217, while formula is also a bit different in
http://www.eng-tips....d=301699&page=1.
4. So one has to consider all available data and formulas, together with some engineering judgment, to arrive at a fuel composition as precise as possible; oxygen and organic nitrogen content in fuel oil cannot be estimated by formulas (to my knowledge), these had better be directly measured by analysis. Client had given organic nitrogen once (by analysis or estimate??), but not oxygen content of fuel oil. I wonder why an analysis for fuel oil composition is so hard to be realized by refinery laboratory (there will be variations from sample to sample, but still one analysis would be useful).
Note: 15% excess air is usual for fuel oil burning at nominal capacity of boiler. Excess air increase for lower capacities.
Edited by kkala, 30 July 2011 - 02:18 AM.