The Chemistry Of Hydrocarbon Fuel Combustion

This book was written to bring together under one cover a detailed look at the chemistry (and some physics) of combustion of hydrocarbon fuels that will satisfy experts in the field, and at the same time allow the less well prepared student to understand the basic principles involved.

The Chemistry of Hydrocarbon Fuels is concerned with the chemical aspects of hydrofuels such as coal, petroleum, and natural gas. Topics covered include diagenesis and catagenesis, processing of natural gas and petroleum fractions, coal combustion, and chemicals that can be obtained from fuels. This book is comprised of 14 chapters and begins with a comprehensive treatment of the formation of fuels from accumulated organic matter, along with the organic geochemistry of coal, oil, and gas. The following chapters focus on the composition of hydrocarbon fuels and some of their important physical properties. Production and use of synthesis gas, alternate fuels from coal, and oxygenated fuels are considered. The remaining chapters deal with some of the chemistry of separation, refining, and use of hydrocarbon fuels. This monograph is written primarily for practicing scientists and engineers, fuel scientists, petroleum chemists, and those who are new to the field of fuel science and seek an introduction to fuel chemistry.

The scientific and economic importance of the high-temperature reactions of hydrocarbons in both the presence and absence of oxygen cannot be overemphasized. A vast chemical industry exists based on feedstocks produced by the controlled pyrolysis of hydrocarbons, while uncontrolled combustion in air is still among the most important sources of heat and mechanical energy. The detonation and explosion of hydrocarbon-oxidant mixtures can however, be a highly dangerous phenomenon which destroys lives and equipment. In order that control can be exerted over combustion processes, a complete description of hydrocarbon oxidation and pyrolysis is required. A major contribution to this is an understanding of the unstable intermediates involved and their reactions. The aim of this book is to review our knowledge of the chemistry of hydrocarbon combustion and to consider the data which are available for relevant reactions. Chapter 1 describes early studies in which the apparent complexity of the chemistry was established and the type of information required for a better understanding was defined. Experimental studies of the overall process which were carried out with the aim of establishing the sequence of stable chemical intermediates and some of the unstable species are described in Chapter 2. The limited nature of the information thus obtained showed that independent studies of individual reactions involving the unstable species were required. In Chapter 3 investigations specifically aimed at the determination of the kinetics of elementary reactions are discussed.

Written by an author with over 38 years of experience in the chemical and petrochemical process industry, this handbook will present an analysis of the process steps used to produce industrial hydrocarbons from various raw materials. It is the first book to offer a thorough analysis of external factors effecting production such as: cost, availability and environmental legislation. An A-Z list of raw materials and their properties are presented along with a commentary regarding their cost and availability. Specific processing operations described in the book include: distillation, thermal cracking and coking, catalytic methods, hydroprocesses, thermal and catalytic reforming, isomerization, alkylation processes, polymerization processes, solvent processes, water removal, fractionation and acid gas removal. Flow diagrams and descriptions of more than 250 leading-edge process technologies An analysis of chemical reactions and process steps that are required to produce chemicals from various raw materials Properties, availability and environmental impact of various raw materials used in hydrocarbon processing

In this historical review the NBS work on hydrocarbons is discussed in terms of the three major classes of natural hydrocarbonaceous fuels: natural gas, petroleum, and coal. The work done on the measurement of properties of the pure components has included measurement of the values of the properties themselves and development of practical and accurate measurement procedures and instruments. In addition, combustion energies, densities, viscosities, vapor pressures, refractive indices, elemental compositions and other parameters have been determined for complex fuel mixtures and correlated to find methods of estimating properties. Extensive standard reference data tables have been compiled and a number of standard reference materials have been developed.