Fossil Fuels and The Basic Combustion Process

The process of combustion requires three items: a combustible fuel containing a certain amount of available energy that can be released during the combustion process, oxygen in sufficient quantity to ensure complete combustion and a heat source. This chapter discusses the combustible fuel and the oxidizing agent (air) as they pertain to the typical fossil fuel steam generator. The two most common types of fossil fuels utilized for electricity generation are natural gas and coal. The chapter shows the combustion equations for various types of elements contained in fossil fuels. It also shows the theoretical maximum amount of energy released for one pound mass of element combusted. Fossil fuels are formed by the decomposition of organics over millions of years. The main combustible material in fossil fuel that is used to obtain chemical energy is carbon, although other molecules such as hydrogen and sulfur may provide some amount of energy during the combustion process.