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Thursday, July 29, 2010

Combustion

Combustion or burning is the sequence of exothermic chemical reactions between a fuel and an oxidantheat and conversion of chemical species. The release of heat can result in the production of light in the form of either glowing or a flame. Fuels of interest often include organic compounds (especially hydrocarbons) in the gas, liquid or solid phase. accompanied by the production of
In a complete combustion reaction, a compound reacts with an oxidizing element, such as oxygen or fluorine, and the products are compounds of each element in the fuel with the oxidizing element. For example:
CH4 + 2O2CO2 + 2H2O + energy
CH2S + 6F2CF4 + 2HF + SF6
A simple example can be seen in the combustion of hydrogen and oxygen, which is a commonly used reaction in rocket engines:
2H2 + O2 → 2H2O(g) + heat
The result is water vapor.
Complete combustion is almost impossible to achieve. In reality, as actual combustion reactions come to equilibrium, a wide variety of major and minor species will be present such as carbon monoxide and pure carbon (soot or ash). Additionally, any combustion in air, which is 78% nitrogen, will also create several forms of nitrogen oxides.

                                                             The flames caused as a result of a fuel undergoing combustion (burning)

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