Welcome back MechanicalEI, Did you know that the theoretical and actual combustion processes make up majority of the numerical in combustion? This makes us wonder, What is theoretical and actual combustion? Before we jump in check out the previous part of this series to learn about what combustion is? Now, Theoretical or Stoichiometric Combustion is the ideal combustion process where fuel is burned completely. A complete combustion is a process burning all the carbon to carbon dioxide, all the hydrogen to water and all the sulfur (S) to Sulfur dioxide. With unburned components in the exhaust gas such as Carbon, Hydrogen, Carbon Monoxide, the combustion process is uncompleted and not stoichiometric. To determine the excess air or excess fuel for a combustion system we starts with the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio. The stoichiometric ratio is the perfect ideal fuel ratio where the chemical mixing proportion is correct. When burned all fuel and air is consumed without any excess left over. In actual combustion processes, the theoretical quantity of air is not enough, so it is common practice to use more air than the stoichiometric amount to increase the chances of complete combustion or to control the temperature of the combustion chamber. The amount of air in excess of the stoichiometric amount is called excess air. With actual combustion processes, it is impossible to predict the composition of the products on the basis of the mass balance alone. Hence, We first saw what theoretical combustion is and then went on to see what actual combustion is?
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