Engineering ToolBox - Resources, Tools and Basic Information for Engineering and Design of Technical Applications!

This is an AMP page - Open full page! for all features.

Combustion of Fuels - Carbon Dioxide Emission

Sponsored Links

To calculate the Carbon Dioxide - CO2- emission from a fuel, the carbon content of the fuel must be multiplied with the ratio of molecular weight of CO2(44) to the molecular weight of Carbon (12) -> 44 / 12 = 3.7

Carbon Dioxide emission from burning a fuel can be calculated as

q CO2 = c f / h f M CO2 /M m [1]

where

q CO2 = specific CO2emission [kg CO2 /kWh]
c f = specific carbon content in the fuel [kg C /kg fuel ]
h f = specific energy content in the fuel [kWh/kg fuel ]
M C = Molecular weight Carbon [kg/kmol Carbon]
M CO2 = Molecular weight Carbon Dioxide [kg/kmol CO2]

Emission of CO2from combustion of some common fuels are indicated in the table below.

Note! Heat loss - 55-75% - in power generation is not included in the numbers.

See also Heat of combustion , Fuels - Higher and Lower Calorific Values and Fossil and alternative fuels - energy content .

For full table with Specific CO2 emission - rotate the screen!

Combustion of Fuels - Carbon Dioxide Emission
Fuel Liquid density Specific
carbon content
Specific
Energy content
Specific CO2emission
(amount of fuel basis)
Specific CO2emission
(amount of energy basis)
kg/l kg C /kg fuel kWh/kg fuel Btu/lb fuel Kg CO2 /kg fuel Kg CO2 /gal fuel lb CO2 /gal fuel kg CO2 /kWh kg CO2 /GJ lb CO2 /mill Btu
Methane
(natural gas)
0.75 15.4 23900 2.75 0.18 50 115
Propane 0.510 0.82 13.8 21300 2.99 5.78 12.7 0.22 60 140
Butane 0.564 0.83 13.6 21100 3.03 6.47 14.3 0.22 62 144
LPG
(wt of C3=C4)
0.537 0.82 13.7 21200 3.01 6.12 13.5 0.22 61 142
Gasoline 0.737 0.90 12.9 19900 3.30 9.20 20.3 0.26 71 165.3
Kerosene (Jet) 0.821 0.82 12.0 18500 3.00 9.33 20.6 0.25 70 162.5
Diesel 0.846 0.86 12.7 19605 3.15 10.1 22.3 0.25 69 160.8
Heavy fuel oil
(No.6/Bunker C)
0.980

0.85

11.6 18000 3.11 11.6 25.5 0.27 75 173.3
Petroleum coke 0.89 9.4 14500 3.26 14.7 32.4 0.35 97 225.1
Coal: 227.3
Anthracite 0.92 9.0 14000 3.37 0.37 104 229.5
Bituminous 0.65 8.4 13000 2.38 0.28 79 231.7
Subbituminous 0.4 6.8 10500 1.47 0.22 60 233.9
Lignite 0.3 3.9 6000 1.10 0.28 79 236.1
Coke 0.77 7.2 11200 2.82 0.39 108 251.5
Peat (dry) 1) 0.52 4.7 7300 1.91 0.40 112 260.7
Ethanol fuel (E100) 2) 0.789 0.52 8.3 12800 1.91 5.71 12.6 0.23 64 149.6
Methanol fuel (M100) 2) 0.791 0.37 5.5 8500 1.37 4.11 9.1 0.25 70 162.2
Biodiesel
(B100) 2)
0.880 0.78 11.3 17400 2.85 9.48 20.9 0.25 70 162.8
Wood 1) 2) 0.50 4.5 7000 1.83 0.41 113 263.1
Bio energy 2) 0 2)

1) Commonly viewed as a Bio fuel.
2) Bio Energy is produced from biomass derived from any renewable organic plant, including

  • dedicated energy crops and trees
  • agricultural food and feed crops
  • agricultural crop wastes and residues
  • wood wastes
  • aquatic plants
  • animal wastes
  • municipal wastes and other waste materials

Emissions of CO2can contribute to climate change. Combustion of bio energy don't add to the total emission of carbon dioxide as long as the burned bio mass don't exceed the renewed production (within a reasonable time), or it is not transformed in processes requiring CO2-forming energy. The recycling of carbon from wood combustion is virtually instantaneous and continuous and it is also common to regard the net supply of CO2to the atmosphere from combustion of wood close to zero.

If the time of renewed production of the organic material is long (typically 50 year++), the the positive climate effect can be questioned. The renewed production rate of wood and peat varies with geography and climate.

A variety of bio fuels can be made from bio mass resources, including

  • ethanol
  • methanol
  • biodiesel
  • Fischer-Tropsch diesel
  • gaseous fuels like hydrogen or methane

Production of all these bio fuels requires energy, and the total CO2gain depend on how much CO2-releasing energy that is necessary to transform the bio mass to bio fuel. Biodiesel production via Fischer-Tropsch synthesis is typically a high energy demanding process, and the CO2gain compared to conventional diesel is low if the processing is run with energy with high CO2emissions.

Sponsored Links

Related Topics

Combustion

Combustion processes and their efficiency. Boiler house and chimney topics. Properties of fuels like oil, gas, coal and wood and more. Safety valves and tanks.

Environment

Climate, meteorology, solar, wind, emissions and environmental related engineering resources.

Material Properties

Properties of gases, fluids and solids. Densities, specific heats, viscosities and more.

Related Documents

Alternative Fuels - Properties

Properties of alternative fuels like biodiesel, E85, CNG and more.

Biomasses - Energy Content when Used as Fuel

Biomass fuels and their energy content.

Carbon Dioxide - CO2 - Liquid - Properties, Imperial Units

Properties of saturated liquid Carbon Dioxide - CO2 - density, specific heat, kinematic viscosity, thermal conductivity and Prandtl number.

Carbon dioxide - Density and Specific Weight vs. Temperature and Pressure

Online calculator, figures and tables showing density and specific weight of carbon dioxide, CO2, at temperatures ranging from -50 to 775 °C (-50 to 1400 °F) at atmospheric and higher pressure - Imperial and SI Units.

Carbon Dioxide - Liquid Properties

Properties of saturated liquid Carbon Dioxide - CO2 - density, specific heat, kinematic viscosity, thermal conductivity and Prandtl number.

Carbon dioxide - Prandtl Number vs. Temperature and Pressure

Figures and table with changes in Prandtl number for carbon dioxide with changes in temperature and pressure.

Carbon Dioxide - Thermophysical Properties

Chemical, physical and thermal properties of carbon dioxide. Phase diagram included.

CO2 Calculator - Emissions from Trains

Calculator for CO2 emissions from trains, comparing with alternative forms of transportation (as plane, bus, conventional and electrical cars).

CO2 Calculator - Emissions from Airplanes

Calculator for CO2 emissions from planes, comparing with alternative forms of transportation (as train, bus, conventional and electrical cars).

CO2 Calculator - Emissions from Cars

Calculator for CO2 emissions from different kind of cars (gasoline, diesel, LPG, electrical), comparing with alternative forms of transportation (as airplane, bus and train).

Coal - Classification

Classification of coal based on volatile matter and cooking power of clean material.

Combustion Efficiency and Excess Air

Optimizing boilers efficiency is important to minimize fuel consumption and unwanted excess to the environment.

Concentration of Carbon Dioxide in the Atmosphere

The atmospheric Carbon Dioxide concentration year 1959 - 2015.

Fossil vs. Alternative Fuels - Energy Content

Net (low) and gross (high) energy content in fossil and alternative fuels.

Fuel Consumption Converter

Convert between fuel consumption units like US MPG, Imperial MPG, litre/nm, litre/100 km and km/litre

Fuels - Combustion Air and Flue Gases

Combustion air and flue gas for common fuels - coke, oil, wood, natural gas and more.

Fuels - Higher and Lower Calorific Values

Higher and lower calorific values (heating values) for fuels like coke, oil, wood, hydrogen and others.

Gas Vent Termination - Clearance vs. Roof Slope

Clearance tolerance for gas vent terminations vs. roof slope.

Gaseous Fuels - Chemical Composition

Chemical composition of gaseous fuels like coal gas, natural gas, propane and more.

Gasoline - Density, Specific Heat, Viscosity and Thermal Conductivity vs. Temperature

Density, specific heat, dynamic and kinematic viscosity and thermal conductivity of gasoline vs. temperature

Heat, Work and Energy

Heat vs. work vs. energy.

Heating Fuels - Cost Comparing

Cost comparison formulas for heating fuels like Natural Gas, Propane LP Gas, Fuel Oil and Electricity.

Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) Emission from Fuels

Emission of Nitrogen Oxides - NOx - with combustion of fuels like oil, coal, propane and more.

Optimal Combustion Processes - Fuel vs. Excess Air

Stable and efficient combustion requires correct mixture of fuels and oxygen.

Paraffins and Alkanes - Combustion Properties

Properties like heat values, air/fuel ratios, flame speed, flame temperatures, ignition temperatures, flash points and flammability limits.

Standard Grade Coal - Heat Values

Standard grades coal heat values.

Waste Fuel - Heat Values

Fuel from waste products and their heat values.

Sponsored Links

Search Engineering ToolBox

  • the most efficient way to navigate the Engineering ToolBox!

SketchUp Extension - Online 3D modeling!

Add standard and customized parametric components - like flange beams, lumbers, piping, stairs and more - to your Sketchup model with the Engineering ToolBox - SketchUp Extension - enabled for use with the amazing, fun and free SketchUp Make and SketchUp Pro . Add the Engineering ToolBox extension to your SketchUp from the Sketchup Extension Warehouse!

Privacy

We don't collect information from our users. Only emails and answers are saved in our archive. Cookies are only used in the browser to improve user experience.

Some of our calculators and applications let you save application data to your local computer. These applications will - due to browser restrictions - send data between your browser and our server. We don't save this data.

Google use cookies for serving our ads and handling visitor statistics. Please read Google Privacy & Terms for more information about how you can control adserving and the information collected.

AddThis use cookies for handling links to social media. Please read AddThis Privacy for more information.