Combustion: An Introduction
Have you ever heard about the fire triangle? Do you know how it is related to fire? The fire triangle includes the substance needed to burn fire. These are oxygen, heat, and fuel. Combustion is a type of chemical reaction that produces heat, and light. There are various types of combustion processes. Are burning and combustion the same process? Or is there any difference between these two processes? There are many differences between burning and combustion. To know more about the combustion process, continue reading this article!
What Is Combustion?
Combustion is a chemical reaction in which fuel is burnt in presence of oxygen. When fuel is burnt in the presence of oxygen, a large amount of heat is released and this heat may be converted into light. This is a type of exothermic reaction.
Types of Combustion
There are various types of combustion reactions. Some of the types are given below:
Complete combustion - Complete combustion is defined as the complete oxidation of fuel. It occurs in an unlimited supply of oxygen. It is also known as clean combustion because after burning no residue is left. On complete combustion of hydrocarbons, it converts into carbon dioxide and water.
Incomplete combustion - When fuel is burnt in a limited supply of oxygen it is known as incomplete combustion. It is also known as uncleaned combustion because it leaves some residue after combustion which pollutes the environment.
Explosive combustion - As the name explosive itself suggests that something explodes rapidly. It is a process in which a reaction occurs very rapidly and produces heat, sound, and light.
Spontaneous combustion - Spontaneous combustion starts itself, these types of combustion do not require any external heat source. These types of combustion start unexpectedly without any apparent cause and these combustion processes may start due to biological, chemical or physical processes.
Rapid combustion - This type of combustion produces a large amount of heat and light energy very rapidly. This type of combustion will take place as long as fuel is present. Once after consumption of the whole fuel, the burning process stops.
The Condition Necessary for Combustion
There are some must-meet conditions for combustion. The conditions are as given below:
The presence of fuel is a must - To carry out any combustion process, there must be some combustible substance that undergoes combustion.
Air or oxygen - These are also a necessary condition for the combustion process. Oxygen is necessary to carry out any type of combination process.
Heat - There must be some source to provide heat that raises the temperature of the substance.
Difference Between Burning and Combustion
Important Questions
1. What is the difference between combustion and flaming?
Ans: Combustion is defined as oxidation or heating and does not produce flame. In this case, most of the energy is converted into light energy in burning. In the burning process, the flame is produced.
2. What is combustion used for?
Ans: The combustion process is used to power our vehicles, cars, and bikes, and to generate electricity for homes or industry. It is also used in our homes for various other purposes.
3. Which gas is used in combustion?
Ans: Oxygen is the most important component of combustion. This gas helps in the combustion process and carbon dioxide is used to extinguish the burning process.
Interested Facts
Due to incomplete combustion, five and a half billion amounts of carbon dioxide are released.
Combustion is an exothermic reaction and produces a large amount of heat
The only planet in the universe is earth where combustion can take place as oxygen is only present on earth.
Fire moves forward uphill faster than downhill
Key Features
In this article, we studied combustion and the combustion process.
There are mainly six types of combustion such as complete combustion, incomplete combustion, explosive combustion, rapid combustion, and spontaneous combustion
Oxygen, heat, and fuel are the necessary conditions for combustion
There are many differences between combustion and burning.
The main difference is burning produces more light in the form of flame whereas combustion produces less light.
FAQs on Types of Combustion
1. What are the ideal properties of fuel?
There are various important properties of ideal fuel. Some of the properties of ideal fuels are given below:
Fuel which is easily available for public use is ideal.
It should be cheap so that everyone can use these fuels.
Its combustible value should be very high and should release a large amount of heat.
An ideal fuel is that which burns completely and does not leave any residue after burning. So that it will not pollute our environment.
2. What is fuel and its types?
A fuel is any substance that undergoes combustion and converts one form of energy into another form. These substances are of various types. Some of the types are given below:
There are three types of fuels based on their physical state, - solid, liquid, and gas. Petroleum is an example of a liquid natural fluid, and alcohol and coal tar are examples of artificial liquid fluids.
There are two types of fuel based on their occurrence - Natural and artificial.
3. Respiration is a type of combustion. Explain.
Respiration is a type of exothermic reaction. Exothermic reactions are those which produce energy. Combustion processes are those in which any are burnt in presence of oxygen and release large amounts of energy. This energy may convert into other forms. Such heat and light. Now in respiration the food we eat burns into the presence of oxygen and as a result carbon dioxide, water and energy is released. Now we use this energy to carry out various life activities.
