Fossil Fuels (main)

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Fossil Fuels


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FlueGasStacks.jpg Fossil fuel combustion flue gases Last Updated on 2011-11-08 00:00:00 Fossil fuel combustion flue gases refer to the emissions of combustion product gases resulting from the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas.[1] Most fossil fuels are combusted with ambient air being the oxidant (as differentiated from combustion with pure oxygen) and this article is based on the use of ambient air as the combustion air. Discussion of flue gas components Since ambient air contains about 79 volume percent gaseous nitrogen (N2),[2] which is essentially non-combustible, the largest part of the flue gases from most fossil fuel combustion is uncombusted nitrogen. The next largest part of the flue gas is carbon dioxide (CO2) which can be as much as ten to fifteen volume percent or more of the flue gas. This is closely followed in volume by water vapor (H20) created by the combustion of the hydrogen in the fuel with atmospheric oxygen.... More »
Donald-blake-gallery-image-31302660435.jpg Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill photo gallery by Donald Blake Last Updated on 2011-04-11 13:20:26 Photos submitted by Donald Blake, University of California, Irvine. Images by NOAA P-3, taken July 2010. More »