ABSTRACT
Combustion is the controlled release of heat from the chemical reaction between a fuel and an oxidizer. The fuels in the rening, petrochemical, and power generation industries are almost exclusively hydrocarbons. Hydrocarbons are composed of only hydrogen (H) and carbon (C) in their molecular structure. Natural gas and fuel oil are examples of hydrocarbon fuels. Practical fuels containing small contaminants such as nitrogen (N2) and oxygen (O2) are described later in this chapter and in other chapters of this book such as Chapter 4.
