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The fire triangle or combustion triangle is a simple model for understanding the necessary ingredients for most fires. [1] The triangle illustrates the three elements a fire needs to ignite: heat, fuel, and an oxidizing agent (usually oxygen). [2] A fire naturally occurs when the elements are present and combined in the right mixture. [3]
In the equation, k B and h are the Boltzmann and Planck constants, respectively. Although the equations look similar, it is important to note that the Gibbs energy contains an entropic term in addition to the enthalpic one. In the Arrhenius equation, this entropic term is accounted for by the pre-exponential factor A.
Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. [ 1 ] [ a ] Flames , the most visible portion of the fire, are produced in the combustion reaction when the fuel reaches its ignition point .
Since the heat of combustion of these elements is known, the heating value can be calculated using Dulong's Formula: HHV [kJ/g]= 33.87m C + 122.3(m H - m O ÷ 8) + 9.4m S where m C , m H , m O , m N , and m S are the contents of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur on any (wet, dry or ash free) basis, respectively.
For example, at 1200 K the value of K eq is 0.728. [15] Solving, the combustion gas consists of 42.4% H 2 O, 29.0% CO 2, 14.7% H 2, and 13.9% CO. Carbon becomes a stable phase at 1200 K and 1 atm pressure when z is less than 30% of the stoichiometric value, at which point the combustion products contain more than 98% H 2 and CO and about 0.5% CH 4.
In other words, if a chemical change takes place by several different routes, the overall enthalpy change is the same, regardless of the route by which the chemical change occurs (provided the initial and final condition are the same). If this were not true, then one could violate the first law of thermodynamics.
Le Chatelier–Braun principle analyzes the qualitative behaviour of a thermodynamic system when a particular one of its externally controlled state variables, say , changes by an amount , the 'driving change', causing a change , the 'response of prime interest', in its conjugate state variable , all other externally controlled state variables remaining constant.
Chemical reactions such as combustion in fire, fermentation and the reduction of ores to metals were known since antiquity. Initial theories of transformation of materials were developed by Greek philosophers, such as the Four-Element Theory of Empedocles stating that any substance is composed of the four basic elements – fire, water, air and ...