Combustion or burning is the sequence of exothermic chemical reactions between a fuel and an oxidant accompanied by the production of heat and conversion of chemical species. The release of heat can result in the production of light in the form of either glowing or a flame. Fuels of interest often include organic compounds (especially hydrocarbons) in the gas, liquid or solid phase.
In a complete combustion reaction, a compound reacts with an oxidizing element, such as oxygen or fluorine, and the products are compounds of each element in the fuel with the oxidizing element.

Complete combustion is almost impossible to achieve. In reality, as actual combustion reactions come to equilibrium, a wide variety of major and minor species will be present such as carbon monoxide and pure carbon (soot or ash). Additionally, any combustion in atmospheric air, which is 78 percent nitrogen, will also create several forms of nitrogen oxides.

In complete combustion, the reactant burns in oxygen, producing a limited number of products. When a hydrocarbon burns in oxygen, the reaction will only yield carbon dioxide and water. When elements are burned, the products are primarily the most common oxides. Carbon will yield carbon dioxide, nitrogen will yield nitrogen dioxide, sulfur will yield sulfur dioxide, and iron will yield iron(III) oxide.
Combustion is not necessarily favorable to the maximum degree of oxidation and it can be temperature-dependent. For example, sulfur trioxide is not produced quantitatively in combustion of sulfur. Nitrogen oxides start to form above 2,800 °F (1,540 °C) and more nitrogen oxides are produced at higher temperatures. Below this temperature, molecular nitrogen (N2) is favored. It is also a function of oxygen excess.
In most industrial applications and in fires, air is the source of oxygen (O2). In air, each mole of oxygen is mixed with approximately 3.76 mole of nitrogen. Nitrogen does not take part in combustion, but at high temperatures, some nitrogen will be converted to NOx, usually between 1% and 0.002% (2 ppm).[2] Furthermore, when there is any incomplete combustion, some of carbon is converted to carbon monoxide.

Incomplete combustion will only occur when there is not enough oxygen to allow the fuel to react completely to produce carbon dioxide and water. It also happens when the combustion is quenched by a heat sink such as a solid surface or flame trap.
For most fuels, such as diesel oil, coal or wood, pyrolysis occurs before combustion. In incomplete combustion, products of pyrolysis remain unburnt and contaminate the smoke with noxious particulate matter and gases. Partially oxidized compounds are also a concern; partial oxidation of ethanol can produce harmful acetaldehyde, and carbon can produce toxic carbon monoxide.
The quality of combustion can be improved by design of combustion devices, such as burners and internal combustion engines. Further improvements are achievable by catalytic after-burning devices (such as catalytic converters) or by the simple partial return of the exhaust gases into the combustion process. Such devices are required by environmental legislation for cars in most countries, and may be necessary in large combustion devices, such as thermal power plants, to reach legal emission standards.
The degree of combustion can be measured and analyzed, with test equipment. HVAC contractors, firemen and engineers use combustion analyzers to test the efficiency of a burner during the combustion process. In addition, the efficiency of an internal combustion engine can be measured in this way, and some states and local municipalities are using combustion analysis to define and rate the efficiency of vehicles on the road today.


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