Combustion Efficiency
Combustion efficiency describes how effectively a burner converts the chemical energy of fuel into useful heat while minimizing losses from incomplete combustion and excess flue-gas heat.
What it means
In practice, operators infer combustion performance from flue-gas measurements (typically O₂, CO, CO₂, stack temperature) and compare against targets for the process, safety, and emissions.
- Low O₂ with high CO usually indicates insufficient air or poor mixing.
- Very high O₂ usually indicates too much excess air, increasing stack losses.
- High stack temperature often points to heat-transfer issues or fouling.
Primary levers
- Air-fuel ratio control and trim (O₂ trim where applicable).
- Fuel atomization quality (for oil) and gas pressure stability.
- Mixing and flame stabilization (swirlers, registers, staging).
- Heat-transfer condition (soot, scaling, refractory condition).
- Draft control and leakage (air ingress dilutes flue gas).
Field checklist
- Verify analyzer calibration and probe placement.
- Record O₂ / CO / stack temperature across typical load points.
- Check burner linkage/actuators for hysteresis and repeatability.
- Inspect registers, diffusers, and flame shape for stability.
- Inspect heat surfaces and schedule cleaning if needed.