What is "combustion"

Combustion \Com*bus"tion\ (?; 106), n. [L. combustio: cf. F. combustion.]

1. The state of burning.

2. (Chem.) The combination of a combustible with a supporter of combustion, producing heat, and sometimes both light and heat.

   Combustion results in common cases from the mutual chemical action and reaction of the combustible and the oxygen of the atmosphere, whereby a new compound is formed.
   --Ure.

   Supporter of combustion (Chem.), a gas, as oxygen, the combination of which with a combustible, as coal, constitutes combustion.

3. Violent agitation; confusion; tumult. [Obs.]

   There [were] great combustions and divisions among the heads of the university.
   --Mede.

   But say from whence this new combustion springs.
   --Dryden.

early 15c., from Old French combustion (13c.), from Latin combustionem (nominative combustio) "a burning," noun of action from past participle stem of Latin comburere "to burn up, consume," from com-, intensive prefix (see com-), + *burere, faulty separation of amburere "to burn around," actually ambi-urere, from urere "to burn, singe," from PIE root *eus- "to burn" (see ember).

n. 1 (context chemistry English) The act or process of burning. 2 A process where two chemicals are combined to produce heat. 3 A process wherein a fuel is combined with oxygen, usually at high temperature, releasing heat. 4 (context figuratively English) Violent agitation, tumult.

1. n. a process in which a substance reacts with oxygen to give heat and light [syn: burning]

2. a state of violent disturbance and excitement; "combustion grew until revolt was unavoidable"

3. the act of burning something; "the burning of leaves was prohibited by a town ordinance" [syn: burning]

Combustion was a computer program for motion graphics, compositing and visual effects. It is commonly likened to Adobe's After Effects, and shares a timeline based interface with Autodesk Media and Entertainment's (formerly Discreet) higher-end compositing systems Inferno, Flame and Flint. This is in contrast to the node based interface used by some other compositing applications.

The last version of Combustion was Combustion 2008. The end of its development was never officially announced, but the company was known to be concurrently developing a new compositing platform, Autodesk Toxik

Combustion may refer to:

• Combustion, the process through which matter burns
• The burning of fuel to power a motor, as with an internal combustion engine or external combustion engine
• Spontaneous human combustion
• Combustion (album), a 2005 album by Decoded Feedback
• Combustion (film), a 2004 TV film
• Combustion (software), a video compositing application from Autodesk

Combustion or burning is a high-temperature exothermic redox chemical reaction between a fuel and an oxidant, usually atmospheric oxygen, that produces oxidized, often gaseous products, in a mixture termed as smoke. Combustion in a fire produces a flame, and the heat produced can make combustion self-sustaining. Combustion is often a complicated sequence of elementary radical reactions. Solid fuels, such as wood, first undergo endothermic pyrolysis to produce gaseous fuels whose combustion then supplies the heat required to produce more of them. Combustion is often hot enough that light in the form of either glowing or a flame is produced. A simple example can be seen in the combustion of hydrogen and oxygen into water vapor, a reaction commonly used to fuel rocket engines. This reaction releases 242 kJ/mol of heat and reduces the enthalpy accordingly (at constant temperature and pressure):

Combustion of an organic fuel in air is always exothermic because the double bond in O is much weaker than other double bonds or pairs of single bonds, and therefore the formation of the stronger bonds in the combustion products CO and HO results in the release of energy. The bond energies in the fuel play only a minor role, since they are similar to those in the combustion products; e.g., the sum of the bond energies of CH is nearly the same as that of CO. The heat of combustion is approximately -418 kJ per mole of O used up in the combustion reaction, and can be estimated from the elemental composition of the fuel.

Uncatalyzed combustion in air requires fairly high temperatures. Complete combustion is stoichiometric with respect to the fuel, where there is no remaining fuel, and ideally, no remaining oxidant. Thermodynamically, the chemical equilibrium of combustion in air is overwhelmingly on the side of the products. However, complete combustion is almost impossible to achieve, since the chemical equilibrium is not necessarily reached, or may contain unburnt products such as carbon monoxide, hydrogen and even carbon ( soot or ash). Thus, the produced smoke is usually toxic and contains unburned or partially oxidized products. Any combustion at high temperatures in atmospheric air, which is 78 percent nitrogen, will also create small amounts of several nitrogen oxides, commonly referred to as , since the combustion of nitrogen is thermodynamically favored at high, but not low temperatures. Since combustion is rarely clean, flue gas cleaning or catalytic converters may be required by law.

Fires occur naturally, ignited by lightning strikes or by volcanic products. Combustion ( fire) was the first controlled chemical reaction discovered by humans, in the form of campfires and bonfires, and continues to be the main method to produce energy for humanity. Usually, the fuel is carbon, hydrocarbons or more complicated mixtures such as wood that contains partially oxidized hydrocarbons. The thermal energy produced from combustion of either fossil fuels such as coal or oil, or from renewable fuels such as firewood, is harvested for diverse uses such as cooking, production of electricity or industrial or domestic heating. Combustion is also currently the only reaction used to power rockets. Combustion is also used to destroy ( incinerate) waste, both nonhazardous and hazardous.

Oxidants for combustion have high oxidation potential and include atmospheric or pure oxygen, chlorine, fluorine, chlorine trifluoride, nitrous oxide and nitric acid. For instance, hydrogen burns in chlorine to form hydrogen chloride with the liberation of heat and light characteristic of combustion. Although usually not catalyzed, combustion can be catalyzed by platinum or vanadium, as in the contact process.