Perfect Combustion

This is what they call a stoichiometric calculation.

So hydrogen is H2 and Oxygen is O2 and water is H2O.

so to burn one O2 molecule will take 2 H2 molecules.

thus 2 H2 + O2 = 2 H2O

This is what is called a balanced equation. The same number of H and O on each side.

This makes heat = exothermic, so if you add heat to this it would read

2 H2 + O2 = 2 H2O +heat (heat of combustion)

We do nor know the exact heat until we know the excat amount of H2 and O2 we are burning.

Now to do the same with methanol or gasoline that has carbon in it we do the same thing.

for methanol CH4 this will burn into H2O and CO2

so CH4 +2O2 = CO2 and 2 H2O + heat of combustion a balanced equation.

There are tables that list the heat of combustion for stuff, search them out.

For complex stuff , like wood, it will be CxHyOz where x,y,z are large numbers that ndicate a complex hydrocarbon. It is often difficult to extablish the precise stoichiometry of systems like this.

You can burn it with oxygen in a sealed can and measure the heat it makes and how much oxygen is left at the end and make a guess. The thing that does this is called a "bomb calorimeter". You take a heavy selaed steel container, add a weighed amount of hydrocarbon and pressurize it to 100-200 Psi with a weighed amount of pure excess oxygen and place it in a cold water tank. You then set it off with a filament and inside the can everything burns and heats the can and the water. you measure the temp rise of the water and you know the weight of oxygen and hydrocarbon you started with, and you measure the O2 left and the CO2 and water and you can figure the calories it has made and estimate the stoiciometry. This is not precise, as wood varies, if you use wood.

It can be very precise with pure inputs like ethanol etc.

Of course, you need to know the measurement of Nitrogen too, and since Nitrogen doesn't burn, Nitrogen In = Nitrogen Out, except when it chemically combines with some other element. Similarly, pollutants such as Nitrous Oxide, and Benzine can be removed through complete combusion, which is a euphemism for complete chemical recombination into harmless elements, which can also be accomplished by using a catalytic converter at the end of the process to finish the job using catalysts.

The big question is, what can be done during or immediately after the addition of heat to produce a product that is CO2-free??