How are the incomplete and complete combustion reactions different?

Answer 1

In complete combustion, all the reactants will be converted into carbon dioxide and water. In incomplete combustion, some of the reactants will be converted to carbon dioxide, some will become carbon monoxide, and some may not react at all. Quite often incomplete combustion will result in a "sooty" flame.

Answer 2

Complete combustion produces only water and carbon dioxide while incomplete combustion makes carbon monoxide along with other carbon compounds in addition as not all of the carbon is fully oxidized.

The above answer is wrong!

In reality complete/incomplete combustion is more than that. First of all the above argument only takes into account hydrocarbon fuels burning. Second of all, it is not true that complete combustion will produce zero carbon monoxide. More general, complete combustion may refer to the combustion in which the products of combustion are at chemical equilibrium. In combustion literature there is something called Damkohler number which relates chemical time scales to other time scales (for example flow time). The idea is that if the chemical time scale is much smaller than flow time then there's enough time for combustion process to be complete(reactants tend to approach chemical equilibrium because reactions happen fast) if the flow time is much smaller than chemical time then the reactants are thrown outside the combustion chamber before they have time to burn completely and, as a consequence, you get an incomplete combustion.

Answer 3

Complete combustion occurs when a substance is burned in excess oxygen, producing a limited number of products; incomplete combustion occurs when a substance is burned with limited oxygen, producing a more diverse range of products than that of complete combustion.

When a reactant is completely combusted, in excess oxygen, CO2 + H2O are produced.

When a reactant is incompletely combusted, in limited oxygen, CO + C + H2O are produced, CO (carbon monoxide) is toxic to inhale.

Answer 4

• Complete combustion leads to yellow flame while incomplete combustion leads to blue flame
• Complete combustion releases more heat than incomplete combustion.
• Incomplete combustion is more luminous than complete combustion.
• Combustion of saturated hydrocarbon with sufficient supply of oxygen undergoes complete combustion while unsaturated hydrocarbons undergo incomplete combustion

Answer 5

Source: Wiki, see related links

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.

A main concern of incomplete combustion is that CO is formed

Answer 6

Complete combustion only produces water and carbon dioxide. Incomplete combustion makes carbon monoxide along with other carbon compounds. That is the difference.

Answer 7

A complete combustion will produce CO2 and H2O but an incomplete combustion will produce CO and H2O.

Answer 8

Complete combustion: releasing of carbon dioxide and water.

Incomplete combustion: releasing of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and water.

Answer 9

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