Kokonaislämpöarvo

Kokonaislämpöarvo, often abbreviated as KTA or "gross calorific value" (GCV) in English, refers to the total amount of heat released when a substance, typically a fuel, is completely burned and the resulting water vapor is condensed back into liquid. This includes both the higher heating value (HHV) and the latent heat of vaporization of the water produced during combustion.

In practical terms, when a fuel is combusted, it produces water in the form of steam. The kokonaislämpöarvo accounts for the energy released not only as the fuel burns but also as this steam cools down and condenses, returning its latent heat to the system. This is in contrast to the nettölämpöarvo (net calorific value or LCV), which only considers the heat released when the water remains as vapor.

Kokonaislämpöarvo is a key parameter used in evaluating the energy content of various fuels, including solid fuels like coal and biomass, as well as liquid and gaseous fuels. It provides an upper bound on the potential energy that can be extracted from a fuel under ideal combustion conditions where complete condensation of water vapor is achieved. Understanding the difference between kokonaislämpöarvo and nettölämpöarvo is important for accurate energy calculations and comparisons, particularly in industrial and engineering applications. The value is typically expressed in units of energy per mass or volume, such as megajoules per kilogram (MJ/kg) or megajoules per cubic meter (MJ/m³).