Transport & Industry3 min read
Pulverised Fuel: The Advantages, and the One That Isn't
Grinding coal to powder gives faster, more complete, more controllable combustion — but costs grinding power and makes far more fly ash.
Priya Raman
Energy science editor
Taught school science for eight years, then moved into writing about combustion and energy. Still explains things the way you would to a class.
- Based in
- Bengaluru, India
- Experience
- 13 years
- Guides written
- 27
How Priya got here
I taught physical science to fourteen and fifteen year olds for eight years, and the chapter on fuels was always the one where I could feel the room switch off. Calorific value, ignition temperature, characteristics of an ideal fuel — presented as a list to memorise, it is genuinely dull, and it is also one of the few chapters that describes something sitting in every student's kitchen.
The change came when I started bringing the kitchen into it. Why does the flame go yellow when the air holes are blocked? Why does wet firewood hiss and produce almost no heat? Why is a gas cylinder so much lighter than the amount of wood it replaces? Same syllabus, entirely different attention level.
I write the fuel science and fossil fuel guides here, and I try to write them the way that lesson eventually worked: start with the thing you can see, then explain the number behind it.
The journey
2012
MSc Chemistry
Postgraduate work on reaction kinetics, which is where the interest in combustion started.
2013
Classroom teaching
Eight years teaching physical science, including the fuels and combustion unit every single year.
2019
Curriculum and textbook work
Started writing and reviewing science material, which meant checking a lot of numbers that turned out to be copied between books without a source.
2021
Full-time science writing
Moved into technical writing on energy, chemistry and combustion for publishers and industry.
2025
Energy science editor at UpFuel
Writes the fuel science and fossil fuel guides, and keeps a spreadsheet of every figure on the site with its source.
Areas of focus
- Combustion chemistry
- Calorific value and fuel properties
- Fossil fuel formation
- Cleaner fuels and fuel cells
- MSc Chemistry
- Eight years teaching physical science
- Science curriculum writer
Guides by Priya Raman
Transport & Industry3 min read
What Fuel Do Trains Run On in India?
Indian Railways runs mostly on electricity now, with diesel for unelectrified lines. How the split works and why the switch happened fast.
Transport & Industry4 min read
Which Fuel Is Used in Thermal Power Plants?
Most thermal power stations burn pulverised coal, some natural gas or lignite. What happens between the coal wagon and your light switch.
Transport & Industry4 min read
What Is Used as Fuel in Rockets?
Rockets burn liquid hydrogen, refined kerosene (RP-1) or solid composite propellants — and must carry their own oxidiser, because there is no air in space.
Fuel Science4 min read
Cetane Number: What a Higher Cetane Fuel Actually Does
Higher cetane means a shorter ignition delay: smoother diesel combustion, easier cold starts, less knock. And how it differs from octane.
Fossil Fuels4 min read
Why Fossil Fuels Are an Important Source of Energy
Fossil fuels supply about 80% of world energy through energy density, storability and dispatchability — the properties that make them hard to replace.
Fuel Science4 min read
The SI Unit of Specific Fuel Consumption
Specific fuel consumption is fuel mass per unit of energy produced. Its SI unit is kg/J; engineers quote g/kWh, and jet engines kg/(N·h).
Cleaner Fuels4 min read
Why Biogas Is an Eco-Friendly Fuel
Biogas is renewable, burns without smoke, turns waste into energy and leaves fertiliser behind — a genuinely closed loop, not just a cleaner fuel.
Fossil Fuels4 min read
The Most Abundant Fossil Fuel in India Is Coal — Here's Why
India holds the world's fifth-largest coal reserves and produces most of its electricity from it, while importing the majority of its petroleum and natural gas.
Cleaner Fuels4 min read
Fuel Cells: How They Convert Chemical Energy Directly Into Electricity
A fuel cell converts the chemical energy of a fuel directly into electrical energy without combustion, escaping the Carnot limit that caps heat engines.
Fuel Science4 min read
Why Carbon and Its Compounds Are Used as Fuels
Carbon compounds burn in air releasing large amounts of heat, store easily and are abundant — which is why nearly every practical fuel is one.
Cleaner Fuels4 min read
Why Hydrogen Is Not Used as a Fuel Despite Being the Cleanest
It has the highest calorific value and produces only water, yet must be manufactured, stored at 700 bar or −253 °C, and it embrittles metals.
Fossil Fuels4 min read
Disadvantages of Fossil Fuels: The Full List, Ranked by Consequence
Fossil fuels are finite, polluting and unevenly distributed. Here are the disadvantages in order of importance, with the mechanism behind each one.
Fuel Science4 min read
Incomplete Combustion of Fuel Leads to the Formation of Carbon Monoxide and Soot
Burning fuel in too little oxygen makes carbon monoxide, soot and unburnt hydrocarbons — with far less heat and a hazard you cannot smell.
Fossil Fuels3 min read
Can Fossil Fuels Be Made in a Laboratory?
Synthetic hydrocarbons can be made in a lab, but true fossil fuels cannot — the geological conditions and timescales cannot be reproduced.
Fuel Science4 min read
Ignition Temperature: Why a Fuel Must Be Heated Before It Burns
A fuel must reach its ignition temperature before it burns. What that means, why it varies so widely, and why not every combustible is a fuel.
Fossil Fuels4 min read
What Are Fossil Fuels? Definition, Types and Examples
A plain definition of fossil fuels with the three main types, everyday examples, how each is used, and where the world's supplies come from.
Fuel Science4 min read
Which Fuel Has the Highest Calorific Value? Hydrogen, and Why
Hydrogen, at about 150,000 kJ/kg — roughly three times petrol. The full ranking, and why hydrogen still is not in general use.
Cleaner Fuels4 min read
Which Is the Cleanest Fuel? Hydrogen, CNG and What 'Clean' Means
Hydrogen is cleanest because it produces only water. Among fuels in general use, CNG is the least polluting. Here is the full ranking.
Fossil Fuels4 min read
Why Coal and Petroleum Are Called Fossil Fuels
They formed from the fossilised remains of prehistoric plants and marine organisms, buried and transformed by heat and pressure over aeons.
Fuel Science4 min read
Characteristics of a Good Fuel: What Makes an Ideal Fuel
High calorific value, moderate ignition temperature, low ash and smoke, controlled burning, safe storage — and why no fuel scores full marks.
Cleaner Fuels4 min read
Is CNG More Polluting Than Petrol? No — Here Are the Numbers
CNG produces less carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, particulate matter and sulphur than petrol. The statement that CNG is more polluting than petrol is false.
Fossil Fuels3 min read
Which of the Following Is Not a Fossil Fuel? How to Answer Every Version
There are only three fossil fuels: coal, petroleum and natural gas. Anything else on the list is the answer, and here is how to spot it.
Fuel Science4 min read
Calorific Value of a Fuel: Definition, Units and How to Calculate It
Calorific value is the heat from burning one kilogram of fuel completely. Expressed in kJ/kg, and here is how it is measured and compared.
Fossil Fuels4 min read
Why Fossil Fuels Are Exhaustible Natural Resources
They formed over hundreds of millions of years, exist in a fixed stock, and are consumed far faster than nature can ever replace them.
Cleaner Fuels4 min read
Why LPG Is a Better Domestic Fuel Than Wood
LPG gives roughly three times the heat per kilogram, with no smoke or ash — which makes the switch a health intervention, not just convenience.
Fossil Fuels5 min read
Why Energy From Fossil Fuels Is Not Green Energy
Fossil fuel energy fails both green tests: it is non-renewable, and burning it releases carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide and particulates.