Lower heating value

Okay, kiddo, let's imagine that you have a chocolate bar. If you were to eat the whole chocolate bar, you would get a lot of energy to play, run around and have fun. This is similar to fuel that we use in cars and airplanes, which help them run.

Now, when we talk about the lower heating value, we are talking about how much energy can be obtained from a certain type of fuel. Just like the chocolate bar, not all fuels give the same amount of energy. Some fuels, like gasoline, can give a lot of energy, while others, like diesel, give less energy.

The lower heating value is a way to measure how much energy we can get from the fuel when we burn it. It takes into account the energy released when the fuel is burned and the energy that is lost as heat.

For example, let's say you have a piece of wood. When you burn the wood, it gives off heat and light, but not all of that energy can be used. Some of it is lost as heat and doesn't help us to do anything useful. That lost energy is what we call the lower heating value of the wood.

So, when scientists or engineers talk about the lower heating value, they are trying to figure out how much useful energy we can get from the fuel. This helps us decide which fuel is best for different situations, like powering cars, generating electricity or heating buildings.