Flue gas Flue gas Flue gas is the gas exiting to the atmosphere via a flue, which is a pipe or channel for conveying exhaust gases from a fireplace, oven, furnace, boiler or steam generator. Quite often, the flue gas refers to the combustion exhaust gas produced at power plants. Its composition depends on what is being burned, but it will usually consist of mostly nitrogen (typically more than two-thirds) derived from the combustion of air, carbon dioxide (), and water vapor as well as excess oxygen (also derived from the combustion air). It further contains a small percentage of a number
Carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere may have been higher, with estimated partial pressure as large as , because there was no bacterial photosynthesis to reduce the gas to carbon compounds and oxygen. Methane, a very active greenhouse gas which reacts with oxygen to produce and water vapor, may have been more prevalent as well, with a mixing ratio of 10 (100 parts per million by volume). Though water is responsible for most (about 36-70%) of the total greenhouse effect, the role of water vapor as a greenhouse gas depends on temperature. On Earth, carbon dioxide is the most relevant, direct anthropologically influenced greenhouse gas. Carbon