How Much Energy Does It Take to Break Apart Hydrocarbon Fuel?

In order for a flame to self propagate, in order for any hydrocarbon fuel to burn. You got hydrogen carbons, and they have to break apart all of those atomic bonds for complete combustion. And it takes a lot of energy to do that. The energy, normally comes from the heat of combustion. So what's happening is you put in a little bit of browns gas, and it increases the efficiency of combustion.