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[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index] Re: Oil level gauge
On Tue, 18 Feb 1997, Alex wrote: > Friends, > Haven't you also seen old electrical rotor type fuel pumps in which > the fuel passes straight through the motor itself? > The thing is that the mixture of fuel and oxygen there is not > flammable. The same goes for the fuel vapors inside the tank. They > will never burn inside the tank, but just outside the fuel filler > pipe they will burn nicely because they mix with enough oxygen. > > Anyway, be careful. Alex is correct here. The environment inside a gasoline tank and an engine crankcase are quite different. For any hydrocarbon fuel to burn (oxidize) in air, its concentration must be within certain limits--the lower explosive limit (LEL) and upper explosive limit (UEL)--that are specific for each fuel. The LEL and UEL values for gasoline escape me at the moment, but I recall that the explosive range (or flammability range, if you prefer) for gasoline is rather narrow. The UEL is lower than equilibrium concentration, even at low temperatures, so the mixture inside a gasoline tank will not burn. Hence the safe use of seemingly dangerous, exposed electrics in fuel systems. A crankcase is another matter entirely. The mixture of oil vapors, unburned gas, and Lord knows what all can be within the explosive range. This is true even with diesel engines. I have seen the results of some nasty crankcase explosions in diesels (frequently due in part to fuel dilution of the lube oil). Larry Lee Auburn, AL, USA References:
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