Hello everyone,

In at least one movie I've seen, a gasoline leak from a tank on a moving vehicle has lead to it's untimely demise. The movie portrayed this in this way :

A motorcycle has its gas tank shot at some point. The motorcycle goes forward, on a chase for example, and the initial gasoline that spilled out catches on fire. As the motorcycle is moving, it is constantly pouring out gasoline. The fire from the initial hit/spill site catches up to the motorcycle and causes it to explode.

The general myth - How fast can a flame travel over a gasoline spill, and, if it is fast, could the flame jump up the gasoline pouring out of the tank, and cause the motorcycle to explode?

Known? Well, gasoline itself doesn't burn, but the vapor it produces as it evaporates does. The myth could account for this, and also try other fuels such as diesel, vegetable oil, or gun powder (supposing someone's made the gun powder-powered engine work a bit better =P)

Hope this can be explained and/or busted!

~Pfkninenines

P.S. - The movie it was in, I don't remember exactly...But I think it was Torque.

Saw a question like this, regarding a speeding car catching up to a lit track of gasoline...Anyone know how fast the gasoline trail burns?

After seeing the episode, I had a few things I'd like to see them try beyond what they've already done:

1) Diesel and jet fuel didn't burn quickly, but what about kerosene?
2) What about other gasoline grades (regular, super, ...)?
3) How about on a really hot day -- more vapor rising from the trail = faster burn?

I don't expect the tank to explode, but maybe the flame could at least catch up this way...

kerosene and jet fuel are essentially the same thing, IIRC.

And for those that don't know, kerosene is another word for paraffin.

Hey, Hegh ...
You've apparently actually used the *find* function! Congratulations!!!!!

I had to laugh at the scene in the Die Hard movie where a 747 jet is taking off, with the bad guys in it of course, and it is trailing fuel from the open filler port. Bruce Willis lights the jet fuel on the ground and the flame follows the streaming fuel trail to the airborne plane. Boom. Yippie kai yay MF.

quote:

Originally posted by hegh:
I don't expect the tank to explode, but maybe the flame could at least catch up this way...

An unruptured fuel tank will blow, not from ignition of any leaking fuel, but when the burning fuel heats the tank sufficiently to boil the contents, resulting in a Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapour Explosion, usually shortened to BLEVE by firefighters and those in the oil industry whoi work around fuel storage tanks.

At safety meetings and training seminars, it's sometimes said that the *other words* that BLEVE stand for is Blast Levels Everything Very Effectively. But the real thing isn't that funny, as when we lost two guys atop a 36,000 barrel tank that went. That's a bit over a million gallons and some change, when full to capacity.