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Relative Fuel Safely

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auerbach
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 2168 West of Toronto
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2010-05-14          170784


If there's a fuel leak (tank, lines, wherever) near a source of ignition (sparks, exhaust, cigarette, etc.), would there be any difference in safety between gasoline and diesel?





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earthwrks
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 3853 Home Office in Flat Rock, Michigan
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2010-05-14          170789


As they say Canukistan--you betcha. It's called flashpoint. There's also other factors such how the vapors of gas creep across low lying areas and ignite explosively when in contact with an ignition source. Diesel on the other hand doesn't normally have ignitable vapors unless it's atomized from heating but that's more the flashpoint.

And there's the amount of available oxygen or oxidizer that figures into it too.

For example, as I watched the gas company dig up a 1" gas line connected to an 8" main they happened to pull the line right out of the main spewing pressurized gas. The helper who was smoking a cigarette tossed it into the hole while the gas was spewing! I freaked out since we were right next to a 5 lane highway! The guy said it would have to be an open flame and even then the gas was so concentrated it would to be 6-8 feet above the hole to be the right concentration. Whew!

I'm sure Murf will add more scientific explanation. ....


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kthompson
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 5275 South Carolina
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2010-05-15          170806


I do know from using both gasoline and diesel fuel to begin fires of debris be sure you use diesel for the fumes of the gas will creep as Jeff has pointed out and you could be surrounded by them and that is not a Good place to be when you strike a spark. ....


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