Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by The_Baron on October 20, 2010 at 7:32

The proble with gasoline, is that the airspace in your tank is full of vapour.

With cng it is a uniform pressure throughout the tank.

Now, as far as lng, during the rapid tranisition from liquid to gas the nat. gas mixes with ambient water in the air to form a cloud (lng to gas results in temp drop, water vapor must condense, mixes with new vapor gas) , this cloud is lighter than air outside it will quickly expand and disipitate. So yes, in a confined space it would be a hazard, but no more than a tank of propane would be in a similar situation.

Anyway, we stray from the point that from a safty standpoint, cng is far safer than gasoline. It should be further considered that cng is preferable from the environmental standpoint that large underground tanks are no longer need, tanks that while drasticaly improved from the past are still prone to corrosion and leaks.

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Permalink Reply by Mac Davis on October 22, 2010 at 8:23

The proble with gasoline, is that the airspace in your tank is full of vapour.

How many times do I have to say it?

The vapors in a gasoline tank will usually not burn or explode. The mixture is too rich. The concentration of gasoline vs. oxygen is too high to burn. It's only a fire hazard when the gasoline leaks out of the tank.

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Permalink Reply by P.G. on October 23, 2010 at 2:24

.

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Permalink Reply by Mac Davis on October 24, 2010 at 19:43

Interesting video.

However, some comments:

None of the cars were natgas powered. They were gasoline (petrol) and LPG gas. LPG is propane/butane, not liquid or compressed natural gas. LPG and gasoline vapors are heavier than air.

None of the cars were damaged by a crash. The tanks and fuel systems were intact before the fire.

All of the cars had burned long enough that any passengers would be dead long before the explosion.

None of the cars had a fuel leak that allowed vapors to accumulate followed by an ignition.

The gasoline tank explosion was not that impressive.

My conclusion is that all of the explosions were pressure explosions caused by heating the tank, not an explosion of flammable vapors in the tank.

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Permalink Reply by P.G. on October 25, 2010 at 1:49

Maybe there aren't any Youtube videos of NG cars exploding in a crash test because they don't explode, huh?

I wonder how an NG fueled vehicle would do if it were sitting in a garage during a house fire?

Permalink Reply by P.G. on October 20, 2010 at 5:44

I remember when a kid, dad was using a paint sprayer and after he was finished, he had me clean it. So I got some gasoline and went down to the basement where there was a drain and faucet and started cleaning it. The basement was also the laundry room and where the gas water heater was as well. I had a mix of gasoline and water on the floor (the floor was unfinished concrete) and about finished cleaning the paint cup when all of a sudden 'whoosh', flames everywhere the floor was wet. I was squatting down and remember flames shooting between my legs. My brother was ironing some of his clothes and started screaming for dad. Dad came a running yelling many banned forum type words and grabbed the 5 gallon bucket, not knowing there was gasoline mixed in the water, tossed it on the flames and then we really had a fire going! He yelled even more banned words and ran outside and grabbed the garden hose and washed everything down the drain, fire and all. That was a long time ago and I don't remember all the details but I do recall life was pretty miserable for me for a week or so after that happened.
I certainly leaned first hand about gasoline vapors around ignition sources..

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Permalink Reply by The_Baron on October 20, 2010 at 7:34

gasoline vapor is neat in the way it can pool and accumulate in low places, your lucky you didn't end up in the burn unit.

Safety tip for the day, use a CO2 fire extenguisher on all fuel/grease fires.....

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Permalink Reply by P.G. on October 20, 2010 at 8:02

The only part of me that caught fire were my shoes, which I stomped out pretty quick, on the other hand my dad singed the hair on his arms and eyebrows when he tossed that bucket of fuel/water mix on the fire.
I was just a kid (maybe 12 years old) and I don't think he had figured I would take the paint stuff to the basement to clean it. But looking back, I certainly agree it could have turned into a bad situation..
He was pretty hot and not just from the fire!
Dumb stuff a kid might do...
In staying with the theme here, safety should be observed with any kind of flammable stored or brought into the home.

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Permalink Reply by Mac Davis on October 24, 2010 at 19:09

It's very important to understand how to use a fire extinguisher, too.

In my fire extinguisher training there was a video of someone improperly using a CO2 fire extinguisher on a pool of burning liquid. You can end up splattering the liquid everywhere changing a small, "calm" fire into a fireball, spreading fire everywhere.

It's very easy to not do any good with a fire extinguisher or to even make things worse if you haven't studied how to use it properly.

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Permalink Reply by P.G. on October 25, 2010 at 1:52

Looking back, we were lucky everything turned out as well as it did..

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Permalink Reply by Stevew on October 27, 2010 at 8:52

This is a good thread. Unless the question of "Can they explode?" is answered in the public's mind cars won't be too popular. Tests are fine but the public is very afraid of explosions from ng.

Yes, I know my car can explode in a fire. We all learn to live with certain risks with experience. However, the general public has little experience with ng cars. Most people would have this same question as Jack Black has.

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Permalink Reply by P.G. on October 27, 2010 at 12:32

How much sense would it make for folks who are driving small cars or motorcycles to be seriously concerned about the safety of CNG autos?
Kind of like a cigarette smoker who insists on eating low fat for health, huh?

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