3 ms·

They don't contain nearly enough oxygen to liberate all the stored energy. Also, especially since gas tanks are no longer directly open to the atmosphere, I wo

• dane-pgp 5y ago
  In principle we could calculate the weight of oxygen in half a fuel tank's worth of air, and work out how much energy that would release if it was used in combustion with the fuel there. In practice, though, you're right, that we'd have to think about the oxygen concentration, which would immediately start dropping as the fuel burned. Also, it's not easy to calculate what temperature the tank would reach, and for how long, and whether that would cause it to rupture. For reference, though, the testing process for fuel tanks can include: "the tank being exposed to a pan of raging petroleum coming through specifically designed firebricks to intensify the effect of the naked flame. The tank has to be capable of securely containing diesel during the test for 90 seconds." https://corillaplastics.co.uk/rotationally-moulded-diesel-fuel-tanks/ https://corillaplastics.co.uk/rotationally-moulded-diesel-fu...