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When discussing fire risk, I remind people that ICE cars have "combustion" in the name for a reason - its propulsion literally comes from controlled explosions
by bdcravens 3y ago
When discussing fire risk, I remind people that ICE cars have "combustion" in the name for a reason - its propulsion literally comes from controlled explosions using flammable liquids.
- singleshot_ 3y agoIf your gasoline is exploding in the cylinders instead of combusting, you should use higher octane or adjust your engine. When gasoline explodes in an internal combustion engine, it’s called “detonation” and if it persists, it can increase the number of parts in your car rather suddenly.
- londons_explore 3y agoIt always disappointed me that humans haven't really managed to make the rotating detonation engine work. Its theoretical efficiency and power density is really high.
- I_Am_Nous 3y agoNow I'm imagining something like a fidget spinner combined with a Nuclear Pulse Engine[1] and it's awesome because I'm imagining that it can provide both propulsion and rotation...but I bet we need some great advances in material science before anything like it could exist. 1.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_pulse_propulsion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_pulse_propulsion
- adhesive_wombat 3y agoI think it would be more like an enormous Wankel engine.
- I_Am_Nous 3y agoA Wankel was what I thought of first, since it's the closest we've come to a rotational explosion engine, but I'm a space nerd so the combination of rotation and propulsion could make for some interesting applications related to space travel.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- adhesive_wombat 3y agoTechnically a deflagration is also an explosion, it's just subsonic, whereas detonation is supersonic. Plenty of explosives don't detonate: they're called "low explosives" and gunpowder is an example, as well as normal petrol-air mixtures.
- singleshot_ 3y agoI stand corrected! I’ll file this one away. To parent who I erroneously told to tune his engine: my mistake!
- fwmcbumcrumble 3y agoFires from gasoline cars are at least extinguishable. Lithium fires aren't really.
- DANmode 3y agoAnd, credit where credit is due: remarkably uncommon in a dormant vehicle.