The classic petrol flame chase problem

[EagleKeeper]

It is the fumes that burn, not the liquid. the liquid must start evaporating and be collected/contained for a big boom

 

[JTsyo]

What I had in mind was a large LPG tanker and ended with a BLEVE.

How about some pressurized fuel leaking out the top and throw in aluminum dust for good measure and see what happens when the fire reaches the truck.

 

[drebo]

BLEVE implies that a fire would be already burning beneath the tank heating up the liquid, raising the pressure until the tank burst. This also implies no safeguards in place or (required) ones effectively disabled.

Mythbusters did the fire underneath the partly full gas tank, too. Didn't get near hot enough to ignite the vapors.

The basic problem they had was that gas doesn't burn/explode in liquid form. It needs to vaporize, which it doesn't really do fast enough.

As I recall, though, the faster the car went, the faster the flame went (makes sense, as you have a lower concentration of gas which would vaporize more quickly, thus the flame trail would extend itself more quickly).

However, the flames never reached the inside of the gas tank, and probably would have just been snuffed out if they had because there wasn't enough O2 in the tank to cause the existing vapor to burn, let alone explode.

If you want to see exciting fireballs, though, watch the grease fire episode.

 

[Rubycon]

A gas tank is not a pressure vessel though.

Now if you park a CNG powered vehicle in a fire there will be problems. (assuming the relief valves have been disabled)

 

[JoeBleed]

Throwing the can on the fire is actually pretty lax.

Yes, i knew that, but they didn't have a clue, especially waking up in a hurray. After all, i wasn't trying to kill them.

It would have been cool to see that rolling toss of that much gas on that fire. Did that guy expect it to flame up that much, or was he just really drunk and not thinking at the time?

 

[Rubycon]

Really drunk!