why dosen't a (automotive) fuel pump cause an explosion inside an autos fuel tank when voltage is applied?
2006-11-30 22:57:51 · 5 answers · asked by chris 2 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Other - Cars & Transportation
the pump is located in the tank and submerged in the fuel some of the time, some of the time it is exposed to the fumes in the tank when the tank is low. Also the wires that go to the pump are exposed to the fuel, meaning the fuel is in contact with the terminals of the pump.
2006-11-30 23:21:56 · update #1
!!!!READ THE DETAILS!!!!! The pump is not always submerged in the fuel as when the car is low on fuel !! And "if" the fuel is conductive (as SHIFTY67 says it is), why dosen't it short out the EXPOSED terminal ends on the pump, and cause the pump to short circuit??? I still do not have a good answer!!!
2006-12-01 04:30:56 · update #2
the voltage going to the pump is at least 12 volts dc with about 5 amps.
2006-12-03 01:50:55 · update #3
Gasoline is not conductive it is explosive and convective. The explosion is caused by igniting a flame produced by electric spark.
2006-11-30 23:20:11 · answer #1 · answered by pegasis 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Gasoline is most definitely conductive due mostly to a very small amount of sulphur which naturally occurs in hydrocarbons.
The reason a submerged pump does not explode is due to a couple of facts.
-The voltage going to the pump/fuel level sensor is very low to prevent the possibility of fire by spark
-Gasoline does not explode all by itself. What I mean is that fire (combustion) needs 3 things to occur
1-fuel
2-oxygen
3-ignition source
Remove any of the three and the other two cannot complete the combustion process. A submerged pump is devoid of oxygen and is in an "enriched" environment "any gasoline/air mixture that contains over 7.6% gasoline is generally too rich to combust, below 1.4% is too lean to combust". The absence of an oxygenated environment available to to a submerged pump (100% gas) prevents a fire in the event a spark would occur.
2006-12-01 01:33:55 · answer #2 · answered by shifty67 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
because the motor is outside the fuel line. no electricity inside the pump, no explosion
now when you get to the spark plugs, thats combustion baby!!
2006-11-30 22:59:59 · answer #3 · answered by Jere_Harless 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
fuel is basically not conductive . fire happens only when there are open sparks
2006-11-30 23:06:23 · answer #4 · answered by srini 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
THE WIRES ARE SEALED TO PREVENT A CURRENT JUMP.
2006-11-30 23:07:37 · answer #5 · answered by scooprandell 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋