Flash point, laser fuser and lubrication

From: der Mouse <mouse_at_Rodents.Montreal.QC.CA>
Date: Wed Apr 14 13:33:10 2004

>> Wrong. You need sufficient fuel to oxygen mix. Too little fuel or
>> too little o2, and it won't burn.
> No, if there were too little (but there was enough oxygen and heat)
> it would flash off. Too little fuel is never a reason for something
> not to ignite, though it may prevent sustained burning.

Depends on what you mean by "ignite". It usually refers to a
self-sustaining reaction, even if sustained for only some small
fraction of a second.

Try, for example, putting a half-dozen drops of petrol out to evaporate
in a garage. Let it completely evaporate and diffuse throughout the
garage. (Make sure there is nothing flammable in the air already.)
Then light a match.

It's certainly there in the air; you can smell it. Individual
molecules that wander into the flame will oxidize. But there isn't
enough fuel around to do anything like "ignite". (Be careful not to
use too much fuel in that experiment. A few drops in a large jug is
enough to form an explosive fuel/air mixture, wherein there _is_ enough
fuel for the reaction to be self-sustaining, briefly; I don't know how
much it would take to form an explosive mixture in a garage, but I'd
just as soon not find out. This is why I said to make sure there isn't
flammable vapor in the air already.)

/~\ The ASCII der Mouse
\ / Ribbon Campaign
 X Against HTML mouse_at_rodents.montreal.qc.ca
/ \ Email! 7D C8 61 52 5D E7 2D 39 4E F1 31 3E E8 B3 27 4B
Received on Wed Apr 14 2004 - 13:33:10 BST