A fuel tank is safe container for flammable liquids and typically part of an engine system in which the fuel is stored and propelled (fuel pump) or released (pressurized gas) into an engine. Fuel tanks range in size and complexity from the small plastic tank of a butane lighter to the multi-chambered cryogenic Space Shuttle external tank.
Typically, a fuel tank must allow or provide the following:
Plastic (HDPE) as a fuel tank material of constru...
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A fuel tank is safe container for flammable liquids and typically part of an engine system in which the fuel is stored and propelled (fuel pump) or released (pressurized gas) into an engine. Fuel tanks range in size and complexity from the small plastic tank of a butane lighter to the multi-chambered cryogenic Space Shuttle external tank.
Typically, a fuel tank must allow or provide the following:
Plastic (HDPE) as a fuel tank material of construction, while functionally viable in the short term there is a long term potential for the container to become staturated as fuels such as diesel and gasoline are able to permeate the HDPE material.
Considering the inertia and kinetic energy of transported fuel in a plastic tank being transported by a vehicle, stress cracking is a definite potential. Add stress cracking to the flammable nature of a fuel being transported and you have what should be an important safety consideration of a potential catostrophic failure nature. Emergencies aside...
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