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Posted to uk.d-i-y
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Disposing of old petrol (or diesel for that matter)
Rob Morley wrote:
On Sun, 5 Nov 2017 11:28:30 -0800 (PST)
wrote:
On Sunday, November 5, 2017 at 12:44:05 AM UTC, Iggy wrote:
replying to David, Iggy wrote:
I'd vote for burning it. Pour it into a very wide pan like a pizza
pan or make one out of aluminum foil and light it...a wide open pan
means you aren't restricting the flames or fumes, so no explosion
or hazard.
Have you actually tried this? My experience is that if you do
something like that you create a cloud of evaporated petrol in the
air as you pour and when you strike the match there is an enormous
boomph!
Petrol vapour is a bit heavier than air, so it will run downhill and
collect in hollows. If you just pour a litre of old petrol into a
saucepan and light it seconds later then not much vapour will get out
and it won't travel far. If it's a warm day the vapour will form
faster, if it's a still day the vapour will collect more. Pour petrol
onto an unlit bonfire and you provide it with a massive wick so there's
a lot more vapour and nothing to constrain it.
I'd still use a rag on a broomstick to light the saucepan, just in
case, although "stale" petrol will have lost some of the lighter
fractions through evaporation so will be less volatile anyway.
I'd endorse the broomstick recommendation. Arms' length is Not Enough.
From experience.
--
Roger Hayter
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