#29: Am I Hot or Not (enough to burn if I am diesel, that is)

The Question

Pam Says:
March 28th, 2005 at 10:13 am

At what temperature does diesel fuel burn??

The Answer

Since it is obvious that Pam is an intelligent woman, I feel that I am fully able to answer this question in Kelvin degrees.

Firstly, there are 3 types of diesel fuel, each with a different ignition point (the temperature where the diesel fuel will burst into flame). These types are known (creatively enough) as Diesel Fuel #1, Diesel Fuel #2, and Diesel Fuel #4. These are often simplified to D1, D2, and D4. I am contractually forbidden to reveal what happened to Diesel Fuel #3.

Diesel fuel engines do not employ sparking devices such as spark plugs to ignite – instead they compress air, heat it to the proper temperature, and spray in the fuel, which ignites. Here’s the chart:

Diesel Fuel #1: Between 450K and 602K.
Diesel Fuel #2: Between 527K to 558K
[nothing of note here]
Diesel Fuel #4: 536K. Nothing else. That’s it.

6 thoughts on “#29: Am I Hot or Not (enough to burn if I am diesel, that is)

  • 8/1/2005 at 2:45 pm
    Permalink

    And for those of us who went to liberal arts colleges and aren’t familiar with Kelvins, could you provide a Fahrenheit conversion?

    Reply
  • 8/1/2005 at 2:46 pm
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    You know, upon writing that comment, I realized that I just might be the only person who reads this site who went to a liberal arts college.

    Reply
  • 8/1/2005 at 3:20 pm
    Permalink

    Can’t say no to Jill.

    Diesel Fuel #1: Between 350.33F and 623.93F.
    Diesel Fuel #2: Between 488.93F to 544.73F.
    [still nothing of note here]
    Diesel Fuel #4: 505.13F.

    Hot stuff!

    Reply
  • 9/1/2005 at 1:59 am
    Permalink

    so are those the temperatures it burns at? and would it be reasonable to make an aluminum engine burning deisel fuel, or would it just melt?

    Reply
  • 3/24/2007 at 1:10 pm
    Permalink

    There is a diesel made mostly of aluminum, but it has steel sleeves around the pistions. Titianium is also being looked at.

    Reply

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