hi. i have a small question
In Suzuka 8 hours endurance race when a bike comes to a pit stop the crew rush to change the tires and refill the bike. as you can see in the below picture the refilling guys are wearing a safety suit. also there's another guy with a fire extinguisher. what is the actual reason for this safety procedure? coz the mechanics are not wearing that suit. why only the refilling guys and the one with the fire extinguisher in his hand are wearing that suit ? why is refilling at a track that much dangerous? is this something to do with the static electricity? a short explanation would be great thank you.

 

It very dangerous. That fuel is very volatile and there a hot parts and the chance of spark from everywhere like tools, parts, and even a misfire. Almost every racing series has at least the fuel guys in fire suits. It's has happened before, so the remedy is fire suits and an extinguisher at the ready.

We are a log way from the days of NASCAR where the driver smoked a cigarette in the pits while some guy with a gas can and funnel put fuel in.

You can find thousands of videos on youtube of pit fires from fuel getting spilled.

 

I remember watching the Indy 500 probably 30-35 years ago. If you saw a pit crew member jumping up & down screaming for no apparent reason, they were on fire. You couldnt see the fire because of the fuel they use. It was crazy looking.

 

Pretty sure it was Ethanol

 

The regulations will state the refuelling crew must wear fire proof gear and also have a fire fighter.

It would probably be safer for the mechanics to wear fire proof gear as well, but they can choose not to, because they are not included in the regulations and maybe it would hamper their movements.

Refilling at the track is dangerous, for the reasons already stated, but also they use a quick fill system, so any spills will be big ones, not just a few drops.

 

thank you. this is very informative

thank you. i searched for it and they call it "invisible flame".

yea Ethanol which creates an invisible flame. thank you.

thank you

 

Ethanol or AKA alcohol, is invisible when it burns. When it does burn it burns very hot. Years ago, boats and some campers had alcohol stoves. You would prime it by filling a tray under the burner by opening up the heat control, then light the tray to heat the burner. If you over filled the tray (and that's easy to do because the fuel is clear), you wouldn't see the flames on the counter. After a while when the curtain started to burn you noticed you had a little problem. Now...when beer is added to the equation, the over filling thing gets worse. Upon seeing the curtains ablaze in a cabin boat, one would think the flames would be extinguished with a fire extinguisher. Then one would rip the stove out of the counter top and dump the excess alcohol on the lake.

But remember, alcohol burns invisible so, how do you know if the fire is truly out? Remember that beer? What goes in, has to come out. With that said, when one goes to the back of a wooden cabin boat where burning alcohol was dumped, one would have a sudden realization of more trouble. The damn lake is on fire with flickering flames. At this point in time its best to fire up the engine, pull anchor and move on.

Just a side note; You can wash the white powder from a fire extinguisher off of uncooked hotdogs with beer.

 

thank you

 

Here's a LINK with more info. In the racing section it says why in mandated.
In a stove it burns hot but in an engine its cooler than gasoline based fuel.
Higher compression can be had when Methanol (from wood) or ethanol (bio) is used.
Here's another LINK.

 

thank you very much. i read it all. so they use Ethanol or Methanol as a mixture with gasoline to make the octane value high