Fuel is atomized

free hit counters

The more surface area of gasoline exposed to the air, the faster a given amount will burn. To produce the rapid burning required in an engine, gasoline must be broken up into tiny droplets and mixed with air. This is called ATOMIZING. Once the entire surface of each droplet of the air-fuel mixture is exposed to the surrounding air, a huge burning area becomes available. Given a spark, the entire amount of gasoline will flash into a flame almost immediately. In effect, atomization causes a sudden, explosion release of heat energy.

EXPLOSION MUST BE CONTAINED

To perform useful, work the explosive force caused by the burning gas must be contained and controlled. To illustrate this point, imagine that a metal lid is suspended on a string and held several inches from the ground. If a mixture of gasoline and air (atomized) were sprayed under it and ignited, the lid would be raised a short distance by the force of the explosion. The reason the lid hardly moved is because the explosion was not confined and directed toward the lid. Instead, the explosion exerted force in all directions, and much of the force was lost. If the gasoline and air mixture is sprayed inside a metal container with a lid, the full force of the explosion will be directed against the lid when the mixture is ignited. This will blow the lid high into the air.