Flammability limit

Flammability limits or explosive limits are the ranges of <a href="/facts/Fuel/H8DIRL1j">fuel</a> concentrations in relation to oxygen from the air. Combustion can range in violence from <a href="/facts/Deflagration/wIR4pGtC">deflagration</a> through <a href="/facts/Detonation/C8cVTb2R">detonation</a>.
Limits vary with temperature and pressure, but are normally expressed in terms of volume percentage at 25 °C and atmospheric pressure. These limits are relevant both in producing and optimising explosion or combustion, as in an engine, or to preventing it, as in uncontrolled explosions of build-ups of combustible gas or dust. Attaining the best combustible or explosive mixture of a fuel and air (the <a href="/facts/Stoichiometric/I5p9cJzV">stoichiometric</a> proportion) is important in <a href="/facts/Internal_combustion_engine/Ju4BXzj0">internal combustion engines</a> such as <a href="/facts/Petrol_engine/oj3XzkQU">gasoline</a> or <a href="/facts/Diesel_engine/9B9opxvA">diesel engines</a>.
The standard reference work is still that elaborated by <a href="/facts/Michael_George_Zabetakis/Ukl7eX1F">Michael George Zabetakis</a>, a <a href="/facts/Fire_safety_engineering/FsC2DlT7">fire safety engineering</a> specialist, using an apparatus developed by the <a href="/facts/United_States_Bureau_of_Mines/N2kMqX6S">United States Bureau of Mines</a>.

Flammability limit open-in-new

Flammability limit