Water will accumulate in the garage tanks due to condensation. It can amount to quite a lot.
Water can and does accumulate in an engine oil sump. (look at the condensation on the inside of a windscreen when the day has been warm and the night cold.) The Light Aircraft Association reported thatthey had taken a litre of water out of an engine sump after a couple of months with the engine lying idle. Pilots check the fuel drains on their petrol tanks every time before they fly, and also fill up the tanks after flying so there isn't room for water vapour to collect and condense.
Water can get into your petrol. A fine filter such as the one on the top of a tilly can actually get blocked by the water, enough to cause carburation problems.
I have had water put in my fuel tank (don't ask). The engine ran fine until a slug of water hit the carb, then it stopped. I got round the track by disconnecting the petrol pipe, draining it until there was petrol and running it until it hit the next slug of water. (Only one lap and stopped three times). I got rid of it by putting a syphon into the tank and sucking the water out from under the petrol. That was quicker in the circumstance than draining the entire tank.
If the water emulsifies in the fuel it can be used at up to one third volume, ie one third of what you pump into the engine is water. You can emulsify the mix using an ultrasonic mixer at more than 20khz immediately before the carburettor. The problem with doing this regularly (in your car for instance) is that the water degrades teh lubricating properties of the upper cylinder lubrication...so you need to think about using a steam oil, and the problems of how to shut down the engine. You need to empty the mixing chamber of water and get rid of any moisture etc remaining in the cylinder. Oh yes, you can't use it for short journeys as the whole system needs to heat up otherwise the water just condenses in the exhaust and oil sump. The Navy did a load of experiments on running emulsified fuel and decided that it wasn't worth the extra hassle in small engines without an engine room crew in regular attendance. (But they ran it in steam sets, but we don't see too many karts with an Admiralty three drum superheated steam boiler )
|
|