Shooting a fuel tank

[Acecombatzer0]

On select maps, on VERY few locations, there are fuel tanks. They explode when they are shot. Is this true? I thought it was more of a Hollywood-movie thing.

[whatshisname55]

Kashan bases have large white tanks that will explode if shot. Op Barracuda has a small red barrel in the missile silo underground bunker that will explode as well. Those are the ones I can remember.

[H.Maverick]

Yes in real life they will explode if they are shoot with traser rounds but i think thats it, they tested it on Mythbuster and it didn't work.

[Ninja2dan]

In real life, shooting a fuel container will usually not cause it to explode. But it also depends on the type of fuel, type of container, and type of projectile.

If the container is filled with a regular liquid such as gasoline or kerosene, then you'll probably just have a large fire. In some cases, such as an airtight container filled with more fumes than liquid, you'll likely get a very small "fireball" followed by the flames, enough to make a pop but not like what you see from visual effects studios.

If the container is filled with a gas, such as butane, propane, etc then the chance of an explosion is greater. Most of the time though it will simply be a very hot stream of fire (burning at a much higher temp) shooting out of the entry hole like a flamethrower. In some cases, the flame could backwash into the container and the pressure inside could cause detonation, but this is not as common.


I'll note that the above ignition examples would only be possible if using a tracer round, or if an ignition source is located immediately next to the entry hole. A ball round alone isn't going to cause ignition in most cases, you're looking at maybe 1% chance of a spark being generated that is sufficient for ignition of the contents.

Using an incendiary type of projectile though is likely to cause greater ignition, probably leading to a larger combustion and possible explosion. But the use of incendiary ammunition is very limited.


Regarding the containers, most all white containers with a rounded end are going to be propane (aka LPG). This can include the smaller (household) containers commonly used in camping or cooking, to the larger outdoor containers used by dealers. The rounded ends are used on all "gas" containers, such as SCUBA/SCBA tanks or O/A welding tanks.



Large barrels (aka 55-gallon drums) which are painted red are often used to symbolize gasoline/diesel fuel, the red being a huge indicator of "Flammable" contents.




So in reality, the chances of having either type of container actually explode from small-arms fire is minimal. Using tracer rounds increases the chance of the contents igniting, but it's very unlikely the container will actually explode. It's more of a visual effects/pyrotechnics thing.

[TheComedian]

And in-game they serve no purpose except eye candy. Oh and the alleyways of Muttrah are full of these. And the fish in a box

[RedWater]

I guess you called yourself "TheComedian" for a reason eh?

[Acecombatzer0]

Interesting, altough mostly serve as eye candy, I wonder if anyone in PR was killed from a resulting explosion caused by small-arms fire.

[Redamare]

there useless . . .. the most they do is look fun when you explode them and cause performance lag . . . its an interesting concept but only if they serve a purpose suchas an objective ( blow up the fuel tanks ) or somthing but other than that . . . pure show and uslessness

[ShockUnitBlack]

Gasoline actually partially counteracts HEAT rounds in real-life....

[Click]

Yes there are fuel tanks that explode so when in a tank and you see an enemy run behind one just shoot at it and see what will happen 1) it will explode or 2) it won't explode.

[weixman]

Interesting, altough mostly serve as eye candy, I wonder if anyone in PR was killed from a resulting explosion caused by small-arms fire.

I have...

[BenHamish]

Barrels 'o fun!

YouTube - Doom 2 Hell On Earth- Map 23- Barrels O' Fun- Pt. 1/2

[goguapsy]

And in-game they serve no purpose except eye candy. Oh and the alleyways of Muttrah are full of these. And the fish in a box

Wahh... you know those white ones in Muttrah? They saved my *** once. I saw an enemy coming and was "OMG!" So I shot the gas tank (gas?) and it went off... that MEC never knew what hit him... I guess he didn't know there was an enemy on the rooftop to report to his team...

[Rhino]

Most of these things your guys are talking about are simply stuff left over from vBF2 that we haven't bothered to fix as they really dont affect gameplay very much in our maps and are kinda fun to have, but ye really we should fix them, there is just much more important stuff to fix ingame

[Acecombatzer0]

Well, I guess RIP barrel explosion kills...

[K_Rivers]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5q5WnhjNMg

[Zrix]

Fixed it.

[supahpingi]

YouTube - M203 kills Fuel Tanker. Massive explosion

Lol @ them screaming like little kids on christmas

[Acecombatzer0]

A fireball is created, yes. However, does the "fireball" send a shockwave that kills a nearby person?

[Ninja2dan]

A fireball is created, yes. However, does the "fireball" send a shockwave that kills a nearby person?

If you are asking about reality, again it depends on the various aspects such as fuel type, container type, size of container, fuel level, ignition method, range to container, and level of protection.


For example, if a large commercial-sized (500+ gallon) propane cylinder is ignited in a manner in which the entire container detonates, the sheer force of the blast will generally disintegrate the metal container itself to the point that it projects very small amounts of harmful shrapnel. But the concussive force created by the blast is likely to kill or critically injure someone up to 100m away, even further for the larger industrial-sized tanks (2000+ gallon).

Yet if the same container is merely punctured by a projectile that causes the contents to leak, external ignition is basically going to cause a very heavy flame jet that could exceed 50m in length. At any point the flame backwashes into the container, detonation is likely to occur with similar results mentioned above. But if a full detonation doesn't occur, you'll simply have a huge "flamethrower" that is directed in a cone-shaped pattern away from the container. This flame is much hotter than a normal liquid fuel fire (seen by a bright blue and white flame instead of yellow/orange), and is capable of melting nearby metals without direct contact. Any human within close range of the flame jet is likely to die either from direct flame contact, or by massive heat injuries.


In the case of non-compressed liquid fuel containers such as gasoline/diesel fuels, full detonation will usually result in a much lower-velocity explosion. A 55-gallon drum of diesel fuel for example will have a limited range of deadly concussive force upon full detonation. You are also likely to have larger fragments of shrapnel from the container itself. The blast force would be enough to kill someone within 15m or so, but due to the slower velocity the chances of causing kills beyond that range are much more limited. Severe trauma is still likely though, but probably survivable with immediate medical care.


The examples noted above are under the assumption that the contents of the containers were fully detonated, which as I mentioned before is not very likely without incendiary or explosive munitions. And unless you are firing such ordnance at a very large container, the damage caused by the HE/I ammunition is likely to be more lethal than the fuel container itself.