SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/643686
Most all racing fuel cells are made up of an outer container called the can, which is typically made out of steel or aluminum. The can holds a bladder within it, which provides puncture resistance and is the barrier between the fuel and the outer can. "There are many types of bladders out there for racing and fueling applications," said Torvik. "The most common is a coated fabric bladder which is often a high strength ballistic style nylon, Kevlar, high- strength polymers, or Spectra woven fabric with a fuel rated coating to retain the fuel." To keep fuel from sloshing around, foam is used inside the bladder. Foam also reduces aeration and provides flame mitigation if for some reason some kind of spark is introduced inside the cell. But perhaps one of the biggest situations that off-road racing vehicles face are roll-overs. To prevent fuel from spilling, the fill plate on the fuel cell consists of the fill plate, which is the final portion of the fuel cell where the filler neck, pickup, return line, and vents are added. Fill plates have full rollover protection in the form of one-way valves, that reduce the chance of a fuel spill. Pushing Fuel Upstream Getting the fuel from the cell to the engine is done by means of a high-flow fuel pump. Depending on the fuel requirements of the engine, fuel pumps can vary from class to class. According to Jim Craig, Racing Product Manager at Weldon 800 horsepower Trophy Truck engines require 60 psi or more to deliver a consistent amount of fuel for these engines. "At a bare minimum you'll need 80 gallons-per- hour at 60 psi to support the fuel requirements for a Trophy Truck engine," said Craig. "Most engine builders, however, would recommend a minimum of 100 gph @ 60 psi. The supply of fuel is critical at the given system pressure. Most don't look at that aspect, and most pump manufacturers don't supply that information. We test each fuel pump's operation on a test stand, using actual 100LL aviation gas. We do not use a substitute test fluid. Our tests THIS AEROMOTIVE PHANTOM FUEL SYSTEM FITS INTO ANY FUEL TANK AND COMES WITH 340LPH PUMPS, AN ADDITIONAL SET OF ELECTRICAL BULKHEADS, AND A LARGER CAPACITY FOAM AND BLADDER THAT FITS IN AN OE FUEL TANK OR AFTERMARKET FUEL CELL. THE SEPARATE ELECTRICAL BULKHEADS ALLOW FOR AN ON-DEMAND FUEL SYSTEM, WHICH REDUCES THE AMOUNT OF RETURNED FUEL AND REDUCES THE TANK TEMPERATURE, REDUCING THE CONCERN OF VAPOR LOCK AND CAVITATION. 075 SCORE JOURNAL