I do know of one large (several gallon) unvented header tank
successfully flying in a high wing aircraft but even he has admitted
that he must be on the ground to reliably vent the tank manually and
restablish flow if he runs it dry.
Fuel is a mixture of compounds. When it is heated in the pump and fuel
rail all is fine as it is under increased pressure. However the more
volatile components will form vapour bubbles when the pressure drops
back to ambient across the fuel pressure regulator. With a large enough
and cool enough tank, most will recondense if they are returned to the
tank. High altitude, mogas, and warm fuel from lots of recirculation
won't help them recondense. With no fuel return, too many bubbles may
shorten the fuel pump life and has caused loss of prime as the pump
tries to suck vapour. So yes there can certainly be bubbles but most are
fuel vapour. In turbulence, there might be some entrapped air as well.
With a header tank vent, slugs of air from turbulence, side-slipping, or
low fuel also become a non issue as they can vent back to the cross tank
vent on my installation. I'd highly recommend that if a header tank is
used, it be vented. I think of a carbuerator float bowl as a header. It
separates vapour, provides a small fuel reservoir, and is vented one way
or another.
Ken
rickhm@mindspring.com wrote:
I read somewhere on the web that many use UN-vented Header tanks that the return line flows back into. Additionally, they recomended a circulation pump between the header tank and the main tanks.
I guess I have a fundemental question. Is the return fuel full of air bubbles? Ken your comments suggest that this is the case. If true, I guess I find this surprising since the fuel is at 50-60 PSI as it hits the jets.
Rick Muller
SR70
*-------------------------------------------------------------------------*
To unsubscribe from this list go to:
http://www.dcsol.com:81/public/code/html-subscribe.wcx
Archives located at http://rebel:builder@www.dcsol.com:81/default.htm
To contact the list admin, e-mail mike.davis@dcsol.com
*-------------------------------------------------------------------------*
-----------------------------------------------------------------
List archives located at: https://mail.dcsol.com/login
username "rebel" password "builder"
Unsubscribe: rebel-builders-unsubscribe@dcsol.com
List administrator: mike.davis@dcsol.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------