Starting fluid is a mixture of volatile hydrocarbons (heptane, butane or propane), diethyl ether, and carbon dioxide (as a propellant). It is often useful when starting direct injected diesel engines or lean burn spark engines running on alcohol fuel. Starting fluid works due to the low autoignition temperature of diethyl ether: 160 °C (320 °F)
Famous quotes containing the words starting and/or fluid:
“Down went the owners—greedy men whom hope of gain allured:
Oh, dry the starting tear, for they were heavily insured.”
—Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (1836–1911)
“There are no fixtures in nature. The universe is fluid and volatile. Permanence is but a word of degrees. Our globe seen by God is a transparent law, not a mass of facts. The law dissolves the fact and holds it fluid.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)