Can Engines Be Disabled with Poison?

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Preventing a diesel or gasoline engine from running using substances like smoke bombs or gaseous agents raises questions about practicality and effectiveness. Engines require oxygen to operate, similar to human respiration. Halons, which release bromine radicals to interrupt radical chain reactions, are known for their fire suppression capabilities, particularly in aviation. However, their effectiveness against diesel and gasoline fires at oxygen-rich concentrations is uncertain. While halon extinguishers are utilized for external fires in aircraft jet engines, extinguishing fires within the engine core primarily relies on cutting off the fuel supply. Overall, there is limited precedent for using gaseous substances to stop engine operation, suggesting that such methods may be impractical.
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Hi, is it possible to prevent a diesel or gasoline engine from running with e.g. a smoke bomb or with some gaseous substance? Would it be practical?
 
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Just as much as you need oxygen from the atmosphere to breathe and stay alive, so does an engine.
 
Bromocarbons like halons are routinely used to fight fires. They do so by releasing bromine radicals which react with free radical intermediates of radical chain reaction, so terminating the chain.

Are halons effective against diesel and gasoline fuel fires at concentrations where oxygen is still abundant for reaction?
 
Halon extinguishers are used on aircraft jet engines for fires outside of the engine core.

Inside the engine core, the most important factor in extinguishing a fire is to cut off the fuel supply.
 
So, there isn't mouch precedent, and it's probably impossible.
 
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