Will Fuel Burn Up Upon Re-Entry?

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  • Thread starter Thread starter Loren Booda
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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around the fate of fuel from an exploded spy satellite during atmospheric re-entry, specifically whether it will burn up due to atmospheric friction or fall unaltered as precipitation. The scope includes considerations of combustion, evaporation, and the behavior of fine droplets in the atmosphere.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Debate/contested, Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants propose that the remaining fuel may burn up due to friction with the atmosphere, while others question this possibility.
  • One participant argues that the explosion may create fine droplets of fuel that would not gain enough velocity from friction to ignite.
  • Another participant suggests that the fuel will likely evaporate, leading to a diluted concentration in the air that could be harmless.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on whether the fuel will burn up or evaporate, indicating that multiple competing perspectives remain without consensus.

Contextual Notes

There are unresolved assumptions regarding the conditions of the explosion, the behavior of the fuel droplets, and the atmospheric conditions that may affect combustion and evaporation.

Loren Booda
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Aside from combustion (oxidation?) of the noxious fuel from the exploded spy satellite, will most of the remaining fuel eventually burn up due to friction with the atmosphere, or will it fall unaltered as precipitation?
 
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Loren Booda said:
Aside from combustion (oxidation?) of the noxious fuel from the exploded spy satellite, will most of the remaining fuel eventually burn up due to friction with the atmosphere, or will it fall unaltered as precipitation?

The problem is even worst?
The explosion may destroy the fuel tank, but there's not enough oxygen up there to react with the fuel. So there must be numerous fine droplets of the fuel. And a fine droplet, when plunging into the atmosphere, will never get enough velocity from friction for burning !
 
russ_watters said:
It will probably just evaporate, though.

Then the toxic fuel is to be 'disolved' into the air with a traced concentration, probably harmless. Good news.
 

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