What is a Fuel Surge Tank and how does it work?

There’s nothing quite like the sound of a turbo charged car zipping it’s way through a track. Whether it’s a muscle car that you see at a local garage or NASCAR vehicles designed to go fast, you’ve probably wondered how fuel in these cars, which reach dangerously fast speeds and make tight turns, make their way to the engine. 
The gas is perhaps sloshing around in the tank, barely making it to the engine. Well, that’s where a fuel surge tank will come in. 
Any sound fuel system needs a fuel surge to make sure the high-pressure fuel pump can transfer fuel to the engine. Sometimes they’re inside the car’s housing, and other times, they’re outside bolted to the back or the side. 
And if you’re looking to build a powerful car yourself, you’ve likely heard people tell you that a good fuel surge tank is essential, but you probably don’t know why. In this guide, we’re going to walk you through everything you need to know about these fuel surge tanks and how they work?

Definition and purpose of a fuel surge tank

First off, what is a fuel surge tank? The surge tank works to deliver a constant supply of fuel to your car when you’re drifting or hitting those faster speeds. Since your fuel is a liquid, quick turns or high speeds subject it to gravitational forces that make it harder for it to reach the engine with the standard fuel system. Factory fuel tanks for all cars are good at pumping gas to the engine, but they’re not good at pulling gas from the tank. 
So to pull gas from the tank, you would need another device to suck the gas from the tank and then supply it to the engine. However, these pumps introduce a host of new issues that drivers would have to consider. So instead, a surge tank can be a small reservoir that can reliably send fuel to the engine. 

Why a surge fuel tank became popular 

Surge fuel tanks have become an obvious solution to air pockets getting into the engine. But before these surge tanks, individuals had to get creative with how to get around the air pockets issue. One popular solution was to modify the factor fuel tank to create a supp at it’s opposite end. 

Along with being a cheaper solution, they would place the supp where the fuel is most likely to go when the car is reaching top speed: this is usually at the opposite end of where the fuel pump takes in fuel. So for the most part, this allows them to bypass the issue of air pockets. 

But even though a supp was a good alternative, it wasn’t much use for drifters and street racers. Since they often take sharp turns, the fuel will rarely ever stay in the same place. So, they needed a more reliable way that they could get fuel into the engine. 

Purpose of the fuel surge tank 

Having a fuel surge tank helps the automobile ease the flow of the fuel system because the surge tank will always be filled with fuel. It is also used to take the maximum advantage of the engine without fretting about starving the engine fuel. 

Importance in automotive and motorsport applications 

Automotive is also famous as the automobile industry, which is a crucial and most financially backed sector among the countries that play a very important role. The predominant sector of automobiles cannot easily be surpassed, as it influences nearly every aspect of modern life. 
The automotive industry is a significant factor in recent technological innovation and advancement. The impact of motorsport and motorsport applications on automotive technology innovations has been substantial over the period of time and still continues to reveal more astonishing discoveries. 
This can lead to ferocious competition among the automotive industries and manufacturers attempting to produce the fastest and even more efficient components and vehicles as a whole on track. From newly developed stellar innovations to high-performance enhancing technologies, the automotive field and motorsport have influenced and inspired the whole industry and paved the way for more development and designs. 
Motorsport has been a major driving force behind all the recent developments in automotive technologies, such as safety innovations like fire suspension systems and HANS devices. Best to increase the downforce diffusers and spoilers. Most importantly, engine technologies such as fuel injections, high-pressure fuel pumps, troubleshooting, and other variables enhance performance and efficiency.  

Functionality of Fuel Surge Tanks    

    A. Managing fuel starvation issues
One of the most usable and best solutions to get rid of cavitation and fuel starvation-related issues while also maintaining the proper fuel flow is to install a fuel surge tank (FST). The fuel surge tank smoothly works as a constantly filled imitation fuel tank that is installed between the factory fuel tank and fuel rails. It is also used with different kinds of internal and external pumps, whether they are high-flow fuel pumps or low ones. 

    B. Maintaining constant fuel supply to the engine
 When high-engine performance vehicles are on the track at the same time, they require a large amount of fuel without any interruption because that might be highly dangerous for engines and chances to explode. To keep their flow without any hindrance, the engines must necessitate an easy supply of fuel. 
 The fuel surge tank helps engines provide the needed amount of fuel with its excessive filled tank capabilities. It ensures that the fuel supply to the engine is constant. 

    C. Mitigating fuel sloshing during high-speed cornering or acceleration
 Fuel sloshing occurs when the vehicle encounters acceleration, breaks, and turns. At that moment, sloshing happens in the fuel tank. Sloshing has a negative impact on the engine; it can produce noise, cause irregular fuel supply, and sometimes cause leakage of the fuel tank. It's important to mitigate the sloshing during high speed by installing baffles inside the tank, and it is considered the simplest and most effective way. 

Key Components

    A. OSIAS fuel surge tanks
OSIAS fuel tank is the most essential and key component mainly designed to handle fuel dispensation-related problems in high-performance automobiles, particularly during rough tracking and under high-level g-force. The fundamental work of the OSIAS fuel surge tank is to decrease or nearly completely mitigate fuel starvation, which can happen when the fuel sloshes create problems from the fuel pickup under braking, cornering, or acceleration.   
 OSIAS fuel surge tanks enhance the performance of the vehicles and increase reliability by diminishing the hazard of engine hindrance, stalling, or misbehaving. 
Also, it boosts the throttle response, especially when it runs on high-performance applications such as motorsport and track driving. 

    B. Types of fuel pumps: high-flow and high-pressure
If we consider the fuel pumps an integral part of the surge fuel and Osias surge fuel tank, it's not an exaggeration; fuel pumps play a very crucial role in delivering the fuel from the tank to the engine at the accurate pressure and relevant flow rate. That’s why it’s important to note the seriousness of the pumps.

    C. High-flow fuel pumps
High-flow fuel pumps are specially designed to deliver the excess amount of fuel to the engine per unit of time. High-flow fuel pumps are mostly used in high-performance vehicles for those automobiles whose requirement of fuel is relatively high to increase the power and torque of the vehicle. It has the inlet and outlet ports to accommodate the higher fuel flow.

    D. High-pressure fuel pump
High-pressure fuel pumps are primarily used in modern gasoline injection (GDI) engines where accurate control of the fuel pressure is necessary for proper combustion. These fuel pressures are best for maintaining the consistent pressure for the efficient fuel supply to the engines.
High-pressure fuel pumps can possibly generate a significant amount of pressure as compared to other conventional pressure pumps. For approximately, it reaches up to 1000 psi pound per square inch.  

Compatibility

In order to guarantee the best effective gasoline delivery, both varieties of pumps could be utilized for particular applications. Fuel is supplied to a surge tank, for instance, through a high-flow pump, and the engine consumes the fuel from the surge tank by using a high-pressure pump.
The customized specifications of the engine, the fuel delivery system design, and the intended efficiency degrees all influence the decision between the high-flow and high-pressure pumps.
Both pressure pumps are equally essential for the accurate fuel delivery system. There are a number of fuel pumps with different characteristics and flow per time. Choose carefully and try to understand the requirements of the vehicles.   

Notable vehicles or teams utilizing fuel surge tanks

In motorsports, fuel surge tanks are essential components that are used by highly successful teams and squads such as Toyota Gazoo racing, Formula Race Car, and Mercedes-Benz AMG Petronas to preserve the fuel pressure consistent during high-speed laps. A fuel surge tank serves the purpose of sustaining the fuel flow to mitigate the hindrance during fast-paced racing conditions, as we can witness in the Formula 1 race championship. 
Manufacturers thrive on investing and extending their sphere of use to enthusiastic groups and individuals by providing surge tank solutions for both regular ones and racetracks. These carefully designed equipment, with their innovative baffling system, are the ultimate example of technological brilliance as well as motorsport.
They minimize the negative impact of fuel starvation, enabling the drivers to comfortably examine the limits of speed, agility, and quickness, whether it's maneuvering the high hills or wanting to set a new lap record. Surge fuel tanks are the most essential and unsung heroes of motorsport, enabling drivers and their teams to take full advantage of their automobile performance on track by providing optimal fuel delivery.  

CONCLUSION

It's never easy to choose the right product or extension that is as beneficial for your vehicles as you think it is because there is a lot of equipment one can find in the marketplace. When we invest a heavy amount in our luxury or sports cars and emphasizing to upgrade them, however, we underestimate the importance of other crucial components and equipment which is helpful to increase the performance of current automobiles, surge fuel tanks, OSIAS Surge fuel tanks, high and low-pressure pumps are the few examples of the useful examples of the extensions for upgrade the vehicles that are also used by the top-notch industries and driving enthusiast to drive efficiently.