I apologize, I should have chosen my words more carefully, and that
was the wrong term to use there... But still my point remains, N2O can
not be solely used as a substitute for air. The heat required to
separate the oxygen molecule from the nitrogen is ~566 degrees F, and
would not be able to produce initial ignition during startup. As
well, N2O Is not 66% oxygen, that would be Nitrogen Dioxide which is
"is a red or orange/brown gas with a characteristic sharp, biting
odor. It is considered an insidious deadly poison by inhalation."
Nitrous oxide would be 33% oxygen.
Here is some additional reading for you.
"In car racing, nitrous oxide (often just "nitrous" or "nitro" in this
context) is sometimes injected into the intake manifold (or just prior
to the intake manifold) to increase power: even though the gas itself
is not flammable, it delivers more oxygen than atmospheric air by
breaking down at elevated temperatures, thus allowing the engine to
burn more fuel and air. Additionally, since nitrous oxide is stored as
a liquid, the evaporation of liquid nitrous oxide in the intake
manifold causes a large drop in intake charge temperature. This
results in a smaller, denser charge, and can reduce detonation, as
well as increase power available to the engine."
"Today nitrous oxide injection, like many other modifications such as
more aggressive camshafts, bigger carburetors, higher compression
ratios, more free flowing intake and exhaust systems, can be a
practical way to more horsepower. And..like any other
modification...perhaps even more so because it so easily lends itself
to misuse...there can be a reliably and durability price to pay.
Nitrous oxide is a colorless, non-flammable gas. It has a slightly
sweet taste and odor. It is non-toxic and non-irritating and when
inhaled in small quantities can produce mild hysteria and giggling or
laughter. This is were the nickname "laughing gas" comes form. When
inhaled in pure form it will cause death by asphyxiation because at
atmospheric temperatures and pressure, the oxygen in nitrous oxide is
not available to the body.
A property of nitrous oxide is that at about 565 degrees F., it breaks
down into nitrogen and oxygen. When it is introduced into the intake
tract of an internal combustion engine, it is sucked into the
combustion chamber and, on the compression stroke, when the charge air
temperature reach's 565 deg., a very oxygen-rich mixture results. If
we add extra fuel during nitrous oxide injection, the effect is like a
super charger or increasing the compression ratio of the engine.
Automotive nitrous systems work like the automotive equivalent of a
jet's "afterburner" and is used for short duration extra bursts of
power.
Nitrous oxide has this effect because it has a higher percentage of
oxygen content than does the air in the atmosphere. Nitrous has 36%
oxygen by weight and the atmosphere has 23%. Additionally, nitrous
oxide is 50% more dense than air at the same pressure. Thus, a cubic
foot of nitrous oxide contains 2.3 times as much oxygen as a cubic
foot of air. Just do a bit of math in your head and you can see if we
substitute some nitrous oxide for some of the air going into an engine
than add the appropriate amount of additional fuel, the engine is
going to put out more power.
Simply stated, nitrous oxide injection is very much like a
supercharger or a compression ratio increase in that, during
combustion, it can dramatically increase the dynamic cylinder pressure
in the engine.
Of course, when we significantly increase the cylinder pressure in the
engine, we also increase the engine's tenancy to detonate. This is why
almost all nitrous motors require retarded spark timing during nitrous
oxide operation. The cylinder pressure increase is also why, when
misused or improperly installed, operation with nitrous causes
problems with head gasket seal and failures of the rings or pistons. I
should point out that any number of things that put an engine into
severe detonation, such as too much boost from a supercharger, low
octane fuel, excessive compression ratio or overly lean air-fuel ratio
will also cause the same kinds of damage.
Another challenge with a nitrous oxide system is getting the delivery
of nitrous oxide and additional fuel at the correct proportions. If
you feed nitrous to the engine without enough extra fuel, the lean
air/nitrous to fuel mixture will make the detonation problem even
worse. Combustion temperatures will skyrocket and catastrophic failure
is certain to occur. If the proportion is such that too much fuel is
delivered, the power advantage degrades rapidly.
As you can see, nitrous oxide is like any other power increasing
modification in that, when used wisely and installed properly, it
works well. Then used foolishly or installed incorrectly it can
significantly reduced the reliability/durability of your engine.
Small doses of nitrous oxide can be used in stock engines to gain
25-35% more power. In my opinion, any more than nitrous than that with
a stock engine compromises durability too much. This is not only true
of nitrous but any modification. Take a stock 82 or 84 engine, up the
horsepower to 300hp and do nothing to improve durability and your
engine will eventually suffer. Once you pass the 35% power increase
mark with nitrous oxide you need to look at things like forged
pistons, better connecting rods, better bearings, etc.
Nitrous oxide is also a great value on a dollar-per-unit-power
increase when installed and operated properly. The downside, of
course, is the fun ends quickly. The power boost lasts as long as the
nitrous. The average bottle is a 20 ponder and with a street V8 that
might be worth 20 seconds of use.
So, nitrous oxide is not the instant-engine-failure many people think
it is. When used properly and when dispensed by a properly designed
and installed system nitrous oxide can be responsible for some
phenomenal increases in power." |
