[indianvirus]

Hello all, I have a question. I read somewhere that in nitrogen oxide (laughing gas) used in NOS, only oxygen is the useful substance providing extra power by better combustion. Nitrogen only controls combustion.
My question is why only nitrogen oxide? Can't any other oxides be used for this? Or just pure oxygen in controlled manner?

Mods, I could not find similar thread. Please move this thread to appropriate location or delete if needed.

[wildchild4lyfe]

hey!
nitrogen being a cold inhert(i guess thats what they called it back in school) gas controls and stablizes the the combustion inside the cylinder.

i had a similar question once upon a time that if we could inject pure oxygen into the cylinder and team it with an intercooler..but then i dont think the stock internals can take that degree of heat either.the next option is forged parts.then theres the problem of storing the oxygen.. :(

[Sprucegoose]

for one, pure oxygen is much tougher to store.
Nitrogen oxide on combustion releases nacent oxygen [O] not O2.
Nacent Oxygen has a free radical. oxidises faster.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Why nitrogen oxide?

--- because it makes the engine laugh?

Injecting oxygen into the engine might turn it into a bomb. I recall school lab demos where lighting a cigarette in an atmosphere of oxygen makes it burn like a magnesium flare. The ability of oxygen to turn a glimmer into a conflagration makes it a very dangerous gas indeed.

[ImmortalZ]

Why N2O?

1) N2O is stored as a compressed liquid. When it hits the hot cylinder walls, it evaporates and thus cools down the cylinder. This lets the fuel/air mixture to be much denser.

2) N2O releases nascent oxygen when it decomposes. This mixture has a higher concentration of oxygen (33%) when compared to air (21%). Therefore, more fuel can be injected to combine with the increased supply of oxygen. This means a bigger bang, and thus more POWWWAAAHHHH!

Pure oxygen is very dangerous to store or transport.

[dustom_99]

Well! It happnes to be most lucrative one, of very few oxides that oxygen forms in gaseous forms with inert gasses. Nitrogen being Inert does not react with other complex compounds such a engine oil vapours,nor does it form amorphous deposits on any of the engine parts,specially valves,seats and piston crown! moreover mass scale manufacturing ,storage handling and transportation is more or less just like ordinary compressed Air,does not pose risk of any major accident in case of leakage(apart from dangers of High compressed form,which ofcourse will be there even if u compress Air) .
but apart from all these reasons.
major reason being: nitrogen breaks down into its constituent elements rather easily(consuming less energy in process(refer covalency)),releases oxygen in free radical state,and is potentially harmless(atmosphere is 78% nitrogen,no wonder we are still alive)

and hey,NO cylinders are not cold!! gas appears to be cold while it comes out of nozzles because of throttling process,that any other gas would appear by same degree(drop in temp depends on throttling)

Best thing to happne to IC engine is induction of pure oxygen in controlled manner.
Right now atm is only about 21% oxygen,with 100% oxygen you would be able to induce about 5 times more fuel,and bigger band would be bigger MEP(mean effective pressure),all in all more torque/Hp(depending upon BORE/stroke config)
However with bigger power comes bigger responsibilities,imagine making a 5 times stronger (strength wise aswell as fatigue,heat dissipation and so many other factors) PISTON,crank,crankshaft,valves,head,and almost everything else too!
Not immposible but with current mettelurgy it isnt economical to say the least,morever 5 times bigger everything would lead us to square 1.
Yes ofcourse you can then produce 5 times smaller engines and achive same power output as an atmosphere breathing bigger engine,But
Oxygen itself is pretty expensive to produce in pure form that too will be in O2 form not nasent oxygen,and money runs the world not engines!.

[indianvirus]

Awesome guys, thank you all, wouldn't have got any better explanation. This is the first time "team" has helped me with something. And one thing is for sure, I am in great company.

[vigsom]

Originally Posted by indianvirus

This is the first time "team" has helped me with something. .

There are gurus from various fields on the forum - you will get good advice

[greenhorn]

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...-awka-nos.html
some more info here

[sidd25]

Is the nitrogen gas worth for the tyres?
Giving 150 bucks for air in tyres, advise guys.

[greenhorn]

Originally Posted by sidd25

Is the nitrogen gas worth for the tyres?
Giving 150 bucks for air in tyres, advise guys.

sidd, please search before posting
You'll find more info here
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...-nitrogen.html

[Rudra Sen]

Thanks greenhorn. Guys continue your discussion here: Team-BHP - The Definitive Indian Car Community (Inflating tyres with dry nitrogen)

Thread closed.