Nitrous oxide is an oxidizer that readily gives up it oxygen atoms during the combustion process. Pure oxygen will do the same (maybe more readily). It would seem that oxygen, being used in hospitals and welding, should be cheaper to purchase than nitrous available at a speed shop (or dentist office, or whip cream dispensers). I know tha tthe nitrous has an oil in it which provides some lubrication, but it is mainly to keep people from huffing it.

So, has anyone ever tried to do a nitrous-type set-up using oxygen instead? :confused:

 

NOS does not release its oxygen untill a certain very high temp. I would think that pure oxygen would turn the motor into a welding torch, and the compressed bottle would be very dangerous.

 

69 N.O.X. RATT is in the ballpark, you cannot use pure O2. Its too volatile.

The Germans found that out in WWII

BG

 

If you inject Oxygen in the engine, youll be dead. Dont attempt it.

 

the nitrogen provides a barrier between the combustion and surrounding metal parts. this increases efficiency by keeping heat in the chamber (where it can be converted to mechanical energy), instead of melting cylinder heads and pistons.

probably a bigger factor is that nitrous oxide can be liquid at ambient temperature with a small amount of pressure, relative to what it takes for oxygen. starting as a liquid, there's a huge energy change in becoming gas, which creates a massive cooling effect to the intake charge.

at temps and pressures feasible for automotive use, the oxygen would be gas. less mass, less cooling effect, etc.

plus, oxygen doesn't make you laugh... ;)

 

Pure oxyen is highly reactive and can tend to explode spontaneously in the presence of any kind of fuel - very dangerous stuff!!!

N2O is stable and not very reactive at room temperature. The heat of combustion creates a high enough temperature to achieve the energy threshold to promote disassociation, and in the process of disassociation, N2O releases both energy and additional oxygen that can be used for combustion if additional fuel is available.

This is basically the difference between "dry" and "wet" N20 systems. In a dry system there is not too much available fuel for the additional oxygen, so some oxygen may not be consumed, and most of the additional power is derived from the exothermic disassociation of the N2O to oxgen and nitrogen. Some extra energy is developed by additional oxidation because most fuel systems provide a WOT air-fuel ratio of about 12.5:1, which creates maximum power and has about 20 percent excess fuel when plain air is the oxidizer. If dry N20 is injected, some or all of this exess fuel can be oxidized for additional energy.

In a "wet" system more N2O is injected along with additional fuel so more total energy is released due to both disassociation of N2O and complete utilization of all the available oxygen from both the air and N20.

If pure oxygen were used to boost power the reaction rate would be much faster, which could lead to servere detonation. With N2O, it's a two step process. The N2O must first disassociate before the additional oxygen is available, and this keeps both the rate of pressure an temperature rise and peak cylinder pressure and temperature within bounds that combustion chamber boundary materials can handle, but an engine that has seen a lot of N2O can be damaged and N2O use is usually detectable on engine tear down by inspection of the piston crowns and other combustion chamber boundary surfaces. They will usually show signs of localized overheating.

Duke


[Modified by SWCDuke, 11:02 AM 8/4/2002]

 

BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

No, but it can actually make you High if you could get pure oxygen

 

duke, i disagree with your descriptions of "wet" vs "dry" systems...

"dry" means nitrous is injected without extra fuel, sure, but an engine could not take this without melting down (barring a really small shot of nitrous, which some engines can handle, but still isn't really done if looking for max power). there's always an additional fuel ("fuel" as in gasoline), whether it comes from the fuel injectors (higher fuel pressure), or from jetting a carb overly rich, etc.

so if you were to purchase a "dry" kit from NOS, for instance, you'd get a kit that simultaneously raises fuel pressure when the nitrous is injected, so the car's fuel injectors would be flowing extra fuel.

with a "wet" kit, all the additional gasoline that is necessary is injected along with the nitrous (usually mixed via fogging), and the car's primary fueling system runs intact, as it would if no nitrous system were engaged.