Brian MP5T

By no means is this the be all and end all of Nitrous Tech. This is a very complex subject, but what I have prepared is an introduction to be used as a reference to those who are interested.

"Nitrous Oxide"







Ok, hopefully we have a very good understanding of the OTTO Cycle engine; "Suck Squeeze, Bang, Blow"

If Not click this.. https://www.cobaltss.net/forums//sho...00&postcount=1


Lets talk about a very big and tempermental power adder.

Forced Induction (Either Turbo or Supercharger) build pressure to increase the number of atoms of Oxygen in the cylinder. This increase allows more fuel to be burned. Nitrous Oxide achieves the same goal in a very different way.

Air is made up of Nitrogen 78% and Oxygen 21% (Other Trace Gasses)

Nitrous is made up of Nitrogen 66% and Oxygen 33%

So you see by simply dumping Nitrous in the intake, it will displace some of the air and the engine will get more molecules of Oxygen for the same pressure. The end result is the same as a Forced induction, there is more Oxygen in the mixture.

"Why not use Pure Oxygen if your goal is simply to add Oxygen"

Many of us remember what happened in Chemistry class when a burning splint was blown out and placed in Oxygen. It lit again; this environment makes for a normal fire to turn almost explosive. Same reason why even in the 50's and 60's, you could not smoke near an Oxygen tent in a hospital. Any source of ignition would become dangerous in the environment. So Here it is, an engine creates heat, a hot engine is efficient but there is a he point where the components of the engine start to melt. Cooling systems remove and steady the heat in an engine to an operating temperature but are unable to deal with the spike in heat that oxygen would introduce. Oxygen also wears away at metal, basically Rusting and reducing its integrity. Oxygen, directly in an intake would turn a controlled explosion in a normal engine, into a much faster and destructive explosion. The tensile loading on the engine would increase exponentially just as in detonation plus the amount of heat that would be created would cook all the components inside near instantly. One of the reasons that Nitrous is used is that as the Nitrogen is stripped from the Oxygen, it absorbs heat from the immediate area. Just like a CO2 Canister gets cold on a paintball gun, Nitrous gets cold in the cylinder. You get the power and the heat remains almost unchanged. Expanding gas absorbs heat energy. The same principle in A/C and refrigeration systems.


Nitrous Oxide adds more molecules of Oxygen that will allow for more fuel to be burnt in the same cylinder. = More Power.

Oxygen is too volitile and will heat too much and destroy components. = Boom.

Here is a great read on N2O...

http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/motm/n2o/erratum.htm

Beacuse the Gas is in a Bottle in your car, It will eventually run out. Nitrous is not used for any type of endurance race. Turbos and Superchargers are normally used because they simply use the fule in the tank for the HP.

Quote Web Link.. Marshall Hiepler
"Although it does provide impressive power gains for naturally aspirated engines, the rate of depletion of a 10 - 20 lb bottle of nitrous oxide is rapid. Depending on the displacement of the engine, only 2 - 5 minutes of boost could be realized. It is for this reason, that the use of nitrous oxide is primarily confined to drag racing, street racing, and other short duration racing applications. Maximum acceleration is the primary objective for these sports, while endurance is not. These engines are designed with large intake and exhaust valves, and gas flow passages for maximum rpm - which is where the power plant will spend the majority of its time; however briefly. The Nitrous bottle is plumbed to an electric solenoid valve which permits nitrous oxide to flow in a liquid state into the engine's air intake manifold via precise orifices to control flow. These orifices are engineered to deliver a measured supply of the liquid nitrous oxide, which has been calculated to be appropriate for wide open throttle only. The nitrous oxide changes state immediately upon injection into the intake manifold, thus affording the advantages of its latent heat factor, as you described. These advantages are numerous, as you also mentioned, the most notable being the change in charge density. The overall density of the fuel/air mixture being drawn into the combustion chamber increases sharply as the nitrous oxide changes from liquid to a gas within the intake passage. Most engine builders will incorporate an additional means of simultaneously enrichening the fuel to air ratio, so as to take full advantage of the extra oxygen that is released by the nitrous oxide during combustion. Furthermore, the reduced temperature of the intake charge allows for an increased compression ratio that would otherwise not be possible, due to the pre-detonation of the charge during the compression stroke. Pre-detonation must be avoided at all cost, as it is extremely damaging to most race engines. In addition to the advantages gained with the use of higher compression ratios, an effective alternative is to pressurize the intake charge. This is often done with a turbo-charger which takes advantage of the expansion of the exhaust gases as they exit the combustion chamber. Although heating of the intake charge is a negative drawback commonly associated with the turbo-charging of engines, this factor is effectively negated when used in conjunction with nitrous oxide injection."

Kritter

Not a Nitrous fan at all, but I have to say...Damn fine post my good man. KUDOS

xskier874

good post on nitrous and the super/turbochargers

Brian MP5T

Thanks, I'm glad they help. The internet, books and by building a Turbo Monster are where I basically learned most of this. I'm happy to share information because I would have loved for someone to do this for me like 5 Years ago...

wikkymaster

wow that was great, really helped me understand nitrous better, now its starting to make me think i should just get nitrous instead of turbo/headaches lol, is there ever a safe shot to use though? i mean woudl 50 shot be safe to run? i want nitrous but i dont need to run 100 shot you know what i mean i would rather play it safe

Brian MP5T

I would stick to a ZERO shot unless you plan to get the supporting modifications that will allow you to use it safely. The "Gas" puts a large load on the engine and unless it's tuned and built, it's just a matter of time before you end up with a problem.

IonNinja

the ecotec is a strong motor, there is no reason to build the bottom end for a 50 to 75 shot. This can be run on a stock motor. Unless you are a nitrous freak you will probably use it once or twice a weak or probably less than that so any "stress" put on the engine would take a very long time to show its head. I certainly consider it less stressful than a turbo or supercharger as its not there 100% of the time...therefore not putting as much stress on the engine as a turbo/supercharger.

To run something like a 50-75 wet shot (stay away from dry) all that is needed is a proper install, colder plugs, and for the 75 shot MAYBE timing pulled. But I know there are people with the 75 shot who are fine without any timing being pulled.

You could run a higher shot but it is recommended that you build the bottom end. And also if you are running anything higher than a 75 shot you would probably be better off going with a direct port setup.

I myself will be running a Zex wet kit with a 50 or 75 shot sometime in the future.

GotBoost?

I have the ecotec build book from GM. They say that the stock pistons etc. are able to run up to a 75 shot on a stock enigine. I would get a 50 just to be safe.

IonNinja

Yep, I wouldn't say run up to though but rather reliably.

Brian MP5T

Actually, the complete opposite is true. A Turbo makes allot of power in an engine without placing a load equal to the power difference.

An explanation on forced induction.

Say you are pushing a person on a swing and you only have a half second to contact that person every time the person is moving by you. You would have to push very hard to get the person to swing to a particular height.

Lets say you were given one second to push the same person, you could push the person higher and harder without greatly increasing the strain on your arm.

Let’s say a turbo places twice as much fuel and air into an engine. Twice as much energy is being released but because of the "Flame Point" (Speed of the burn) the cylinder is moving away from the burn. Most of the power you feel is created at 60-90 deg past TDC. The burn is slower but larger. The load on the internals is not doubled.

Nitrous, is an instant BANG of Power. Anything was further from the truth is that Nitrous is easier on the engine than the same HP made with forced induction. No way. You can turbo a stock motor 2.0L to 7 Psi and make 70-80+ HP and run it for ever. Put a 50 Shot on the same motor 30 times and you will start to see smoke.

Brian MP5T

As with anything you do to a car like this. It is possible; others have done it often with no problems. Its luck and conditions that will let you have no problems or a big one.

Happy Motoring.

zinner

Read the ecotec build book Wikky. It tells you what you need to do to run nitrous on the 2.2

GTPsRule

50 shot on this motor will be no problem. I have to disagree that a 50 shot is going to create alot of strain on the motor and create problems after 30 or even 50 uses. 75 or above maybe, but definetely not a 50.
As far as the nitrous creating a larger shock to the internals, that is true but can be eliminated with a progressive controller, in essence acting like a boost controller would, softening the hit and bringing on full power over a specific period of time set by the user. While useful for shots higher than 100 on factory engines or FWD cars that are more prone to spin, a controller for something as small as a 50 or 75 shot would be useless. Dont hit the button until youre in 2nd gear at a higher RPM where the load on the motor is at a minimum and traction loss is unlikely, and I see no reason for problems to surface. Only reason for any problems to occur is user negligence, whether it be on the install, maintenence of the system itself, or inappropriate use.

As far as a dry or wet shot is concerned, either will work fine for the SS/SC, and I would not yet stick to a particular setup to swear by until the other has been proven to not work as well or fail all together. For ease of use and installation as well as the budget minded, you cant beat the dry setup. For maximum power and tunability, the wet shot is the way to go. I think for the average user on this board, a dry shot would be fine and should pose no problems as long as installed correctly, but that stands for any aftermarket modification IMHO, the dry system is safer than a wet, and in an application where there is already forced induction, the need for a safe system is doubled. If youre running a wet system and a problem develops with the fuel delivery and you dont know about it, or if you dont have an operable safety shut off, your motor is taking in pure nitrous with no added fuel to keep the A/F stable and balanced, and before you know it your motor goes boom and youre S.O.L. With the dry system, youre plumbing the nozzle before the MAF, so your MAF is reading the extra air and temperature difference being created from the nitrous, and adjusts fuel accordingly. But since it seems as though there is a CEL that appears with just an intake that creates more airflow through the MAF, a dry system may not work without extensive reworking of the PCM. But thats something that remains to be seen I guess.

Thats my $.02, hope I could help a bit

Brian MP5T

The thread was started as a general overview, not a vehicle specific guide.

Just to clarify. Nitrous is very widely accepted as a good power adder. It has a massive following. Done correctly it will not harm over the long run.

There was a post that Nitrous is easier on a motor than the same HP output with Turbo or S/C.

Ha! The inverse is ture...

IonNinja

I based my post on time spent being abused...when the nitrous switch is off, there is no stress being put on the engine (from nitrous). You cannot turn off a super/turbocharger...therefore you are constantly putting extra strain on your engine. So things would start to wear and tear faster (in my eyes anyway).

That is why I stated unless you are a nitrous freak you will probably put less strain on your engine than someone with one of the other 2 setups. To each his own...

Brian MP5T

Ok, But Point to Counterpoint.

A Turbo or Supercharged motor will be designed with the added force in mind plus the turbo and supercharger normally do not do anything as long as the person is driving normally.

The Turbo and Supercharger will add power when the driver opens the throttle and demands acceleration from the motor, just like pushing the Go-Baby-Go!

SO yes you are correct IMO but not entirely.

FireLight69

Very nice post man. Very informative.

JonyyB

I don’t think anyone said it is forced induction. The N20 section is separate from the Forced Induction in the forums

BDW, thanks for the nice write-up

Brian MP5T

This used to be all in one section on another board that simply has a performance section, not two dedicated sections..

My Bad, Edit and Fixed. Thanks