Ikwueto Oliver

APPLICATION OF NITROUS OXIDE (N

2
O) IN AUTOMOBILE ENGINES
Ikwueto Oliver
Faculty of Natural Science, Department of Industrial Physics, Anambra State University,
P.M.B 02, Uli, Uli, Anambra State, Nigeria
+234 (0) 803 265 5720 engine4evayahoo.com

ABSTRACT
Nitrous oxide injection technology in automobile is a difficult technology to understand,
though it is the easiest and most cost effective performance modification. All modern
applications inject liquid nitrous oxide into the intake manifold, while the latent heat of
vaporization of the nitrous oxide significantly cools the intake air. This research paper
focused on the importance nitrous oxide in automobile engines and how it enhances the
performance of automobile engine. Though there are still misconceptions that this technology
causes expensive damages of engines, but this paper also explains the perfect engineering
method of nitrous oxides installation in order to increase the efficiency of automobile
engines. In this research work, a mathematical model of nitrous oxide formation was used.
The description of this model, its scope and uses were presented in reference (1), and are
briefly summarized in the section of this paper. Nitrous oxide is colourless, non-flammable
gas (at room temperature) which is used in automotive racing to dramatically increase
horsepower. It does not increase horsepower by burning; it is an oxidizer which allows
engines to burn more fuel by significantly increasing the oxygen content of the mixture.

Keywords: Intake manifold, Oxidizer, Nitrous injection performance and Combustion.

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INTRODUCTION
Through years of involvement with all
forms of high performance automotive
racing, Nitrous Oxide System (NOS) has
evolved into the worlds largest
manufacturer of performance Nitrous
Systems. NOS designs and engineers
nitrous oxide system for virtually anything
with an internal combustion engine from
stock to highly modified cars, motorcycles,
watercraft, aircraft and eve snowmobiles.
Nitrous oxygen system (NOS) has become
synonymous with quality high
performance automobile products.
Researchers and Development (R&D)
engineering and technical support assures
a perfect performance of Nitrous oxide in
automobiles.
An engine makes power based on the
amount of fuel it burns. More fuel can be
pumped into the engine, but what limits
the amount of fuel an engine can burn is
the amount of oxygen requires to burn it.
Therefore, what actually limits an engines
ability to make power is the amount of air
(oxygen) it can breathe. So racers do all
sorts of things to let an engine breathe
more air, bigger displacement, freer
flowing parts superchargers etc. Nitrous
oxide which attacks this problem from a
different angle, and does not change the
amount of air the engine can breathe, but
the amount of oxygen it can breathe. Air
contains only about 20% Oxygen, where
nitrous oxide contains about 36% Oxygen.
If nitrous oxide is added, it will increase
the total mixtures of Oxygen level
significantly over 20%.
Since Nitrous oxide is much more
powerful oxidizer the air, the net effect of
nitrous injection is a highly effective
power booster, whether or not it is done
with maximum efficiency. A modest
amount of nitrous oxide can go a long way
as a power-adder. Given the restively
compact volume of concentrated liquid
nitrous oxide and supplemental liquid fuel
compared to the breathing capability of an
engine, it is rather easy to build nitrous
system plumbing that will add as much
power as needed by dumping into the
intake system whatever quantity of liquid
horsepower is necessary even if air is
degraded. For practical purposes, the
physical delivery of nitrous oxide (N
2
O)
and supplemental fuel is not a constraint
on power because nitrous oxide injection is
capable of making more power than almost
any engine or chassis can tolerate.
Dyno testing reveals that nitrous injection
can actually make even more power than
expected based purely on the theoretical
advantage of Oxygen enrichment. In fact,
when injecting nitrous oxide at a ratio of
10%, the mass flow of air induction, a
nitrous system (done right) is capable of
making 20% more power. Why? Several
factors combine to increase power beyond
whats available from Oxygen enrichment;
Refrigerant effects on the volumetric
efficiency of air induction (producing an
air supercharging effect), energy liberated
by the exothermic breakdown of nitrous
oxide into Oxygen and Nitrogen at 565
Degree F and improved engine thermal
efficiency from the higher flame speed and
combustion temperatures of the more
radical fire chemistry of enhanced-Oxygen
fuel combustion.
The chemical equation is;
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2N
2
O(g) 2N(g) + O
2
(g).(1)

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WORKING PRINCIPLES OF
NITROUS OXIDE
The most essential part of a nitrous oxide
injection system (NOS) is the supply
cylinder containing pressurised liquid
nitrous oxide. This cylinder is connected
by means of a delivery hose to a normally
closed electric solenoid valve. The control
solenoid valve (which is usually mount in
a cool area under the bonnet) is opened
and closed by means of a sequence of two
switches a cool area under the bonnet) is
opened and closed by means of a sequence
of two switches , one activated by the
throttle and the other a manually activated
arming switch. A fuel solenoid (controlled
by the same switches as the nitrous
solenoid), takes a feed from a T piece,
which is tapped into the fuel delivery line.
The nitrous oxide and fuel that is to be
delivered to the engine is supplied via two
delivery line. The nitrous oxide and fuel
that is to be delivered to the engine is
supplied via two delivery pipes, to one or
more injectors mounted in the inlet
manifold. Nitrous oxide is comprised of
two parts; nitrogen and oxygen (36%
oxygen by weight). When the nitrous
oxide is heated to appropriately 572
Degree F (on comprehension stroke), it
breaks down and releases extra oxygen as
shown in equation (1). However, it is not
this oxygen alone which creates additional
power, but the ability of this oxygen to
burn more fuel. By burning more fuel,
higher cylinder pressure is created and this
is where most of the additional power is
realized. Furthermore, as pressurized
nitrous oxide is injected into the intake
manifold, it changes from liquid to gas
(boils). This boiling affect reduces the
temperature of the nitrous to a minus -127
Degree F. this cooling effect in turn
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significantly reduces intake charge
temperature by approximately 60-75
Degree F. the also helps create additional
power. The general rules of thumb: for
every 10 Degree F. reduction intake
change temperature, a 1% increase in
power will be realized.
THE AFFECT OF ADDING NITROUS
OXIDE TO AUTOMOBILE ENGINE
A. COMBUSTION
Activating a Nitrous oxide system (NOS)
adds nitrous oxide and fuel to the original
inlet charge and although the nitrous oxide
itself does not burn, it is an oxidizer which
provides more oxygen to allow the
additional fuel to be burn, and therefore
produces more power. At 565Degree F.
(less than the temperature of normal
combustion) the molecules of nitrous
oxide break down, releasing the oxygen
atom from the Nitrogen atoms. Once free
from the nitrogen, the oxygen supports the
combustion of the additional fuel, while
the released nitrogen suppresses
detonation. The increased amount of
oxygen and fuel in the combustion
chamber results in the assorted molecules
being more tightly packed than normal,
which leads to a quicker burn rate, that
requires less timing advance for optimum
results. Without retarding the timing
appropriate, the quicker burn rate would
lead to detonation and engine damage.



B. DETONATION





20 TDC 20 40 60 20 TDC 20 40 60

Up to a point, adding nitrous oxide to an
engine will reduce the risk of detonation
(especially on forced induction engines)
but after that point when large power
increases are required it will increase the
risk. One of the reasons for this is the extra
heat generated and the easiest way to
overcome this being a problem, is to add
excess fuel which act as a coolant. Nitrous
oxide system are supplied with rich jetting
to give a safe starting point, which means
the issue is already dealt with to some
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extent and as long as an engine is not
needed to control detonation. Whilst
running richer than optimum will reduce
the power output slightly, the advantage of
raising the detonation limit will allow
more nitrous to be used to get more power
more safely.
With all the above I mind, it is obviously
essential to supply the engine with precise
amount of additional fuel to match the
amount of nitrous oxide being added (to
ensure the engine doesnt run lean) and to
retard the thinking to an optimum setting,
to achieve successful and reliable results.
When all three (fuel, nitrous and timing)
are controlled accurately, your engine can
safely and reliably generate exceptional
power increase without causing damage
due to detonation.
A well designed, Nitrous oxide system
(NOS), which delivers an accurate amount
of both Nitrous and fuel and remains
consistent in doing so, is vital for good
performance and avoiding in such a way to
achieve this, as well as remaining 100%
reliability.
FIRST-GENERATION
MATHEMATICAL MODEL OF N
2
O
FORMATIN IN COMBUSTION
PROCESS
The objective of this model is to simulate
the directional effects of known
combustion modification techniques on
N
2
O emissions, and to provide guidance
for the development of other potential
combustion modification technique.
Further modelling work would be required
to allow the use of the model as a
quantitative tool for guiding the design of
improved combustion equipment. The use
of this mathematical model capable of the
quantitative description of chemical
kinetics, transport effect, and combustion
operating and design parameters is too
complex to be used directly at present.
This is so because major pieces of
information are still lacking on the detailed
chemistry of N
2
O formation in combustion
reactions (particularly under the fuel rich
condition) and the fluid dynamic and heat
transport behaviour of flames and
combustion gases. Based on the above
consideration, in the phase 1 stationary
N
2
O study, this model was used based on
premixed, gaseous hydrocarbon fuel/air
combustion. Methane was used to simulate
natural gas combustion. The principal
features of this model were the following:
a. One-dimensional, homogeneous
gas phase reaction system. Plug
flow equation consisting of series
of stirred reactors
b. Specified flow velocity, pressure
and flow area profiles
c. Specified heat transfer options
Heat transfer rate profiles
Heat transfer coefficients and
wall temperature profiles
Gas temperature profiles
Quenching rate profiles
d. Heat generation described by two-
step overall kinetics of
hydrocarbon oxidation to CO,
combustion to CO
2.

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e. Simplified, uncoupled Zeldovich
chain kinetics used to calculate
N
2
O concentrations under fuel lean
conditions; 0-atoms assumed to be
in equilibrium with molecular O
2
.
f. Multiple point injection of fuel, air
or flue gases, allowing the
simulation of two stage combustion
and flue gas recirculation.
The mass and energy conservation
equations were solved by an implicit
integration scheme using Newton-Raphson
iteration technique. Compared with
explicit integration scheme, the implicit
scheme offered the advantages of not
being subject to the ignition problem,
since the resulting equations were
equivalent to those for stirred reactor, and
of being much more stable than explicit
integration scheme which may fall apart,
if the integration step is too large.
The first-generation model was used to
predict the rate of N
2
O formation in large
gas fired boilers, as a function of excess
air, preheat temperature, quenching of the
combustion gases. Because of its premixed
mixture, the model predicted peak N
2
O
emission at about five percept excess air,
instead of a monotonic decrease of N
2
O
with decreasing excess air as experienced
in actual practise with diffusion flames.
Below stoichiometric air supply
conditions, the model could not be used to
predict N
2
O concentrations, as discussed
above. However, in spite of its idealized
nature, the models predictions of N
2
O
emissions from large gas fired boiler were
of the right order of magnitude under
excess air combustion conditions. Also,
the directional effects of flue gas
recirculation and two-stage combustion
(operating the first-stage with
stoichiometry air supply) were correctly
simulated for NO emission reduction. Air
preheat temperature was shown to be
important; resulting in sharply increasing
N
2
O concentrations with increasing air
preheat temperatures. N
2
O formation rates
were predicted to decrease with increasing
quenching rates, because of the shorter
effective residence time at high
temperatures. Below 2300
0
F, the N
2
O
formed in the post-flame gases became
frozen in all of our computer simulation
cases.
ADDITIONAL KINETICS
In this model, the net generation of N
2
O is
described by a homogeneous gas reaction
system (2). The thermal chain reaction
scheme used for this model, not coupled
with combustion kinetics, consists of the
following elementary steps:
O

+ M
2
K
1
O + 2M ...(2)
K
2
O +N
2
K
3
NO + N ...(3)
K
4
N
2
+ OH K
5
N
2
O + H .....(4)
The steady-state treatment of the above
scheme yields the net rate of N
2
O
formation:
=
+
-
(5)

Where K
0 =
K
1
/K
2 =
(O)
2
/(O
2
), and
hydrogen atoms and hydroxyl radicals are
d(N
2
O)
2 K
0
(O)
K
2
K
5
(N
2
)(O)
K5(O) + K4(N
2
O) + K4(H)
eq
dt
K
3
K
7
(N
2
)(OH)
eq
K
4
K
6
(N
2
O)
2


K
4
K
8

K
0
(O
2
)
(N
2
O)
2
(H)
eq

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present in the equilibrium with other
combustion species. Neglecting the
contribution of reactions (4), which have
been shown to be significant only under
fuel-rich conditions (3) equation (5)
reduces to the steady state expression for
the chain mechanism of atomic reactions.
The following values of the rate
coefficients were used for model
calculations:





Where the values of k
3
,k
4
, k
5
and k
6
were
taken from the leeds evaluation (3), while
k
7
and k
8
are based on the date of cambell
and thrush (4). For comparison purposed
lower values of k
3
and k
4
were also used
based on the evaluation of Bortner:


Throughout the calculations, oxygen atoms
were assumed to be in equilibrium with
molecular O
2,
according to reaction (2),







CONCLUSION
In agreement with the trend observed in
actual boiler emissions, N
2
O concentration
levels increase with increasing air supply
over a range of 95% to 105%
stoichiometric air. As noted earlier,
because of the premixed nature of the
model, it predicts peak N
2
O concentrations
at about five percent excess air, in contrast
with the behaviour of diffusion flames
which exhibit peak N
2
O concentrations at
much higher levels of excess air. the actual
levels of frozen N
2
O concentrations
predicted by this model are on the right
order of magnitude, although they tend to
be high. This is likely to be due to the
idealized nature of the model, to the
uncertainties in the values of the kinetic
rate coefficients, and to the particular
quenching rate assigned to these
predictions













EFFECT OF MIXTURE RATIO ON
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REFERENCES
1. Bartok, W.,A.R Crawford, A.R. Cunningham, H.J. Hall, E.H. Manny and A Skopp,
Systems Study of Nitrogen Oxide Control methods for Stationary Sources, Esso
Research and Engineering Company, Final Report GR-2-NOS-69, Contract No. PH
22-68-
2. Hartman, Jeff, 1952, Nitrous Oxide Performance Handbook p.cm ISBN 978-0-
7603-2624-4 (pbk.: alk. paper) 1 Nitrous oxide injection systems (fuel systems) 2,
Automobile..motors..Fuel injection Systems,3. Motor Fuels..Additives1.Title
TL.214.F78H373 2009 629. 253 629..dc22













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