Nitro boost and super cars
Most super cars of recent years come equipped with "nitro boost", everyone knows that its to increase the power output and speed of the automobile, but not many know what exactly happens due to nitro boost.
This boost is provided by using a chemical called nitrous oxide(N2O). Now the preparation of nitrous oxide isnt easy at all, its a hazardous process. In its preparation, ammonium nitrate(NH4NO3) is fused and boiled to form steam, nitrous oxide, toxic oxides of nitrogen(NO, NO2 etc) and ammonium nitrate fog. This reaction is highly exothermic(heat generating). if at all the ammonium nitrate is boiled at a high temperature(higher than 250 approx) it can cause an explosion. For this purpose this preparation is carried out in a controlled environment.
Now lets come to how its used in automobiles. There is a separate injection system which injects nitrous oxide before or along the intake manifold of the engine. Thus a some-what homogenous mixture of nitrous oxide, air and fuel(in case of petrol engines) and nitrous oxide and air(in case of diesel engines) is obtained. It is very important to know that nitrous oxide is non flammable. So it doesnt catch fire during combustion of fuel and air in the cylinders. What it does is that it provides more oxygen once it breaks down to the fuel which ensures minimum wastage of fuel that occurs during operation at higher speeds.
Nitrous oxide is stored in its liquid state (mostly its temperature is maintained slightly lower than room temperature), so when it is injected there isnt enough heat to vapourise it and droplets get injected into the manifold instead of vapours, so you get a dense charge which ensures maximum power output and reduces chances of detonation of cylinder. But if the temperature is too low, nitrous oxide doesnt break down into its components and thus becomes useless. So an optimum temperature has to be maintained.
Another problem is that the power generated due to nitro boost is enough to destroy the engine itself, That is a normal engine like lets say that of a honda city iv-tech. So for that purpose the engine has to be reinforced: use of very strong materials, increase in thickness of cylinder and its surrounding components, etc. this causes an increase in the mass of the engine. Hence to combat this, the outer body of super cars are made of light weight excessively strong material: Cabon fibre. Carbon fibre is very expensive. So is the construction of the engine since the calculations of engine dimensions have got to be precise and assembly is totally mechanised and specifications of car provided by the future owner of the car are handled by highly skilled labour. This skyrockets the price of the car (dont forget thet the BRAND NAME also adds to the price 😛 )
This boost is provided by using a chemical called nitrous oxide(N2O). Now the preparation of nitrous oxide isnt easy at all, its a hazardous process. In its preparation, ammonium nitrate(NH4NO3) is fused and boiled to form steam, nitrous oxide, toxic oxides of nitrogen(NO, NO2 etc) and ammonium nitrate fog. This reaction is highly exothermic(heat generating). if at all the ammonium nitrate is boiled at a high temperature(higher than 250 approx) it can cause an explosion. For this purpose this preparation is carried out in a controlled environment.
Now lets come to how its used in automobiles. There is a separate injection system which injects nitrous oxide before or along the intake manifold of the engine. Thus a some-what homogenous mixture of nitrous oxide, air and fuel(in case of petrol engines) and nitrous oxide and air(in case of diesel engines) is obtained. It is very important to know that nitrous oxide is non flammable. So it doesnt catch fire during combustion of fuel and air in the cylinders. What it does is that it provides more oxygen once it breaks down to the fuel which ensures minimum wastage of fuel that occurs during operation at higher speeds.
Nitrous oxide is stored in its liquid state (mostly its temperature is maintained slightly lower than room temperature), so when it is injected there isnt enough heat to vapourise it and droplets get injected into the manifold instead of vapours, so you get a dense charge which ensures maximum power output and reduces chances of detonation of cylinder. But if the temperature is too low, nitrous oxide doesnt break down into its components and thus becomes useless. So an optimum temperature has to be maintained.
Another problem is that the power generated due to nitro boost is enough to destroy the engine itself, That is a normal engine like lets say that of a honda city iv-tech. So for that purpose the engine has to be reinforced: use of very strong materials, increase in thickness of cylinder and its surrounding components, etc. this causes an increase in the mass of the engine. Hence to combat this, the outer body of super cars are made of light weight excessively strong material: Cabon fibre. Carbon fibre is very expensive. So is the construction of the engine since the calculations of engine dimensions have got to be precise and assembly is totally mechanised and specifications of car provided by the future owner of the car are handled by highly skilled labour. This skyrockets the price of the car (dont forget thet the BRAND NAME also adds to the price 😛 )
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