Nitrous Boosters Essay, Research Paper

Process Essay

I am writing a process essay about how to install a nitrous kit into to your car. First, I will describe how a combustion engine works so you can understand how a nitrous kit will be beneficial. Secondly, I will describe how to put in a nitrous kit into you automobile. I have only installed one nitrous kit so I will be using that specific kit in this essay.

In the combustion process, why will a nitrous kit be beneficial in increasing the HP (Horsepower)? All internal combustion engines require air to operate. More specifically, they require oxygen (O2). Air is composed of approximately twenty percent oxygen and eighty percent nitrogen by weight. In the combustion process, NO2 and CO2 are heated by the combustion of O2. Steam, hot CO2, and hot N2 then expand to push the piston down. Therefore, if we could replace or add additional O2 to the engine and burn that O2 with more fuel, we can make more power. In theory, if we replace all the air with pure O2, we could get 5 times the power out of an engine by being able to burn five times as much fuel per power stroke. In practice, we would blow up the motor at startup. Nitrous Oxide allows us to significantly increase the output of an engine without blowing up the motor, however up to a certain point. Past that point, it s like trying to put six pounds of sand in a five pound bag: the bottom falls out. Over-nitro used motors cause piston crowns, ring lands, pin bosses, and rods to collapse. Don t over-nitrous! N20 primarily increases engine power by supplying more O2 to the engine. N20 is thirty-six percent O2 by weight, whereas air is twenty percent. A motor running on pure gaseous N20 could make one point eight times more power than if it ran on air.

If we inject liquid N20 into the engine, we can make substantially more power than this because the liquid nitrous is many times denser than air. Inject liquid N20 into the engine displaces only a small percentage of the air. The liquid N20 rapidly evaporates upon reaching the cylinders during the compression stroke. With the valves closed and the cylinder sealed, the initial cylinder pressure is increased before the combustion process starts. (This is similar to the process of supercharging an engine.) All we have done is cram in more NO2 and O2. We must add more fuel to burn with the additional O2. If we do not, the additional O2 will react with the piston crown or exhaust valve like a cutting torch.

So there you have it: you put more fuel, oxygen, and nitrogen into the cylinder and you make more power by raising the cylinder pressure. My buddy, Gill and I installed a nitrous kit into his car a little while ago

The kit we installed was a “Dry” type nitrous spray. A “Dry” kit does not install additional fuel injectors; the stock injectors are fired under more fuel pressure to add more fuel when the nitrous is flowing. The kit came complete with everything needed to do a thorough install.

Provided in the Zex kit was nitrous and fuel jets for a fifty-five, sixty-five, or seventy-five hp shot. We started with the fifty-five. He had previously installed an Auto Meter AFM and an Intellitronix Fuel Pressure gauges to monitor and make sure plenty of fuel was available. He also had the RP Upgrade Fuel Pump. The kit itself is a very a straightforward install. I ran into no major problems.

I mounted the bottle in the back hatch area. The bottle had to be tilted at an angle for proper operation. The mounts for the bottle were supplied and provide for the proper angle. I ran the nitrous supply line through and small hole drilled just to the left side of the spare tire. I ran the supply line in the same conduit that covers the brake lines. We mounted the control box next to the N-Tech Battery Miniaturization Kit. The provided supply line length was more than enough.

I mounted the nozzle at the greedy intake elbow, located right before the throttle body. The elbow was thick enough to drill and tap for the nozzle. I pointed the nozzle in the direction of the airflow. I had thought about installing it before the IC to help chill the air, but I was told that it would be more responsive right at the throttle body. The connection for additional fuel was simply a matter of taking the OEM hose going to the fuel pressure regulator and routing it to the Zex controller. Another hose going out of the Zex went to the OEM regulator where the hose was removed. I used a silicone fuel hose and routed it away from any heat sources as much as possible. I was very concerned about fuel pressure being increased when nitrous was being sprayed.

The electrical portion of the install was easy. Power and ground is right at the battery. I had to run the arming switch inside the car. I mounted it on a plastic panel just under the steering wheel. Once armed, the system is ready to operate. The nitrous is not released until 4.6vdc is seen off the TPS. We had to run a wire to tap into the TPS. I did have to adjust my TPS during this process. My TPS adjustment was off. Once everything was installed and the bottle filled, I had to do a few pre-flight checks first. I took the line off at the nozzle and turned the ignition on with the engine off. I pointed the NOS line up and out of the engine compartment. I secured it so it would not fly around once I hit the gas. I depressed full throttle and NOS sprayed. Make sure your Friend is not holding this line with his bare hand. I did have a minor leak inside the control box. I opened it up and found a fitting was not properly tightened. Once the leak was repaired, we could finally make a run with the nitrous. We had no way of testing for increased fuel pressure with the bottle turned off.

With my friend s hand still numb from the super cold nozzle fitting, we set off in search of an open stretch of road. We decided to turn the Profec B off and run default spring pressure on the waste gate. I recorded ten-psi on an initial run without nitrous. During all my testing and starting out with a bottle only about 2/3 full, I only had a few pounds of nitrous left. Zex claims three min. on a fifty-five shot. I found that if you are into the gas for more than three seconds, you are flat out cruising. I armed the nitrous on the next run. Running at ten-psi, I monitored the AFM and my friend monitored the fuel pressure. I did a rolling start and hit full throttle in second gear. The nitrous was clearly felt. It came on real smooth and strong with no hint of detonation. My AFM indicated two bars down from full rich (0.9 Volt). Fuel Pressure showed fifty-five psi with nitrous as opposed to forty-nine psi without. We later made a run at twelve psi and we saw the same AFM readings and sixty-one psi. It appears the Zex tries to keep the enrichment of ten-psi fuel over and above the OEM increase while in boost.

Installing the nitrous kit into his car was extremely fun, but not as fun as what we did his car afterwards. I learned quite a bit about cars from the experience and hope you did by reading this.