I have a roundabout dealing with it in my day to day job as an F-16 crew chief, as it's used as a monopropellant fuel to run the emergency power unit (EPU) on the jet. There's one drawback: Benzene is a hard-core carcinogen. Once you get a nitro engine going, it may not want to stop. Remember the old safecracker crime movies where the "specialist" had to be real careful with the small vial of nitroglycerin, lest any sudden impact cause it to explode?
Was it hot? So, instead of hydrolock and engine shutdown, the compression of the nitromethane that doesn’t get burned can force the head of the cylinder to lift off with enough force that it’s an explosion, one so hard that it can knock a driver unconscious, lift the car into the air, and even cause the rear tires to explode (if the shrapnel didn’t get it first). Mike Thermos says he's built systems that run up to 25 percent nitrous oxide, but even at that level, supplying enough fuel is problematic. Even with the Top-Fuel & Nitro Funny Cars. A career in nitro cars doesn’t always work out, but when it does there is nothing quite like it. The by-weight mixture is also dependent upon temperature, both during the initial mix as well as if the temperature changes afterward. Typically we use a Dykes top ring with a 0.017-inch-step, 116-inch second, and 316-inch heavy-tension oil ring. Thanks for the great pictures as always Larry! Really Interesting and eyes open article.Thanks for great article Justin. The traction available is also determined by a very specific and special tool known as a track meter. Before pre-staging, the crews do one final look-over and pull a pin on the blower hat. haha. Racing nitro motors run far richer than the theoretical 1.7:1 ratio, and Adams says it's possible to dump nitro at ratios approaching 0.5:1.
The Stromberg 81 carbs had to be nickel-plated, as did the fuel containers (hidden from prying eyes inside cardboard boxes). NHRA may not be my thing but I never knew how complex running a Nitro Car is. Methanol, which also carries oxygen, has a stoichiometric ratio of 6.45:1.
Nitromethane-or CH3NO2-is one member of a family of explosive compounds that contain nitrogen and oxygen. "Typical cam specs might be 280-to-290-degrees duration at 0.050 with around 0.750-to-0.800-inch valve lift. That is a limiter that doesn’t allow for full fuel during the burnout.
The specific gravity (SG) of fuels varies per batch and purity; methanol's out-of-the-barrel concentration can vary 5 percent or so.
The vapor burns first, which ideally creates enough heat to vaporize the rest of the fuel. There's a lot of cylinder-wall wash-down. Once fired and the engine is running on the gasoline, the member will then turn the valve from the fuel pump to start feeding the nitromethane mixture.
From how I understand it, a slide clutch in NHRA determines how hard the launch is and the "bite" is determined by the "clutch guy" on the crew based on the available grip on the track. According to the NHRA, a funny car chassis is made of exactly 179 ¾ feet of 4130 Chromoly tubing and weighs 125 pounds. Each time a Top Fuel or Funny Car goes down that 1000-foot track, it costs, on average, $4000.
But that doesn't take into account the fuel's specific energy (SE) value, which is derived by dividing the heat value by the air/fuel ratio (Btu/lb A/F), telling us how much heat energy is delivered per pound of air into the motor. All logos and images are reserved. Up to this point, only enough fuel has been allowed to flow into the engine to keep the blower cool and run the engine while the tires are heated. Edelbrock, Bobby Meeks, and Fran Hernandez added 10 percent nitro to the methanol in their 136ci V8-60 Midget car engine.
Nitromethane can also be used in anything that needs a monopropellant, like rockets, since it contains its own oxidizer like nitrous oxide. Times plummeted from 5.40 seconds to 5.29, and eventually 5.08. Brakes alone won’t be enough when you’re still traveling at 4Gs and 300mph (482km/h); it can be done, but you’ll probably end up in the sand trap at the end of the track, too. Flames have gotten longer as fuel pumps and magnetos have improved, allowing higher fuel volumes to be pushed through the engine.
Somewhere around 25 to 30 minutes after mixing you will see a power gain over nitro alone. It won't start up spinning at 200 rpm like a gas engine would. I've been to one of these events before and there's nothing else like it in motorsports. It was hoped that nitrous would speed the flame front, which would permit retarding ignition timing, reducing ignition stress. More seriously, that means you don't want to risk dropping barrels off a truck.
The Ford V8-60 flatheads were relegated to their own class.
It is most definitely used in the US. If you accidentally are down wind of the nitro you can't breathe, your nose starts running and your eyes water. ", Methanol remains the most popular fuel used to cut nitromethane, if only because many sanctioning bodies currently ban the alternatives.
The last version built before the war was a 340ci (5,577cc) V12 with nonintercooled, two-stage Roots superchargers rated at 485 hp and 405 lb-ft.
Was it hot? So, instead of hydrolock and engine shutdown, the compression of the nitromethane that doesn’t get burned can force the head of the cylinder to lift off with enough force that it’s an explosion, one so hard that it can knock a driver unconscious, lift the car into the air, and even cause the rear tires to explode (if the shrapnel didn’t get it first). Mike Thermos says he's built systems that run up to 25 percent nitrous oxide, but even at that level, supplying enough fuel is problematic. Even with the Top-Fuel & Nitro Funny Cars. A career in nitro cars doesn’t always work out, but when it does there is nothing quite like it. The by-weight mixture is also dependent upon temperature, both during the initial mix as well as if the temperature changes afterward. Typically we use a Dykes top ring with a 0.017-inch-step, 116-inch second, and 316-inch heavy-tension oil ring. Thanks for the great pictures as always Larry! Really Interesting and eyes open article.Thanks for great article Justin. The traction available is also determined by a very specific and special tool known as a track meter. Before pre-staging, the crews do one final look-over and pull a pin on the blower hat. haha. Racing nitro motors run far richer than the theoretical 1.7:1 ratio, and Adams says it's possible to dump nitro at ratios approaching 0.5:1.
The Stromberg 81 carbs had to be nickel-plated, as did the fuel containers (hidden from prying eyes inside cardboard boxes). NHRA may not be my thing but I never knew how complex running a Nitro Car is. Methanol, which also carries oxygen, has a stoichiometric ratio of 6.45:1.
Nitromethane-or CH3NO2-is one member of a family of explosive compounds that contain nitrogen and oxygen. "Typical cam specs might be 280-to-290-degrees duration at 0.050 with around 0.750-to-0.800-inch valve lift. That is a limiter that doesn’t allow for full fuel during the burnout.
The specific gravity (SG) of fuels varies per batch and purity; methanol's out-of-the-barrel concentration can vary 5 percent or so.
The vapor burns first, which ideally creates enough heat to vaporize the rest of the fuel. There's a lot of cylinder-wall wash-down. Once fired and the engine is running on the gasoline, the member will then turn the valve from the fuel pump to start feeding the nitromethane mixture.
From how I understand it, a slide clutch in NHRA determines how hard the launch is and the "bite" is determined by the "clutch guy" on the crew based on the available grip on the track. According to the NHRA, a funny car chassis is made of exactly 179 ¾ feet of 4130 Chromoly tubing and weighs 125 pounds. Each time a Top Fuel or Funny Car goes down that 1000-foot track, it costs, on average, $4000.
But that doesn't take into account the fuel's specific energy (SE) value, which is derived by dividing the heat value by the air/fuel ratio (Btu/lb A/F), telling us how much heat energy is delivered per pound of air into the motor. All logos and images are reserved. Up to this point, only enough fuel has been allowed to flow into the engine to keep the blower cool and run the engine while the tires are heated. Edelbrock, Bobby Meeks, and Fran Hernandez added 10 percent nitro to the methanol in their 136ci V8-60 Midget car engine.
Nitromethane can also be used in anything that needs a monopropellant, like rockets, since it contains its own oxidizer like nitrous oxide. Times plummeted from 5.40 seconds to 5.29, and eventually 5.08. Brakes alone won’t be enough when you’re still traveling at 4Gs and 300mph (482km/h); it can be done, but you’ll probably end up in the sand trap at the end of the track, too. Flames have gotten longer as fuel pumps and magnetos have improved, allowing higher fuel volumes to be pushed through the engine.
Somewhere around 25 to 30 minutes after mixing you will see a power gain over nitro alone. It won't start up spinning at 200 rpm like a gas engine would. I've been to one of these events before and there's nothing else like it in motorsports. It was hoped that nitrous would speed the flame front, which would permit retarding ignition timing, reducing ignition stress. More seriously, that means you don't want to risk dropping barrels off a truck.
The Ford V8-60 flatheads were relegated to their own class.
It is most definitely used in the US. If you accidentally are down wind of the nitro you can't breathe, your nose starts running and your eyes water. ", Methanol remains the most popular fuel used to cut nitromethane, if only because many sanctioning bodies currently ban the alternatives.
The last version built before the war was a 340ci (5,577cc) V12 with nonintercooled, two-stage Roots superchargers rated at 485 hp and 405 lb-ft.