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Nitro Methane fuel

3K views 3 replies 3 participants last post by  Paul Kane 
#1 ·
Does anybody run this or know anything about it that can give me some info?
 
#2 · (Edited)
Since September 11, 2001 (or was it the Oklahoma City bombing?), true 100% pure nitromethane as used in drag racing has become exceedingly difficult to get. It costs about $45+/- per gallon (depending on actual quantity purchased), you use a LOT more per pass than you would with gasoline (percentages are in atomic mass, not by volume), and I think requires an NHRA license to purchase. Lastly, the feds will start watching you.

Still interested? :)

Paul

P.S.: You can use the model airplane stuff which is more dilute and a lot more expensive due to the low volume purchase.
 
#3 ·
I can tell you a 55 gallon drum of Nitro will cost about $1000 buck give or take. Here are facts about nitro.

MODERN NITRO FACTS

-One Top Fuel dragster's 500-inch Hemi makes more horsepower then the first 8 rows at the NASCAR Daytona 500.

-Under full throttle, a dragster engine consumes 1 1/2 gallons of nitro per second, the same rate of fuel consumption as a fully loaded 747 but with 4 times the energy volume.

-The supercharger takes more power to drive then a stock hemi makes.

-Even with nearly 3000 CFM of air being rammed in by the supercharger on overdrive, the fuel mixture is compressed into nearly solid form before ignition. Cylinders run on the verge of hydraulic lock.

-Dual magnetos apply 44 amps to each spark plug. This is the output of an arc welder in each cylinder.

-At stoichiometric (exact) 1.7:1 air/fuel mixture (for nitro), the flame front of nitromethane measures 7050 degrees F.

-Nitromethane burns yellow. The spectacular white flame seen above the stacks at night is raw burning hydrogen, dissociated from atmospheric water vapor by the searing exhaust gases.

-Spark plug electrodes are totally consumed during a pass. After 1/2 way, the engine is dieseling from compression-plus the glow of exhaust valves at 1400 degrees F. The engine can only be shut down by cutting off its fuel flow.

-If spark momentarily fails early in the run, unburned nitro builds up in those cylinders and then explodes with a force that can blow cylinder heads off the block in pieces or blow the block in half.

-Dragsters twist the crank (torsionally) so far (20 degrees in the big end of the track) that sometimes cam lobes are ground offset from front to rear to re-phase the valve timing somewhere closer to synchronization with the pistons.

-To exceed 300mph in 4.5 seconds dragsters must accelerate at an average of over 4G's. But in reaching 200 mph well before 1/2 track, launch acceleration is closer to 8G's.

-On the tracks with shorter shorter shut-down area, many drivers shut off before the finish line, or even dual parachutes will not stop the car.

-If all the equipment is paid off, the crew worked for free, and for once NOTHING BLOWS UP, each run costs $1000.00 per second.

-Dragsters reach over 300 miles per hour before you have read this sentence.


Once you burn nitro and you are hooked for life.
 
#4 ·
These days, probably the simplest, most hassle-free option for playing with nitromethane is to not keep it in your possession, then just show up at the NHRA event, buy it from the NHRA in the pits, use whatever amount you use for your passes, and at the end of the day you may return your unused nitro back to the NHRA. You will receive a voucher for the returned amount and you can use the voucher at the next event in which you participate.

Paul
 
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