Forced Induction/Nitrous Technical discussions for all power adders - turbos, superchargers, NOS

Running CO2 Instead of Nitrous

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Old November-12th-2005 | 09:41 AM
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Running CO2 Instead of Nitrous

I saw on a show Tricked Out that they said its safer for your motor to run CO2 instead of Nitrous Oxide. What Im wondering is if it gives the needed boost if say i wanted to run it at the track?

They said running that full shot is basicly the same thing as cranking your car on a cold day.

Any help is appreciated because i wanna have this setup on my for the occasional track run.
Old November-12th-2005 | 09:45 AM
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um yeah... it's safer cause it won't do anything. think about it... the engine is an internal COMBUSTION engine. they make some fire extinguishers out of CO2.
Old November-12th-2005 | 09:51 AM
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Originally Posted by tonkabui
um yeah... it's safer cause it won't do anything. think about it... the engine is an internal COMBUSTION engine. they make some fire extinguishers out of CO2.

You mean it won't do anything as in results? or it want blow the motor?

Because on this show the stats on the car were better after the install? Im just wondering.
Old November-12th-2005 | 11:42 AM
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CO2 contains more O2 than atmosphere so when you inject it into the engine you will get a SLIGHT bump in power but nothing like you would with nitrous which is 4X's the useable oxygen.

CO2 injection into the engine won't really do much unless you're running a lot of hot boost and just want to cool it off a bit. Running it on an NA car will yield almost no gains.
Old November-12th-2005 | 12:28 PM
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i think the only reason you would get power out of it is because it would supercool the intake charge...

if you really want to get into a chemistry lesson C02 has the same amount of oxygen per molecule as N02....

C02 is 1 part carbon, 2 parts oxygen

NO2 is 1 part nitrogen, 2 parts oxygen

however nitrous will give up its oxygen atoms QUITE a bit more freely than carbon dioxide will, hence the extra power

Last edited by macdaddyslomo; November-12th-2005 at 12:31 PM.
Old November-12th-2005 | 01:58 PM
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just a slight correction here, nitrous oxide is N2O, not NO2. the chemistry behind this is actually quite complicated. the CO2 consists of a double bond between a central carbon and two oxygen molecules, looking like: O=C=O. nitrous oxide is N=N=O. ok, so now that is out of the way, the only thing the CO2 will do is cool the intake charge, like macdaddy said. the energy required to convert CO2 into CO, thereby releasing the O in order to create useable O2 is much greater than the energy returned. that's why when you burn gasoline, which is a hydrocarbon, you get CO2 and H2O as byproducts, but due to the internal combustion engine's inability to fully burn the hydrocarbon, CO is part of the produced gases.

think about it this way: you inhale air from the atmosphere and exhale carbon dixoide and water. increasing the CO2 concentration in the air (while keeping everything else the same) will not do anything in terms of increasing oxygen levels in the atmosphere. it's like breathing into a paper bag essentially.
Old November-12th-2005 | 01:59 PM
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ok well im not wanting nitrous power as much as i want it to keep my intake charge cooler like someone above said so that it runs better and doesnt really lag much. I want more takeoff which i was told this will help cause they said the cool air will kinda spray the enternals and keep it moving quicker.
Old November-12th-2005 | 07:03 PM
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or u could just do a shot of O2 and blow the engine to bis hehehe

i always thought CO2 was used more for cooling the intake temperature... so like matty said.. more of a support mod for hot boost
Old November-12th-2005 | 07:05 PM
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Originally Posted by MC
or u could just do a shot of O2 and blow the engine to bis hehehe

i always thought CO2 was used more for cooling the intake temperature... so like matty said.. more of a support mod for hot boost
Im not wanting a launch really just to be able to cool my engine while im running at the track. If i wanted to blow my engine id hook up nitrous.
Old November-12th-2005 | 10:02 PM
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if you want to cool your engine, it'll be more beneficial to run water wetter, do a coolant bypass, and get some spacers for your TB and IM. at least that way, you won't be adding on the unneccessary weight of the CO2 system. oh yeah, and don't eat for a week before you go to the track. you'll shave off a few hundredths that way.
Old November-12th-2005 | 10:14 PM
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well as it sits in the 1/8 mile it runs low 11's...that wasnt with me in it but the guy i got it from and it seems after a few runs and getting hot it likes to lag a good bit. So where do i find info on this other kit you speak of?
Old November-13th-2005 | 07:29 AM
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CO2 is used as a fire extinguishing agent because it displaces oxygen. The only thing using CO2 will do is cool your intake charge as has been previously stated (guys on ship have been known to cool off their beer using an extinguisher). I can't see how injecting it would do anything but cause your engine to run like crap, you would probably have to run it through some sort of heat exchanger (like an intercooler) in order to get the benefit of cooler temps without the disadvantage of having less oxygen in your charge.
Old May-18th-2006 | 09:29 AM
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I've seen things sort of like what you guys are talking about, but it doesn't actually get injected into the airstream. Basically they put a little ball in the middle of a pipe, and run C02 through it, which cools down the air charge. They also include in the kit intercooler spray nozzles (that go after the bubble thing). I don't know what it is called, but it is supposed to help a little bit.
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