![]() Nitrous oxide is a strong oxidising agent, roughly equivalent to hydrogen peroxide, and much stronger than oxygen gas. Therefore, it often is mixed with another fuel that is easier to deflagrate. The gas is not flammable at a low pressure/temperature, but it delivers more oxygen than atmospheric air by breaking down at elevated temperatures, about 570 degrees F (~300C). The increase in oxygen allows an increase in the injection of fuel, allowing the engine to produce more engine power. In vehicle racing, nitrous oxide (often called " nitrous") allows the engine to burn more fuel by providing more oxygen during combustion. At 600 psi, for example, the required ignition energy is only 6 joules, whereas NĢO at 130 psi a 2,500-joule ignition energy input is insufficient. Nitrous oxide is said to deflagrate at approximately 600 ☌ (1,112 ☏) at a pressure of 309 psi (21 atmospheres). While noticeably less than the I sp available from hydrazine thrusters (monopropellant or bipropellant with dinitrogen tetroxide), the decreased toxicity makes nitrous oxide an option worth investigating. In a vacuum thruster, this may provide a monopropellant specific impulse ( I sp) of as much as 180 s. Because of the large heat release, the catalytic action rapidly becomes secondary, as thermal autodecomposition becomes dominant. In the presence of a heated catalyst, NĢO will decompose exothermically into nitrogen and oxygen, at a temperature of approximately 1,070 ☏ (577 ☌). Nitrous oxide also may be used in a monopropellant rocket. It also is notably used in amateur and high power rocketry with various plastics as the fuel. The combination of nitrous oxide with hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene fuel has been used by SpaceShipOne and others. Nitrous oxide has been the oxidiser of choice in several hybrid rocket designs (using solid fuel with a liquid or gaseous oxidiser). In a 1914 patent, American rocket pioneer Robert Goddard suggested nitrous oxide and gasoline as possible propellants for a liquid-fuelled rocket. Its high density and low storage pressure (when maintained at low temperatures) enable it to be highly competitive with stored high-pressure gas systems. As a secondary benefit, it may be decomposed readily to form breathing air. It has advantages over other oxidisers in that it is much less toxic, and because of its stability at room temperature, it is also easier to store and relatively safe to carry on a flight. Nitrous oxide may be used as an oxidiser in a rocket motor. It is used as a recreational drug for its potential to induce a brief "high" most recreational users are unaware of its neurotoxicity and potential to cause neurological damage. Nitrous oxide is used as a propellant, and has a variety of applications from rocketry to making whipped cream. Being the third most important greenhouse gas, nitrous oxide also substantially contributes to global warming. ![]() Global accounting of NĢO sources and sinks over the decade ending 2016 indicates that about 40% of the average 17 TgN/yr ( teragrams, or million metric tons, of nitrogen per year) of emissions originated from human activity, and shows that emissions growth chiefly came from expanding agriculture. It is a major scavenger of stratospheric ozone, with an impact comparable to that of CFCs. Nitrous oxide's atmospheric concentration reached 333 parts per billion (ppb) in 2020, increasing at a rate of about 1 ppb annually. ![]() It is also used as an oxidiser in rocket propellants, and in motor racing to increase the power output of engines. ![]() It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines. Its colloquial name, "laughing gas", coined by Humphry Davy, is due to the euphoric effects upon inhaling it, a property that has led to its recreational use as a dissociative anaesthetic. Nitrous oxide has significant medical uses, especially in surgery and dentistry, for its anaesthetic and pain-reducing effects. At elevated temperatures, nitrous oxide is a powerful oxidiser similar to molecular oxygen. At room temperature, it is a colourless non-flammable gas, and has a slightly sweet scent and taste. Nitrous oxide (dinitrogen oxide or dinitrogen monoxide), commonly known as laughing gas, nitrous, nitro, or nos, is a chemical compound, an oxide of nitrogen with the formula NĢO.
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