John,
Back in the 50s some of the producers of nitro proposed using it in fuel for
on-highway vehicles, and did a lot of research into controlling knock to
make it streatable. They used lab type "detonation detectors", high
frequency accelerometers with data acquisition systems, to observe the
knock. The conclusions were that nitromethane should always be used in
blends with nitropropane (usually around 50/50). The nitropropane helped
enormously in controlling the knock, for reasons that were not quite
understood.
While I bring this up primarily to point out that properly calibrated
detonation detectors can certainly be useful with nitrous, (I suspect the
commercially available units are just calibrated for more conventional
applications, or are sized incorrectly and are "clipping" on the high
amplitude content of the spectrum), it prompts a few questions and
observations of my own:
Why is nitropropane not included in the list of legal fuels ? By all
accounts I can find it is much more stable. While it has a lower oxygen
content than nitromethane and makes less power when run undiluted, anyone
running a mix could just use more of it.
Does anyone run undiluted or lightly diluted nitro on the salt ? Most of
the folks I have spoken to run weak mixes, under 25% nitro, but I do not
know how typical this is.
Greg
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Beckett" <landspeedracer@email.msn.com>
To: <ARDUNDOUG@aol.com>; <land-speed@autox.team.net>
Sent: Thursday, June 01, 2000 8:21 PM
Subject: Re: MSD Detonation Detector and Cockpit Display Meter
> Doug
>
> >From what little I know about these things they work great on street
> cars...are marginal on race cars...and I would guess about useless with
> nitro.
>
> John Beckett, LSR #79
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <ARDUNDOUG@aol.com>
> To: <land-speed@autox.team.net>
> Sent: Thursday, June 01, 2000 3:55 PM
> Subject: MSD Detonation Detector and Cockpit Display Meter
>
>
> > Group,
> > Has any body out there used the MSD detonation sensor on nitro that
> has a
> > readout in the cockpit for the driver to see. Chuck Salmen has one on
his
> > $um-Fun gas roadster and he likes it. What I don't know is how they
would
> > react to nitro which is on the verge of detonating at all times.
> > Anybody had any experience?...............................Doug King
>
>
>
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