Nitrogen--my experience

[Mace Canute]

The point about less oxidation with pure N2 inside a tire might be significant to many but of course that depends on application. Oxidation is increased with an increase in temperature, so tires that spend a great deal of their life at an elevated temperature, such as highway tractor/trailer units experience, will no doubt have issues much much sooner than the tires on something like my truck where most of my travel is slow and consists of very short trips.
The deal with using N2 in race car tires is because ordinary air contains a varying amount of water vapour, and water vapour in a tire changes pressure at a different rate than air does from temperature changes. By using N2, the tire pressure increase from cold to hot is much more consistent. Put air in a tire when it was compressed on a very high humidity day and that tire increases pressure a great deal more than it would if very dry air is used. A race tire that is at optimum pressure develops more traction than one that isn't, so being able to set pressures in the pits and be able to be fairly confident about the psi growth as the race goes on is important. (Did I mention we won 8 Championships in a row at out local track in the Street Stock class?)
I never use N2 in my own vehicle...it would be a waste of time and money for me to do so.

 

[PILOON]

I never did graduate from college and I saw that one coming.

Air is Air. Nitrogen will leak out of the same holes and gaps plain ole air will.

Air is Air and will not make a ride softer.

Air is Air and will not make a tire rounder for better mileage.

I know they have suckered the whole world into bottled water ( I'm still not over that one ) but now they want to sell us designer air.

Who is this guy I want to shake his hand, right after I shake the hand of the guy that invented the PET ROCK.

To think I work hard every day and people are selling water, air and rocks and making more than me.

Hey I just thought no one has thought of selling canned dirt yet have they, there might be hope for me yet.

.
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When I was a teen, over a cup of suds with pals we talked of many schemes.

Instant this and that was everywhere in advertising; instant popcorn, instant porrige etc etc.

So we joked and said" instant water", the $$ of the future, well bottled water is now so big a seller that the plastic litter is an environmental problem.

 

[jayste]

I'm not buying into the Nitrogen-in-your-tires thing. The only advantage I can see is maybe the dealership folks are blowing nitrogen now instead of HOT AIR!

Jay

 

[deere5105]

I drive a F150 4WD SuperCrew. My tire dealer talked me into trying it on my current set of tires. He was convincing with all of the statements of benefit with using the nitrogen. I was able to get him to fill them for free. I have had them rotated every 6000 miles. I now have about 30,000 miles on the tires. He has had to fix a couple of flats and I have been by to have them topped off in between rotations and there was no charge for it. I too check my mileage at every fill up and fill up at the same place most every time and have pretty consistent driving patterns. So far I have not been able to tell any difference in running the nitrogen. I don't mind having it in the tires, but would not pay extra for it.

 

[mikeyee]

From my chemical engineering class on fluids, its known that nitrogen pure under pressure flows more steadily than air which is 79% nitrogen and 21% oxygen. The mixture would cause a difference in density in the air void of the tire and could cause a shift of weight to the bottom (where oxygen is heavier).


But thats complete bogus because of 3 simple points:
1. at 40-70lbs of pressure that doesn't effect unless its a couple thousand psig
2. Oxygen does react with rubber but it takes 10 years at least and I replace my tires every 3 years so.... yeah
3. Another scheme to promote something that is useless; for a fee of course. Its like how the gas companies claim their gas detergents are better than others when its all the same (all gas are required to have detergents by epa).

Yeah, for tires at its rated pressure, no difference at all engineering wise.

 

[SPYDERLK]

If you get a snoot full of pure nitrogen, your brain sends a signal to your lungs to stop breathing. That is a very bad thing. You will colapse in a heap very soon. If you are on a ladder 20 foot off the floor your chances are zero. If you are standing on a concrete slab unless someone is around to admisister CPR and force an oxygen mixture into your lungs, you are going to die. I doesn't matter if you are in a room that is full of normal air. One snoot full and you are probably going to end up dead because you will quit breathing.

False.

 

[Steve C]

False.

O.K. I want to learn. What is going on?

Please tell the Dow Chemical Company that this information is false.

Their safety program has training films that told us that this is true. Please explain. I have had access to pure nitrogen for many years but I have never had the nerve to test it on myself. I have no dog in this fight. I just want to keep people safe.

Please explain to the families who lost young men in the borated water storage tank at the Midland Nuclear Power plant that nitrogen wasn't the problem. Yes we now know that the oxygen was consumed by the interior of the tank rusting leaving a nitrogen ritch atmospher. But why didn't they breath when the hatch was opened when they went in?

 

[Tig]

Nitrogen MSDS

 

[mikeyee]

Well, after learning a lot of scuba diving (currently a naui divemaster) we were drilled a lot on oxygen/nitrogen levels in the air we breathe.

Humans take in 21% roughly of oxygen and exhale about 15-16% oxygen with the CO2. However, humans also get nitrogen from the air too. Too much nitrogen concentrations in the blood stream cause you to have a thing called nitrogen narcosis where you have trouble doing simple tasks and you are a little drunk/lightheaded (not too serious).

Now in the case of having 100% nitrogen or little to zero oxygen....you pass out, period. I mean its the same as carbon monoxide poisoning, you don't realize it and feel sleepy (you're suffocating) and just black out. There definitely is no warning and is a silent killer, thats why people are highly recommended to install carbon monoxide detectors in a house with a natural gas stoves.

 

[MikeD74T]

SteveC, I currently work at a nuclear plant & am responsible for confined space entry program implementation, am an EMT, and a confined space rescue team leader. We are undergoing refueling outage & I've been involved with dozens of confined space permits & air samples this month, including both nitrogen and hydrogen filled spaces.

Nitrogen did kill the Midland workers, but nitrogen did not tell their brain to stop breathing. Except for long term COPD patients the body's stimulus to breath is excess CO2. Nitrogen diluted the air to the point that they lost consiousness due to lack of O2. Because they developed a relatively sudden lack of O2 they also stopped creating CO2 which is necessary to stimulate breathing.

Mixed gas divers in deep water breath as little as 2% O2 & 98% inert gas at depths of 10 atmospheres. Nitrogen is not used there because it creates a narcotic effect at about 3 atmospheres, but hydrogen & heluim, equally deadly to nitrogen, are used.

The only place I could find any reference to "one breath can kill" is the slide show you referenced. MikeD74T