Emission and Nitrous

[ccj8008]

I got this kit off ebay years back that is a propane injection system for 454's. It was touted as adding extra power and was meant for RV's. It has two small injectors that are triggered by a vacuum sensing switch (staged, you can select power levels). It looks similar to a nitrous setup but the delivery rates are probably less.

I know propane acts as a catalyst on diesel fuel the way nitrous works on gasoline. I am considering hooking this up to a nitrous bottle rather than a propane bottle.

If nitrous helps to achieve a more complete combustion, does this = cleaner emissions? If so, it might be beneficial to turn this on during emission testing. Any thoughts?

 

[1979jimmy350]

to some point yes it adds more oxygen to the mix, but if you run to much of it you will actually do worse on emissions becasue you will be runnign very lean

 

[sled_dog]

I'd HEAVILY bet the flow rate is much more than Nitrous. I'd never consider running nitrous though anything but a nitrous system.

Nitrousi s not a catalyst, it is an oxidizer. It adds oxygen to the combustion process. More air + more fuel = more power. Run to much nitrous and you run too lean, heat everything up and go boom. The worst emissions our vehicles create known as NOx, it is created in lean, hot combustion. Your NOx readings will skyrocket if you do that(and don't blow your engine up).

Propane can be run as the main fuel source on gasoline engines. It burns cleaner but does not put out as much heat energy, so pound for pound it makes less horsepower and fewer mpg. But it does emit less harmful crap(a lot less? no). I doubt that kit ever really did much of anything but add extra fuel to the mixture. Might have made it run a little cleaner and allowed the engine to be tuned for less gasoline, there by using less gasoline.

 

[ccj8008]

Good points thanks. Didnt realize running lean could have such a negative impact. I will stick to propane.