Do Not Sell My Personal Information Jump to content


Inflating Tyres With Nitrogen


eddiea1
 Share

Recommended Posts

I was reading the Which magazine web site which said that you can get longer tyre life if you inflate your tyres with Nitrogen.

Anyone else done this? Is it worthwhile?

There are the obvious things you can do to prolong tyre life – fortnightly checks and driving sensibly. But what about filling your tyres with nitrogen?

Nitrogen has been used for many years in Formula 1 cars, the aircraft industry and road haulage, where consistent performance is paramount. Nitrogen makes up about 80 per cent of the air in tyres anyway, but getting rid of the other 20 per cent – oxygen, moisture and other contaminants – makes a tyre’s performance more consistent and predictable. For motor racing and the aircraft industry, knowing exactly how much the gas in the tyre will expand as it heats up helps ensure maximum efficiency when everything else is driven to its limits. Hauliers caught on to the fuel efficiency benefits of running with consistent pressures. Removing the oxygen also reduces oxidisation of the rubber, which can lead to premature ageing and blowouts. Many of these benefits apply to your car, too. And there’s an extra one. Air-filled tyres gradually lose pressure – not because the tyre has a puncture, or because the valve is faulty, but because the oxygen leaks through pores in the rubber. Nitrogen’s molecular structure means it’s less prone to permeate rubber, so pressure is maintained for longer. A number of tyre outlets sell nitrogen (see www.uniflate.com), charging around £1.50 to fill each tyre.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


I was reading the Which magazine web site which said that you can get longer tyre life if you inflate your tyres with Nitrogen.

Anyone else done this? Is it worthwhile?

I've had this done when I had my last lot of tyres fitted. Nitrogen is not supposed to leak like air. Over time, air will seep through the walls of the tyres but nitrogen is not supposed too. This therefore keeps a consistent pressure and ultimately ensures your tyres aren't wearing too quickly.

However, in my experience since having it, tyre pressure isn't consistent. It also costs you to have the nitrogen put in although the place I had mine done did say they'd refill whenever I wanted (on the theory they never need doing!!). You can add normal air to the tyre with the nitrogen in, it doesn't matter that they mix.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wouldnt bother if I were you. It costs a fortune. Plus, you will probably not find anyone you would want to do it for you, not pure N2 anyway. Its lethal.

We work in Nitrogen Enriched atmospheres. It disperses any oxygen, and is actually very very toxic. If you breathe any in - just one breath - and you die. simple.

Car tyres are designed to be filled with normal air, F1 tyres are a bit different to standard road tyres.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


I wouldnt bother if I were you.  It costs a fortune.  Plus, you will probably not find anyone you would want to do it for you, not pure N2 anyway.  Its lethal.

We work in Nitrogen Enriched atmospheres.  It disperses any oxygen, and is actually very very toxic.  If you breathe any in - just one breath - and you die.  simple. 

Car tyres are designed to be filled with normal air, F1 tyres are a bit different to standard road tyres.

Nitrogen is not lethal mate - we all breathe it in every day - it makes up 79% of normal air .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Everybody has seen the warning signs for the risks of nitrogen. Nitrogen is dangerous because it actively pushes away the oxygen in the surrounding air. But what actually happens if you do not get enough oxygen? In order to understand this, it is important to know a little about the human breathing system.

How does our breathing system work?

Humans need oxygen in order to be able to live. Our body uses oxygen to supply energy to our organs. The oxygen is burning sugars in the body cells, supplying energy to our body. The waste product of this energy burning process is Carbon Dioxide.

In order to get Oxygen into our bodies we inhale fresh air. Fresh air contains on average, 21% of oxygen. Inside the lungs, the oxygen is connected to the blood using the red blood cells. At the same time, the Carbon Dioxide from the blood is released to the lungs. When we exhale we blow this Carbon Dioxide out of our bodies. Inside the body we produce as much Carbon Dioxide as we use Oxygen. If we start working harder, we need more energy; therefore we start burning more sugar. This causes the frequency of our breathing to increase, for we do also need more Oxygen for this process. The result of this is more Carbon Dioxide. The fact that 79% of the air we use is typically Nitrogen is not important It solves a little in our blood, but it is not connected to the blood cells.

The frequency of our breathing is automatically controlled in a part of our brain, which we can call the Breathing Centre. If you think this breathing centre is triggered by the amount of oxygen in the blood, you are wrong! The breathing centre responds to the amount of carbon dioxide present. The more carbon dioxide that is detected by the brain, the faster we start breathing. This process always works well because we produce the same amount of carbon dioxide as we do use oxygen. This way, we never get a shortage of oxygen. This process never fails, even when we are asleep, or inside a sealed conference room with a lot of other people, which would cause the carbon dioxide levels in the room to increase rapidly and the oxygen levels to decrease. Our bodies would respond to this by breathing faster in order to get more oxygen into the lungs. Getting the feeling that you are short of breath is a signal that will finally cause us to leave the room if the carbon dioxide levels continue to rise.

When we inhale Nitrogen, why do we die so quickly?

Humans are the most resilient species on the face of the earth. We can exist in the most diverse of circumstances and environments. That is until we are confronted with circumstances not foreseen by nature itself; an environment that contains a lot of nitrogen. What is so different? Suppose we inhale air with only 10% of oxygen, no carbon dioxide and 90% nitrogen. We inhale normally and use the oxygen for our energy production. Because there is insufficient oxygen in this air, we shall suffer a shortage of energy because of the lack of carbon dioxide. Therefore the brain is not stimulated to increase the frequency of our breathing. In fact, the brain is stimulated to decrease the frequency of our breathing because the amount of carbon dioxide in our blood is reduced. Because of the acute need for oxygen, the energy supply to the cells will stop, which in basic terms, means “lights-out” The brain is extremely sensitive to this power failure and will not be able to maintain consciousness.

Being unconscious, your breathing will be very slow. If the oxygen level falls below 6%, this will take please after just ONE BREATH of air. You will quite literally faint after inhaling and will no longer to be able to breathe by yourself. After about 2 to 4 minutes, you will die. Within this time, only mouth-to-mouth resuscitation could save your life. The exhaled air of the rescue worker contains a lot of carbon dioxide that should stimulate the brain to start breathing again.

Nitrogen is the most dangerous gas that we know. Even the most toxic of gases will give at least a small warning to the body. Nitrogen does not. Because of this lack of warning we cannot protect ourselves from it. A few lucky survivors (resuscitated) of nitrogen accidents in the industry have all declared that they never knew what hit them when they were exposed to high concentrations of nitrogen.

So how can I protect myself from high concentrations of nitrogen?

Take a gas sample. Calibrated equipment that is being operated by trained personnel can determine if it is safe in a certain area or confined space.

Always use breathing air (cylinders) in nitrogen rich environments. Canister masks will give absolutely no protection from oxygen deficiency.

Stay away from nitrogen leaks, manholes and other openings of vessels and towers.

Never use nitrogen hoses to blow something dry or clean unless you are using BA.

Never check a confined space by holding your breath for a second and putting your head in. The penalty for this is death, for even the smallest mistake.

If you purge a system with nitrogen make sure that all warning signs, warning tapes etc are in place so that everyone in the area is made aware of the hazards. Only then you may start your work.

Never, on no account, must you ignore a warning sign or fence.

Never try to rescue a victim of nitrogen with using BA yourself. A rescue without BA will result in double the amount of deaths.

Always be aware of the hazards of nitrogen.

HOPE THIS CLEARS THINGS UP A LITTLE

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Everybody has seen the warning signs for the risks of nitrogen. Nitrogen is dangerous because it actively pushes away the oxygen in the surrounding air. But what actually happens if you do not get enough oxygen? In order to understand this, it is important to know a little about the human breathing system.

How does our breathing system work?

Humans need oxygen......

Blinkin hell.. Is that a mission reply or what! :blink::lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites


Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share



×
×
  • Create New...