Nitrogen Enriched Fuel by Shell

[Ryland]

Nitrogen is almost inert... almost, to quote answers.com


Elemental nitrogen has a low reactivity toward most common substances at ordinary temperatures. At high temperatures, molecular nitrogen, N2, reacts with chromium, silicon, titanium, aluminum, boron, beryllium, magnesium, barium, strontium, calcium, and lithium (but not the other alkali metals) to form nitrides; with O2 to form NO; and at moderately high temperatures and pressures in the presence of a catalyst, with hydrogen to form ammonia.

so I can't say what it is doing to your combustion chamber deposits, but it might do something.

[Christ]

Hmm... wonder if it's going to upset your NOx reading?

[Johnny Mullet]

My wife works at a Shell station and they had a meeting about the new gasoline additive. I asked her about what was said, but being a woman, she remembers nothing but a mono-tone boring speaker talking over her head.

[jazzie604]

one of the biggest advantages Ive seen fuel adatives talk about is the cleaning of the actual injector itself. Parafin and other junk will build up in the screen/fuel rail/ fuel nozzle and cause change of flow and atomization. There is also a lot of talk of the additives being able to clean the deposits that form on the piston face as well.

[Colo66]

Thanks Hummingbird for that warm welcome! Here is a quote from Wikipedia that I copied and pasted here.

"Nitrogen gas has a wide variety of applications, including serving as an inert replacement for air where oxidation is undesirable;
To preserve the freshness of packaged or bulk foods (by delaying rancidity and other forms of oxidative damage),
In ordinary incandescent light bulbs as an inexpensive alternative to argon,
On top of liquid explosives for safety measures,
The production of electronic parts such as transistors, diodes, and integrated circuits,
Dried and pressurized, as a dielectric gas for high voltage equipment,
The manufacturing of stainless steel,
Use in military aircraft fuel systems to reduce fire hazard, see inerting system,
Filling automotive and aircraft tires due to its inertness and lack of moisture or oxidative qualities, as opposed to air, though this is not necessary for consumer automobiles."

It is true that nitrogen will react with oxygen to produce nitrogen oxide that will react the the platnum in the CATS to convert back to nitrogen and oxygen. So....explain to me how adding a "almost inert" substance, that does not support combustion, in fuel used in an internal combustion engine is good? I have never seen an engine with "dirty/plugged" injector on an engine with less than 120,000 miles so if ANY purposed "cleaning" benifit is claimed will be negated by the need for major engine rebuild any way. I have had severial cars with over 200,000 miles that the engine was overhauled and the original injectors was reused with no ill effects on MPG or performance. On high mileage engines that I have seen with fuel problems, the injector failure was caused by not replacing the fuel filter when required.
So....what I believe is one of two things.....Its a ploy to sell a product at above market prices with no actual benifit (nitrogen is very inexpensive) or to reduce power of the fuel on older higher compression engines.
It would be interesting to know if Shell has any business interest in a oxygen production facility as nitrogen is a "waste" byproduct. At nearly a 3 to 1 ratio of nitrogen/oxygen ratio in the atmosphere, (source for the oxygen) there is a huge market for pure oxygen but not as large for nitrogen. It might be a way for them to "dispose" of excess nitrogen without incurring the rath of EPA!
I ALWAYS run from any fuel that has any additive advertised. Alcohol included. But thats for another post!

[shovel]

To add more fuel to the fire....

I recently had to replace my intake manifold gaskets on a 9 year old Chevrolet 4.3L V6 which has port injection. The manifold is 2 clamshell parts that were filthy as all bojeesus.... but the parts the fuel actually sprays, including the valves - were clean as new parts.

[Christ]

Shovel - I don't find that amazing at all...

I ran my Escort GT-T w/ a 12:1 FMU for nearly 50k miles... every time the turbo would spool, it would blow smoke everywhere, make all kinds of noise, stink like crazy, take off like a Steroid freak of a 4 cylinder, and when I finally blew a hole in a piston, took the engine apart, and looked around, the fuel system was completely clean, as were all the parts where fuel would normally touch... !?

Basically, everything except the exhaust manifold was clean... but then again, I changed the oil filter every 2k miles, oil every 6k or as necessary, and only ran 87 Octane gas from American gas stations.

I always just kinda figured I was weird, b/c that's not the only engine I've taken apart that didn't have gunk in it... even after 200k+ miles.

[al74dart]

If you are not familiar with Top Tier gasolines you should be. I won't go into all of it here but here is a link to get you started.
Top Tier Gasoline

It is well worth reading and noting which gas companies in your area are Top Tier gasoline companies. To be listed as a Top Tier gasoline company all grades of gas you sell must meet the standard. A cleaner engine means better gas mileage. I use to keep a list in my car of the companies but now I know what is available where I drive. I usually just stick with Shell which is also sold at some Circle K stores here in Arizona.

One more link that is a little more up to date about which gasoline companies are Top Tie and a little more info.
Drive it Forever: Top Tier Gasoline | Wise Finish

Al

[Christ]

I never cared about "top tier" gasolines, Where the gas was made/refined,etc... I just buy what's ever the cheapest.

GasBuddy.com helps.

The only places I never buy from are ones that seem "dirty", ones that have just had a fill, or are due for a fill, etc.

I personally have seen a tanker fill up one gas station with "89 octane", then go fill the "89 octane" tanks on another station (not the same "brand/company"), not ten miles away, but they had a price difference of at least 10 cents across the board.

What does that tell you about where your fuel comes from?

[wagonman76]

Originally Posted by Colo66

THE ATMOSPHERE IS MADE UP WITH 78% OF THE STUFF!!!! So...78% of the air that your engine, lungs, tires, basket balls and the like, take in is already at 78%. What percentage does SHELL add (if any)? I bet no one knows.

Bingo.

I don't see how it will do anything more for your engine than the air that already comes in through the intake, or that fills the empty space in your gas tank.

Sounds to me like a way for Shell to scam you for more profits. If they aerate the fuel at the pump, you are getting less actual fuel per gallon because the rest is just air.