Personal Finance Advice discussed the growing concept of using Nitrogen, instead of air, in your car tires. Unlike him, I have first hand knowledge about this, and thought I would share my thoughts, as well as some information from the net.
Q: Is this something new?
A: Yes, and no. Inflating tires with nitrogen has been done for years in race cars, planes and big rigs. Now the idea is spreading to your car. The idea is that using nitrogen leads to better gas mileage, maybe a couple of miles a gallon, since its larger molecules prevent it from seeping out of a tire as quickly as air. It can cost as much as $10 to fill one tire with nitrogen, but nitrogen-filled tires stay inflated about three times longer than air-filled tires. And underinflated tires are a leading cause of bad mileage.
Q: What is Nitrogen?
A: Nitrogen is a dry, inert gas used to inflate airplane tires, off-road truck tires, military vehicle tires, and race car tires for improved performance, more tire mileage and better fuel economy.
Q: Why use Nitrogen?
A:
Less inflation pressure loss Reduced wheel corrosion Prevents inner-liner rubber deterioration by oxidation Tires run cooler Increases tread life Increases fuel mileage Helps prevent uneven wear
Oxygen in compressed air permeates through the wall of the tire, thus reducing the tire's inflation pressure. During it's journey through the tire wall, oxygen oxidizes the rubber compounds in the tire, causing under-inflation and deterioration of the rubber . Dry nitrogen will maintain proper inflation pressure and will prevent auto-ignition, will not corrode rims, extends valve core life, and will help the tire to run cooler.
And Most Importantly, Experts in the tire industry indicate that oxidative aging is one of the primary causes of decreased tire life. Oxidative aging is caused by the diffusion of oxygen from the pressurized air cavity of the tire to the outside atmosphere. Tests have shown that if tires are inflated with nitrogen, there is a significant reduction in tire failure.
Q: Are there any other savings, I should consider?
A: Air is about 1/5 Oxygen, and oxygen, especially at high pressures and temperatures, is a very reactive element.
When oxygen reacts with things, the process is called oxidation. When oxidation is extremely rapid, it's called "burning.
That's one reason nitrogen is used in off-highway and aircraft tires. These tires run so hot they can actually catch on fire. Nitrogen doesn't support combustion, so nitrogen-filled tires don't add fuel to the flames. And nitrogen helps prevent slower forms of oxidation also.
Oxygen and moisture corrodes aluminum and steel wheels. Oxygen also reacts with rubber, another type of "corrosion". When this corrosion starts, the small particles break off and form rust and dust, which can clog vavle cores, causing them to leak. The rough surfaces created from the corrosive action on the wheels leads to tire beads that don't seal properly, causing additional leaks .
Oxygen also ages the inner liner, the thin layer of rubber inside the tire whose function is to keep air away from the carcass. As the inner liner ages, more and more air molecules can pass through it, causing more pressure losses. These pressure losses in a truck tire can average 2 psi a month as a result of the air passing through the sidewalls. As it passes through the rubber, the oxygen can also corrode the steel cords, causing them to rust too.
Q: How does Nitrogen help?
A: While both nitrogen and oxygen can permeate rubber, nitrogen does it much more slowly. It might take 6 months to lose 2 psi with nitrogen, compared to just a month with air. And nitrogen is far less reactive. It doesn't cause rust or corrosion on steel or aluminum, and it doesn't degrade rubber. Wheel surfaces stay smooth and clean, rubber remains supple and resilient.
Nitrogen also will not degrade the rubber seal in the valve core which extends valve core life and helps prevents core leaks.
Small bits of dust and debris as a byproduct of oxidative corrosion to the wheels and alloy rims can lodge in the valve core seat, causing air leaks.
Q:> Any other reasons for using Nitrogen?
A: Water!! The air around us is full of water vapor. Compressing air concentrates the water in it.
Draining the water from your compressor tank daily helps, but unless you have a really efficient air dryer system, chances are that there's a lot of water in your compressed air.
When you compress air, it takes up much less volume, but the percentage of water by
volume is greatly increased.
Q: So what, what harm does this moisture cause?
A: Water vapor in compressed air acts as a catalyst, accelerating rust and corrosion. Water vapor also absorbs and holds heat. And when it changes from liquid to vapor, water expands tremendously in volume.
As a result, tires inflated with wet air tend to run hotter and fluctuate in pressure more. That's one of the reasons why racing tires, where fractions of a psi can radically change the handling characteristics, are inflated with dry nitrogen.
The information above comes from copyrighted material by Innovative Balancing
Q: How much will it cost me to use Nitrogen?
A: It will cost you about $10 per tire (many places thats one time, as long as you refill at the same place). But if your tires are properly inflated, it could save you some gasoline and tire wear.
I suppose there is a question about whether or how you could, over time, save $40 worth of gasoline by using nitrogen to even out the cost.
As a rough rule of thumb, if your tires are 20 percent below the optimum, you'll reduce your tire life by up to 50 percent, and the additional rolling resistance can add 10 percent or more to your fuel consumption. Across the life of a tire, that's a massive financial penalty on the driver, and it's no wonder that the U.S. Department of Energy reports that the national U.S. fleet burns 4 million gallons of gasoline unnecessarily every day due to low tire pressure.
I might add, that even when I need new tires, if I buy them from the tire store that filled my tires with Nitro, in the first place, will be filled for free. With all this in mind, I feel it is the perfect answer for me, seeing as I am one who doesn't check my tires regularly like I should.
So now it's your turn, What do you think??
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