I'm reading a 1956 copy of Rod & Custom with an article on supercharging. It mentions injecting hydrogen peroxide for more power. Anyone ever heard of this? Tried it?
Seems like they were trying to emulate the Luftwaffe using peroxide and alcohol to fuel rockets..... I don't think household peroxide would be worthwhile and the stuff the Jerrys were using was dangerously concentrated and highly caustic
I have heard of water and alcohol injection for short bursts in military aircraft if they were in trouble to get away from the bad guys. But, for hyd. peroxide to work you need more than 3% and then you are getting into rocket fuel territory.
Rockets use Hydrogen and Oxygen from separate tanks, where the Hydrogen burns using the Oxygen (how rockets can work in the near-vacuum of space). Both are chilled to liquid form to have enough volume to make this work. Hydrogen Peroxide itself is not flammable, but is an oxidizer, which means it accelerates combustion. What you find at the local drugstore is so dilute that it is more likely to extinguish flame. Concentrations higher than that may require a business license, and a hazardous materials permit, for both transportation and storage. Seems to me like a whole lot of effort to avoid using nitrous oxide.
Back then, anything was worth trying. Pretty much everything was an experiment. If someone had an idea, they tried it, if it worked, everyone at that track was soon using it. If it didn't work, try something else next week. It was a time when innovation and experimentation was how you won races. Safety wasn't on too many racer's minds. Many paid the price, that is why there are so many rules in place today. The rules are suppose to protect us from ourselves. It takes a lot more technologies for innovation to happen, and nearly all the experimentation takes places in the safety of labs these days.
Hey, Potvinguy; If you want to mess around w/ hp, I'd suggest getting & using Medical-Grade hp. It's @ 35%, & will inflict a nasty burn on your skin, much less any other sensitive area(s) it gets into/onto. EXTRA caution is a requirement. So, then you dilute it down to any % you want. Normal store stuff is ~ 3%. Nice thing about Medical-Grade is it has no metals/toxic crap in it, unlike every other version. BTW, it's the only version to use if you want to consume it for health reasons - *NEVER!* @ 35%, always diluted. There is a protocol for this. Takes ~ 3 mo to do it correctly. Your blood turns quite bright red(read: very oxygenated), instead of the usual dark red-> near black. I like the nurses' reactions... . PM your ph# & I'll text you a pic of the book & where to get the m-g hp. Oh yes, you don't need any spl permits/etc to buy 1 gal. IIRC, I get it thru the mail. It does lose its' potency slowly over time. Helps to keep it in fridge. It lasts a long time, but I've never tried letting my engine(s) guzzle it either... . I've heard/read - but not seen personally - that m-g hp caused quite a bad reaction in engines when used at the full 35%. Story went that the accelerant-effect got out of hand, & the kid got burned very badly. Never could verify the story one way or the other. Sorry if this went slightly off-topic. Marcus...
https://www.researchgate.net/public...ion_enhancement_of_premixed_methaneair_flames Some might find this a bit of a dry reading but keeping an open mind to innovation isn't so bad. I did also read a bit of what Marcus mentioned about consumption for health. One might want to think of using it to kill the germs in old car interiors and parts.
I've purchased the good stuff years ago. 42% I think. At the time I had a pool and didn't want chlorine so used a pool chemical product line called Baquacil. The shock treatment was nothing but diluted H2O2. So I went to an industrial chemical supplier that sold it and added water to get to the desired strength. Then followed the pool product directions. Much, much cheaper than the stuff with the brands label. And I can vouch for the fact that you don't want it on your skin in higher concentrations. Oxidizes the skins outer layer, turns white and peels off. Would probably work similar to nitrous with an injection pump and some plumbing. Might also damage an engine while figuring out ratios etc.
My F1 is has supercharged 8BA in it. I use winter windshield washer fluid, a mixture of alcohol and water. A little research will show that it definitely will increase HP. I use it more to prevent detonation than for HP. My system does not pressurize unless I put my foot in it. When cruising around regular gas works fine. The water injection eliminates having to use expensive fuels. (only 4.5lbs pressure max). I've been driving this rig around for about 12-13 years now. Seems to work well.
The Jalopy Journal
