[DeTomaso] NPC- Definition of acceleration

[adin at frontier.net]

An old, old email.

But, if one thinks a moment . . . .(whew) running a 1.7 to 1 fuel mix  
means that over 1/3 of the charge is "liquid" ??????  At that  
compresion ratio, isn't that true hydro-lock????

How does that work?




Quoting "michael at michaelshortt.com" <michaelsavga at gmail.com>:

> A friend sent this to me, fun read.
>
>
>
> For all of you old drag racers
>
>
>
> THE DEFINITION OF ACCELERATION!!
>
>  One top fuel dragster 500 cubic inch Hemi engine makes more horsepower
> than the first 4 rows of stock cars at the Daytona 500.
>
>  It takes just 15/100ths of a second for all 6,000+ horsepower of an NHRA
> Top Fuel dragster engine to reach the rear wheels.
>
>  Under full throttle, a dragster engine consumes 1-1/2 gallons of nitro
> methane per second.  A fully loaded 747 consumes jet fuel at the same rate
> but with 25% less energy being produced.
>
>  A stock Dodge Hemi V8 engine cannot produce enough power to drive the
> dragster's supercharger.
>
>  With 3,000 CFM of air being rammed in by the supercharger on overdrive,
> the fuel mixture is compressed into a near-solid form before ignition.
>
>  Cylinders run on the verge of hydraulic lock at full throttle.
>
>  At the stoichiometric (stoichiometry: methodology and technology by
> which quantities of reactants and products in chemical reactions are
> determined) 1.7:1 air/fuel mixture of nitro methane, the flame front
> temperature measures 7,050 deg F.
>
>  Nitro methane burns yellow.  The spectacular white flame seen above the
> stacks at night is raw burning hydrogen, dissociated from atmospheric water
> vapor by the searing heat of the exhaust gases.
>
>  Dual magnetos supply 44 amps to each spark plug. This is the output of
> an arc welder in each cylinder.
>
>  Spark plug electrodes are totally consumed during a pass. After
> halfway, the engine is dieseling from compression, plus the glow of exhaust
> valves at 1,400 deg F. The engine can only be shut down by cutting the fuel
> flow.
>
>  If spark momentarily fails early in the run, unburned nitro immediately
> builds up in
> the affected cylinder and then explodes with sufficient force to blow
> cylinder heads off the block in pieces or split the block in half.
>
>  In order to exceed 300 mph in 4.. 5 seconds, dragsters must accelerate an
> average of over 4G's. In order to reach 200 mph (well before half-track),
> the launch acceleration approaches 8G's.
>
>  Dragsters reach over 300 miles per hour before you have completed
> reading this one sentence.
>
>  Top fuel engines turn approximately 540 revolutions from light to light!
> Including the burnout, the engine must only survive 900 revolutions under
> load.
>
>  The red line is actually quite high at 9,500 rpm.
>
>  Assuming all the equipment is paid off, the crew worked for free, and
> for once NOTHING BLOWS UP, each run costs an estimate $1,000.00 per second.
>
>  The current top fuel dragster elapsed time record is 4.428 seconds for
> the quarter mile (11/12/06, Tony Schumacher, at Pomona , CA ). The top speed
>
> record is 336.15 mph as measured over the last 66' of the run (05/25/05 Tony
>
> Schumacher, at Hebron , OH ).
>
>  Putting all of this into perspective:
>
>  You are driving the average $140,000 Lingenfelter 'twin-turbo' powered
> Corvette Z06. Over a mile up the road, a top fuel dragster is staged and
> ready to launch down a quarter mile strip as you pass. You have the
> advantage of a flying start. You run the 'Vette hard up through the gears
> and blast across the starting line and pass the dragster at an honest 200
> mph. The 'tree' goes green for both of you at that moment..
>
>  The dragster launches and starts after you. You keep your foot down
> hard, but you hear an incredibly brutal whine that sears your eardrums and
> within 3 seconds, the dragster catches and passes you. He beats you to the
> finish line, a quarter mile away from where you just passed him.
>
>  Think about it, from a standing start, the dragster had spotted you 200
> mph and not only caught, but nearly blasted you off the road when he passed
> you within a mere 1,320 foot long race course.
>
>  ... and that my friend, is ACCELERATION!
>
> --
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Michael L. Shortt
> Savannah, Georgia
> www.michaelshortt.com
> michael at michaelshortt.com
> 912-232-9390
>
>
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