Propellants nitrous oxide

Propellants. The propellant, said to be the heart of an aerosol system, maintains a suitable pressure within the container and expels the product once the valve is opened. Propellants may be either a Hquefied halocarbon, hydrocarbon, or halocarbon—hydrocarbon blend, or a compressed gas such as carbon dioxide (qv), nitrogen (qv), or nitrous oxide. 

Considerable developmental effort is being devoted to aerosol formulations using the compressed gases given in Table 4. These propellants are used in some food and industrial aerosols. Carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide, which tend to be more soluble, are often preferred. When some of the compressed gas dissolves in the product concentrate, there is partial replenishment of the headspace as the gas is expelled. Hence, the greater the gas solubiUty, the more gas is available to maintain the initial conditions. 

A small but important use of ammonium nitrate is in the production of nitrous oxide during the 1980s consumption for this purpose averaged about 30,000 t. The gas is generated by controlled heating of ammonium nitrate above 200°C. Nitrous oxide is used primarily as an anesthetic and as an aerosol propellant for food products (see Anesthetics Aerosols). 

WEB Dinitrogen oxide, commonly called nitrous oxide, is used as a propellant gas for whipped-cream dispensers. It is prepared by heating ammonium nitrate to 250°C Water vapor is also formed. 

Perhaps the best known oxide of nitrogen is N20, commonly called nitrous oxide or laughing gas. Nitrous oxide is frequently used as an anesthetic, particularly in dentistry. It is also the propellant gas used in whipped cream containers N20 is nontoxic, virtually tasteless, and quite soluble in vegetable oils. The N20 molecule, like all those in Figure 21.6, can be represented as a resonance hybrid. 

In canned whipping cream, the gas nitrous oxide is used as both a propellant and a whipping agent. Nitrous oxide under pressure dissolves in the fats in the cream, and comes out of solution (like fizzing carbon dioxide in a soda) when the pressure is released. The bubbles of nitrous oxide instantly whip the cream into foam. 

Nitrous oxide is used as a foaming agent and propellant in whipped cream. It dissolves easily in fats under pressure, and comes out of solu-... 

Many gases dissolve in fats and make good propellants. However, most are flammable or toxic, or they react with the fats. Other possible propellants, such as the propane used in hairsprays or in Freon, also cause intoxication when they dissolve in the fats around nerve cells. These substances are not used, since their flammability, safety, cost, or taste makes them less desirable than nitrous oxide for spray cans of whipping cream. 

Efforts to identify the specific compounds responsible for the psychotropic effects of volatile solvents are complicated by the fact that many of these products contain more than one potentially psychoactive ingredient. Another factor obscuring the identity of the psychoactive ingredients of these agents is that patients addicted to these compounds frequendy seek the effects not of the product s primary ingredient but of a secondary ingredient such as the propellant gas (e.g., nitrous oxide). To date, the best-studied psychoactive compounds identified in volatile solvents include toluene, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, and trichloroethylene. However, other less well studied compounds, such as benzene, acetone, and methanol, also appear to have significant psychoactive effects. 

A man habitually enjoyed the euphoric effects of inhaling whiffs of nitrous oxide in seclusion, and kept a cylinder of the gas in his sedan for that purpose. He decided to spray the faded car seats with an aerosol can of vinyl dressing (propanc/butanc propellant) with the windows closed. Then he had a whiff of gas from the briefly opened cylinder, and settled back to enjoy the euphoria and a cigarette. He was lucky to survive the resulting explosion of the fuel/oxidant mixture in a closed vessel [2],... 

Nitrous oxide is relatively soluble in water, and it is used as a propellant gas in canned whipped cream. It is also used as an anesthetic (laughing gas). 

Nitric oxide is a free radical that quickly reacts in air to produce nitrogen dioxide. It is also an important biological messenger and transmitter. Nitrous oxide is a colorless, nonflammable, nontoxic gas with a slightly sweet odor and taste. Nitrous oxide is called laughing gas and has been used as a recreational inhalant, anesthetic, oxidizer, and propellant. 

Nitrous oxide is nontoxic—it used as the propellant in whipped-cream spray cans—and so might seem to be an unlikely pollutant. However, as noted earlier, it may contribute significantly to greenhouse warming. Furthermore, on diffusing to the stratosphere, N20 becomes involved in the ozone cycle (reactions 8.2, 8.3, and 8.6) following its conversion to nitric oxide (NO) ... 

Strong heating can cause an explosion.) Known as "laughing gas" because small doses are mildly intoxicating, nitrous oxide is used as a dental anesthetic and as a propellant for dispensing whipped cream. 

Nowadays, the main practical application of nitrous oxide is related to medicine. It is also used also as a foaming agent in the food industry, for the preparation of lead and sodium azide propellants as well as gas generators in car air-bags. In addition, N20 is used also to enhance the power of racing cars. The total consumption of nitrous oxide for all these applications is rather small, and its annual production does not exceed several tens of thousands tons. 

Nitrous oxide is not a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration controlled substance. Nitrous oxide is regulated at the federal level by the United States Food and Dmg Administration (FDA), as a food-grade propellant, medical grade gas, and prescription drug. In the... 

A number of compressed and liquified gases are used as refrigerants and aerosol propellants. These include nitrous oxide, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, propane, and butane. The use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) is restricted because of environmental pollution leading to health hazards. These have been replaced by hydrogenated fluorocarbons (HFCs), which are less likely to cause environmental pollution. 

Nitrous oxide (laughing gas) is a colorless gas. It has a slightly sweet odor and taste and is somewhat soluble in water. It supports combustion of most substances almost as well as oxygen. Since the 1840 s the major use of nitrous oxide has been as an anesthetic - especially by dentists. It is also used as a propellant in some aerosol cans, in atomic absorption spectrophotometry, in cryosurgery and in racecar engines to provide extra power and acceleration. 

Users should also avoid inhaling directly from a nitrous oxide aerosol can. Some users have died as a consequence of freezing the throat area because the heat is absorbed as the gas expands. Freon, a similar molecule used as an aerosol propellant, does not have nitrous oxide effects. 

Nitrous oxide is quite soluble in water. At 0 °C, a volume of water dissolves 1.3 times its volume of N20 at 1 atm pressure. It is used as a propellant gas in canned whipped cream, and it has been used as an anesthetic (laughing gas). The melting point of N20 is -91 °C and the boiling point is -88 °C. 

Nitrous Oxide Laughing Gas That Propels Whipped Cream and Cars... 

One major use of nitrous oxide today is as the propellant in cans of instant whipped cream. 

Massachusetts General Hospital in 1845. The first patient came out of anesthesia too soon, and Wells s discovery was not fully understood or appreciated. Wells continued his experiments with anesthetics and later became addicted to the anesthetic chloroform. Sadly, he committed suicide as a result of his chloroform addiction. Though nitrous oxide was not appreciated at its first public hospital demonstration, it is still widely used today as an anesthetic, particularly in combination with other volatile anesthetics during surgeries. Likewise, nitrous-oxide use as a recreational drug has continued from the early nitrous-oxide capers to the present day, with the use of whipping-cream-propellant whippets and nitrous-oxide balloons and canisters. 

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