Danger of N20???

Ok, i was sitting in the bathroom doing my thing(not that thing) and reading the Newsday(local paper) i came across an article about a 97 BMW who was speeding down a highway and a cop put on his flashers and was pulling the guy over. There was construcion so they couldnt pull over on the highway so as the cop was following the guy off the road he lost sight of him on the ramp. He comes around the bend to see the car smashed into a tree and in flames, he tried to rescue the driver. When the trunk exploded and consumed the entire car in flames "The explosion probably came from some sort of cylindrical tank stored in the trunk, Ferrucci said. The impact ripped off the trunk lid and rear fender, he said. Detectives were trying to determine what had been inside the 2-foot-long tank. 'There had to be something pressurized in there,' Ferrucci said." Whould this be a nitrous tank??

LINK TO SITE (http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-lidead0510,0,4672750.story)


EDIT:Im not sure what exactly it was but that was my first guess.:EDIT

Sounds like N2O to me.


Did anyone see third watch where that N2O tank blew up in the black Grand national. It cut that blond fire fighter girl in half. Anyone one see that?

Yeah but it could also be a CO2 tank for a keg at home...not to be a d!ck, but was their a point? I mean were you asking if NO2 actually does blow up or implying that racing with it is dangerous...sorry I just didn't gather what you were trying to say from your post.

CO2 would have put that fire out immediatly, It coulda been N2O or O2

well he obviously yelled "NAAWWWZZZ!!!" before it exploded

I was wondering if it was an n20 tank.. i dont know much about them but reading a story like that makes me wonder why someone would risk putting something that dangerous in thier car. The whole 2foot long thing kind of puzzled me because i dont know how long the tanks usually are.

N2O isn't flammable, unless the temperature is really high since the N2O must firt decompose into N2 and O2 before the O2 can be used in any combustion.

All pressure tanks have safety devices that allows the gas to leak out before the tank burst of the pressure.

you drive with gas in your car, that can explode whats the difference?

N2O won't explode.

If the idea of driving around with a tank of N2O bothers you, stop for a second and recall how much gasoline you sit on top of everytime you take the wheel.

N2O itself isn't combustable but the tank will explode if heated up. Look up the MSDS yourself if you don't believe me.

Note: Anybody remember the cars from the 80's that if rear ended would explode in flames? There was a huge safety recall that happened afterward.
There are safety guidelines for the placement of a gas tank to keep them safe during a normal accident.

The tank will not explode when heated as long as the blow-off safety valve is operating properly. If bottle pressures exceed safe limits the blow-off valve will dump the nitrous. There are also safety guidelines for bottle placement, it's up to you whether or not to follow them.

The tank will not explode when heated as long as the blow-off safety valve is operating properly. If bottle pressures exceed safe limits the blow-off valve will dump the nitrous. There are also safety guidelines for bottle placement, it's up to you whether or not to follow them.
They are called burst disks and are designed to go when the tank pressure is above normal but under the burst pressure of the tank. Because of them the tank will not explode.

They are referred to as blow-off safety valves by NOS. I was just using their terminology.

So to explain why a tank would blow up. it would have to be combustible like a propane tank.