Intercoolers..

[sdbartho at cca.rockwell.com]

> Hi there,
> 
> A few questions about intercoolers on turbo engines.
> 
> i/  What is better at removing heat from the intake air:
>     Air-Air or Air-Water?

> ii/ Where do Air-Water intercoolers get the water supply from?
>     The engine cooling system or a totally seperate system
>     (I was thinking of putting a container in the boot/trunk
>     and filling it with ice water to feed the intercooler).

The '91-92-93 Syclone/Typhoon have a air/water system made by Garrett.
It consists of a small heat exchanger under the bumper, a RV kitchen
water pump, and a custom aluminum ntercooler/fluid reservoir.
The system works pretty well until the system gets heat-soaked; the
trick is to not let it get there. A fan on the heat exchanger works
somewhat, and there is an auxillary heat exchanger on the market that
claims to hold the output air temp to within 10 degrees above ambient
at all times.

I use ice at the drags a lot, but not _in_ the intercooler. I take a
bag and set it on the intercooler housing between runs, and everything
gets nice and cold. I've heard of some guys using the exact setup you
mention (beer cooler full of ice in the pickup box) with a lot of success.

Gale Banks used the ice-cooler system on the normally aspirated truck that
broke the B Production land speed record at Bonneville.

> iii/If you were to run fuel injection with LPG, would the
>     cooling effect from the LPG expanding as it comes out of
>     the injector be sufficient to not require an intercooler?

The cooling of the LPG helps some, not to mention the octane. The HP book
_Turbocharging_ (MacInnes) has a whole chapter on LPG and turbocharging.
It's a good book to own, albeit a little outdated.


Dig
sdbartho at hwking.cca.rockwell.com