Dry Ice Chamber

[NinjaTech]

Diggin up an old thread here..

I had an idea for a way to cool the water in a air/water intercooler setup. This would be for a mostly track car. Your car already has a pretty powerfull phase change cooling system built into it already.. The air conditioner... You would have to have a little knowlege about how A/C systems work to be able to get it hooked up right, but instead of having the evaporator coils in your ventilation system, move them into the water reservoir for your air/water intercooler, add some water and antifreeze (so you dont get a big block of ice). Before your run, flip the switch on the A/C compressor untill the water cools down to the temperature you want to run at, then as soon as you get prestaged, flip off the compressor to remove the compressors load from the engine, and go for it. You wouldnt ever need to refill with ice, it could easily be flipped on to cool down your air charge while driving around town to..


I havent done any number crunching to see if a cars A/C compressor would be powerfull enough to cool down that large of a volume of water quickly enought to make it feasible or not, but it was an idea.

Pat

 

[questhe]

Thanks for digging this up!

I could see a dual-stage intercooler working very well. It would have to be designed as such.

Use an air-air intercooler to get the temps down near ambient. Then use the water-air to get them freezing. Pressure drop would have to be considered through both intercoolers, but there are plenty of ways to minimize p-drop when efficiency isn't critical.

Using the air pre-cooler for the system reduces load on the liquid part, and makes it last longer if it is a charge-discharge type i.e dry ice or ice water.

Now what about that fuel line cooling effect? how much performance is that worth?

 

[FireyIce01]

There you go.

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Looks good on a DSM too.


www.speednosis.com

First - that is a very good idea... I've seen kits that have an adapter that allows the CO2 to cool the fuel line, and then cool the intake charge, and as the final path spray onto the intercooler....

second- if you want to see larger horsepower gains, try layering enough regular ice to cover the bottom of your container, then drop a bunch of dry ice in, and top it off with more standard ice... not only will it make the ice last longer (the dry ice will act like a freezer - this is also a good idea if you're planning a BBQ in the summer, put dry ice in the bottom of your ice chest), it will have better heat transfer properties, and as the ice melts it will still be very cold.

 

[ftrs13]

I have thought about this for a long time, because I work at a research facility which uses dry ice to cool super hot gasses. anywho, one thing that you can do, if the chamber is actually water tight, is full it with acetone. the dry ice aceton mixture makes a slurry that lasts, and would have similar properties to water. ie, covering the entire intercooler. I was actually thinking of trying this not with turbo, but rather with a shitty kia or something draw through, and just see the NA gains with below 0 air.

my biggest concern though, was the water buildup in the intercooler. the humidity in the air is going to freeze in the intercooler and close up the passages, and when it melts, you will have a liquid bath sitting at the bottom waiting to crack it when it freezes and expands again.

Steve

 

[Bohrn]

good point on the condensation!

 

[Jehu]

I wouldn't worry too much about condensation. Remember that the air is moving at high velocity through the passages, any moisture will be reabsorbed into the air stream and taken into the intake.

 

[Bohrn]

hehe, I'll put a nozzle in front of the intercooler, and running alky thru it

 

[ftrs13]

not exactly. if the humidity is above the dewpoint of the container (-100 or so) and Im assuming that it will be, there will be no reabsorption of the ice that crystallizes in the intercooler, only deposits. because if the air is saturated, then it cannot absorb any water whatsoever.

 

[FireyIce01]

not exactly. if the humidity is above the dewpoint of the container (-100 or so) and Im assuming that it will be, there will be no reabsorption of the ice that crystallizes in the intercooler, only deposits. because if the air is saturated, then it cannot absorb any water whatsoever.

Put a petcock on your intercooler? that way you can drain any excess water before you put more dry ice in the resivoir, then eliminating the worry of it refreezing and cracking.... OR you could just start the car and run it for a couple minutes before you put ice in... either should clear any built-up condensation.

 

[Turbo Talon DL]

This is a MUCH better alternative than alcohol injecton!! I always thought of building my own c02 fogger system, but never dry ice!! Thats a good idea. It should be much cheaper than an alcohol injection setup also.

 

[Bohrn]

I hope you are being sarcastic.