intercooling....cooling idea

[herms99gst]

So i was watching sons of guns the other day and they were builing a dual m16 setup with a watercooling system. So i was thinking, would it be worth trying to do the same thing to a intercooler? I know they have air to water intercoolers where the intercooler is submerged in water....i think thats how it works. But their like 2000 dollars!!! I mean how hard would it be to get a long ass piece of copper...bend it in half being careful not to kink it. Start at the pipe closer to the compressor outlet an start winding tight colis around the pipes....accross the bottom of the intercooler, maybe add a way to disconnect it for ease of removal. Once the intake side is wrapped, maybe not all the way up, run the two lines to a small pump submerged in water. You would obviously have to source a jug or container of some sort to mount the pump in. And maybe build a intake box type of container to keep it cool. I dont know, maybe stupid but it would be worth a shot if someone else hasent attempted it. I mean you would be cooling the exhaust gasses before they reached the intercooler, than having the intercooler cool them down. And finally you would have them cooled one more time before entering the intake. You could make a cheapo intercooler be as efficient as a expensive one. Well strt the bashing im ready .

 

[Colt4G63 also]

You can buy the whole water/air setup complete with the intercooler, pump, fan and radiator for $299.

Ps. If you're cooling your exhaust gasses you're doing it wrong.

 

[herms99gst]

O didnt know that...well their goes my idea. And i didnt mean exhaust gasses sorry. I meant the air intake charge. Well kust when i thought i could be on tv with one of those buy one get one free comercials my hopes and dreams get shot down . Ill do a lil more research next time, thanks

 

[DashLaflash]

I was thinking the same thing as you and posted about it in my other intercooler thread. I was thinking someone that already has a water to air set up could run ther copper tubing in place of the intercooler thats built into the pipe and see how good it really works. They said it offered a 40 percent reduction in temps with the copper tubing. I don't know how that compares to a standard intercooler set up. If this worked though it would allow you to run the shortest intercooling pipe possible.

 

[knochgoon24]

Do you guys understand how w2a (water-to-air) intercoolers work?

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/bol...-7-7-intercooler-liquid-15.html#post151937341

 

[DashLaflash]

Yes we're talking about running a hot pipe set up like Lucas English has on one of his cars and wrapping the pipe with copper tubing. You then route your water system to run through the copper coil. View the last post in this thread. I have a video and everything. http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/turbo-system-tech/397651-side-mount-intercooler-supports-500hp.html

 

[knochgoon24]

You're still way off...

With that M16, they cooled the barrel. You're trying to cool the bullet.

 

[DashLaflash]

The barrel of a gun gets hot from exhaust gasses that are the result of combustion. The intercooler pipes get hot for the same reason. Heat is being transfered from the gases to the pipes and the laws of thermodynamics state that heat energy flows from hot to cold. If you can cool the pipe then the heat that's in the air will transfer into the pipe and cool down the air charge. Or at least that's how it would work in my head . I know it might not be as efficient as having an intercooler built into the pipe with water running through it like current water to air systems use. I just wanted to see someone try it out since shorter intercooler piping is always a good thing as well as improving current designs.

 

[knochgoon24]

You'll see a better result from using one of the w2a intercoolers than you will by just chilling the pipe.

The key to heat transfer is surface area. The pipe is only chilling the air that is close to it. Boundary layer effects compound the problem. You're making this much more complex than it needs to be.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

The piping for this is practically the same length, and the pressure drop across a well designed core should be very small.


And here's more bad news for you:
Just how long is the air in the pipe for you to be able to chill it via your method?
Lets assume: T-25 @ 300cfm, 2.5" intercooler piping

Someone did the math: http://www.honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=1202591
Charge velocity is 100mph (174ft/s). If that pipe is 3' long, you have just 0.017 seconds to cool it from 300°F down to something more reasonable.