All about INTERCOOLER

Introduction

As we have discussed earlier how internal combustion engines work and we had also discussed the working and the functions of the supercharger as well as the turbochargers in a fully comprehensive way.

The turbochargers function to increase the volumetric efficiency of the internal combustion engine by pumping in more fresh air from the atmosphere as well as the exhaust gas, commonly known as Exhaust Gas Recirculation System and then diverting it directly into the combustion chamber for more amount of fuel to be burnt for an increased amount of engine power.

This leads to heating up of turbocharger as well, that in turn is not suggested, and hence some mechanical component is needed for cooling purpose, that we study as the Intercooler.

As the main component is air, so it is used as air to air radiator/Heat Exchanger.

The hot air from the turbocharger enters the intercooler from one end, where it is passed through a set of parallel tubes aligned.

While passing through the tubes, a cooling fan pushes the ambient air directly to the tubes with hot gases.

This helps the hot gases to be cooled and the heat released is dissipated into the atmosphere.

TYPES OF INTERCOOLER

There are two main types of the intercooler, whose working are different from each other.

1. Air to Air Intercooler

An air to air intercooler is an intercooler that uses air to cool air.

This means the exchange of heat that occurs is between the air that you have charged in your charge pipes and the air that is flowing through the intercooler.

Air to Air intercoolers are only as efficient as the ambient airflow (air temperature outside) that they see.

Placement of these types of intercoolers is therefore very crucial in the efficiency of this type of intercooler.

Advantages

1. No power supply is required to work and therefore is easy to set up.

2. No liquid substances are needed to work and hence no chances for leaks.

3. Doesn’t suffer from heat-soak as long as the intercooler is seeing good airflow.

Disadvantages

1. Efficiency is dependent on the ambient air temperature.

2. Efficiency is also dependent on the amount of airflow the intercooler sees.

3. Cannot be mounted anywhere else, it must be mounted in a location to experience airflow.

2. Water to Air Intercooler

A Water to Air Intercooler is one where the exchange of heat occurs between water and air.

Water is pumped through the pump to the intercooler so that the heat from your charge pipes is transferred to the water.

This type of set-up can be mounted anywhere, and just needs to have water plumped to it.

Because of its requirement for the flow of water, this type of intercooler needs a water pump, a reservoir, and a heat exchanger for the water mounted somewhere that will receive good airflow.

Advantages

1. Provides good volumetric efficiency, so the size of the intercooler is small.

2. Efficiency can be exaggerated by using ice, or other chemicals to produce normally un-realistic temperatures for short amounts of time.

3. Can be mounted anywhere along the charge piping route.

Disadvantages

1. Requires a number of other components to work.

2. Because it is more complex, thus chances of leaks are associated

3. Can become heat soaked when used for long periods of hard driving and become terribly in-efficient.

Originally published at https://www.carengineered.com on August 18, 2020.