Sunday afternoon mods - intercooler cryo cooler mk1

[enigma]

Ok, some spare time on my hands BDA fabrications started to research extending its line of products today! :D

I have been on about it for a while, but today I took the plunge and started to make an intercooler cryo cooler. The principle is simple, squirt liquid CO2 (carbon dioxide) or N2O (nitrous oxide) on to the fins of the intercooler. The transition from liquid to gas creates a massive cooling effect and the result is a layer of ice on your intercooler...........cool! :-b

This will obviously reduce inlet temperatures and help get the very most out of your engine. This is particularly useful at the Pod as in the queue your intercooler wil heat soak and inlet temps will be high so power will be low. NOt what you need to run 12s!

So a trip to B&Q netted me some polished chrome gas pipe, some bending and drilling later, and the use of a straight connecter I had mk1 of my cryo cooler!

[enigma]

With a push fit connector from the airshop, my £5 cryo cooler was ready to be tested! I didn't have any N20 so I had to make do with CO2. In the pic it is in action, but a leak prevented plumes of liquid CO2 being visible :(

[enigma]

However the effects can clearly be seen in the close up! There is more development to do, but I am really excited!! ;)

[calum]

That's excellent work, Dave. I just can't understand how you get away with spending so much time messing around with cars!


Calum

[zedy1]

dAVE, i would have put the intercooler behind the front nearside foglight as the radiheater gets very hot when the car is stationary hence not cooloing the oil :rolleyes5

[landy]

That's excellent work, Dave. I just can't understand how you get away with spending so much time messing around with cars!


Calum

Yeah, ya jammy get :p :-b

[-LegnumVR4-]

I can see a little bit of spray from the top lefthand corner of the gas pipe :-b

The whole idea is to fill that area inside the gas pipe right? How strong would the pressure have to be to keep the mist like spray strong enough so the high mph doesn't just blow it straightback as it leaves the gas pipe? I have the water sprayers hooked up to my washer bottle pump, it can spray a bit out but not sure how effective it would be at high speeds. :rolleyes5

Maybe on a Dyno would tell?

[enigma]

Well spotted Rhys!

The idea is to fill the area inside the pipe yes, however it is really only to be done whilst stationary. Once you get moving at any sort of speed you get airflow through the core which will start reducing the temp anyway. The idea is to get it cold before you start moving.

I read an article yesterday about water sprayers and how you need vast amounts of water to make any real difference. With CO2 ir N2O you can reduce the core temp to near zero within a few seconds. This can make the intercooler 50% more efficient and has been shown to increase BHP on a dyno by as much as 50BHP! I expect a lot less than this, but I do expect it to make a big difference at the Pod.

Last time out at Santa Pod a number of Scoobies had ice stacked up on their intercoolers to have a similar effect. We cant do this as the ice would fall off!

[simpsonm]

Won't using no2 make the intercooler very brittle?

[enigma]

I think you may be confusing N20 with liquid nitrogen!!! :D

[simpsonm]

My apologies, didn't want you leaving the intercooler in many fragments on the floor. I think I need a element table from some school kid!! :rolleyes5

[Physician]

Awesome Dave .......... wish I had some of your car mechanics knowledge - really interesting what you come up with ..... and willing to 'give it a go'.

I was wondering if you could make a cryogenic chamber to house me in for posterity ? :sad3:

[ileonc]

Cos' you could make a load of money!!

Ebay Tat (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=72205&item=7947888184&rd=1)

Trying to find a 5lb tank for my intercooler kit. May just have to settle for a 2kg fire extingisher (spelling!). I have a 20oz paintball tank but thats not lasting so long, I think its syphoning liquid CO2, rather than gas.

[enigma]

Its the liquid stuff you want!

This is on the back burner at the moment - along with most other things as we have a baby coming in a few months and many many things to sort out! Latest of which is a new bathroom, Kieran quite rightly stated "bejesus, thats 3/4 of the cost of a VERY nice Leggle" :rolleyes5

I have had a rethink on the intercooler front as well, I have just had a result from the taxman (only a little one, but £260 aint to be sniffed at!), and a look on EBAY shows I can get a f'in huge intercooler for $200 plus delivery. I know it wont fit without mods to either the car or the core, but I am very tempted! Its 30" wide, 12" high and 3" thick.......good for lots of BHP!

I have heard that oversized intercoolers will induce lag, as the huge volume needs to be filled, but I think I can live with that!

[ileonc]

Thought it might be the liquid stuff I want.

At the mo its feeding through tubing to nozzles, not like your setup of a filled tube with holes. I imagine to cover a big area your idea has the drop on mine.

I have a 20oz tank with a syphon tube on the valve and it feeds liquid. Although the reg I put on tends to evaporate the CO2 into a gas until it gets cold enough, not a problem I don't think

The plan is to mount the nozzles so the CO2 covers one half of the intercooler, the exit half. I will have to get a larger CO2 tank before I plumb it all in.

As for your large intercooler idea, I would imagine it would induce lag, but at lower boost only? I suppose if you could find a way to 'section' off the intercooler you could make the intercooler as large or small as you like. I don't know what sort of benefit would be gained. Or just install an Anti Lag system, making sure that all exhaust bolts are fastened correctly.

I have had it in my mind to try and put together some sort of variable diameter system for the turbos. But I don't know if there would be any benefit to it.

Constricting the inlet from the exhaust would increase velocity to the turbine but then again I know that the engine will have to work harder on the exhaust stroke meaning any firing cylinders would have to work harder as well. Constricting the compressor inlet might help, but with my amateur mech eng shanigans I realise that increased velocity = less pressure.

With NA engines its so much easier to work it all out!

Anyway I'm waffling...

I will watch your out for your threads when you pick up these projects BDA.

Good luck with the sprog, and a bathroom would give you less of an earbending then a new motor (or half a one!)

[shooter]

Hmm,

Nice ideas here. I have been looking at the dry ice route. Cooling the intercooler with appropriately sized nodules of dry ice.

Access is the problem to pack the front.

still, lots of ideas here for me to consider.

Shooter