Spraying water on intercooler

[rob10858]

wouldnt the biggest problem be keeping the water used to mist cool? then you get into what the proper temp would be and maintaining that temp. i dont know how hot the innnercooler fins get, but ice cold water and heated surfaces sometimes dont mix. water that isnt cooled , i just dont see that working

 

[Lil' Dog]

Water evaporating carries away alot more energy that just air-surface transfer across the intercooler. The evaporation of any temperature fluid will cause a cooling effect on the intercooler higher than that of just having more air. The evaporation is the cooling effect desired.

Old air conditioning units were designed this way for old tractors and buildings. It is also a popular cooling system for chemical/gas plants.

 

[rob10858]

arent we talking about steam cooling then? it seems that everytime you engaged your coolant, it would turn into steam just like a hydro electric plant. it would work, but a dry, cold source would be perfect.

 

[Doc Tinker]

How about a propane spray



Doc



PS - This post moves me past Joe Donnelly, in post numbers

 

[Ramboy]

In low humidity, high heat areas of Ca, Az, NM, Nv, et al, evaporative coolers are popular for home cooling. By pulling 100+ degree air through wet excelsior (straw), the temp. of the air is lowered by about 30*. This type of cooling is very effective.

Phil

 

[Diesel Freak]

Originally posted by Lil' Dog







Diesel Freak, how expensive was your thermocouple setup??

it did not cost me anything... just borrowed a K type thermocouple from work and I am using a Fluke Multi meter to read the temp... accurate to . 1 F

 

[rich m]

yet another "goodie" to add to the list..

Stuck bidena in the "favorites" file... . rm

 

[illflem]

Lil' Dog, this is what I'm useing for intake temp. It also doubles as my AT temp gauge with a switch and two senders,accurate to 1°, 0°-300° range. Been working great for a couple of years. Think that Drawson is useing the same setup. Buy the senders seperately, they don't come with the gauge, about $15. Don't know why Whitney doesn't mention it.

 

[Eric_77]

Nitrogen=Fire suppresent



Most of these kits are for Bonneville or drag type applications short controlled bursts. In fact at Bonneville they will run air to water intercoollers that go into icechest.

The mist will give a denser air charge that resists temp changes so 95 degree air at 100% humidity will act as a better heat sink than 95 degree air at 20%. The mist will cool the air to some degree also.

I wonder if you would indeed be getting much of a return on the EGT side though. I wonder how much of the reduced EGT would be in fact coming from more cooling of the coolant and oil?

 

[JohnE]

That Bidena Desert SuperCooler looks promising.

Instead of wasting all your fresh water reserves why not use it to empty your grey water system... ... OK just kidding, but I had to mention it.



This brings back memories of drag racing: Ice, dry ice, cool cans, etc.

 

[WestTN]

spraying water

I wouldn't do it with anything other than distilled water. Otherwise you will get mineral buildup which will insulate your aftercooler from the air and reduce it's effectiveness.



The water WILL cool the intake in the long term. Without much boost at all the intake air temperature will be way above ambient and many times will be over the boiling point of water. At 85 degF and 21 psig boost, the temperature will be about 245 degF. The evaporating water will cool because of a phenomenom known as 'latent heat of evaporation'.



You could easily rig a few windshield washer nozzles and pump to do the spraying. and even use a micoswitch on the throttle linkage or pressure switch plumbed to the intake manifold to initiate the spray under heavy load.

 

[rob10858]

so if water temp doesnt matter, its easy. go to a salvage yard pull off an old windshield washer wire and plum it . then tell us how it works. most power plants use water to cool their egts so why not try it? but logic would dictate that every bug in the grille would act like a small sponge, and they are hard enough to remove dry. a prefilter might work as long as the moisture doesnt reach it. but it sounds like a promising idea.

 

[Bob Horrell]

I once had a jeep that I installed a 400hp chevy 327 in. I used it for sand hill climbs. I had a problem with heat due to the 10. 5 to 1 pistons and had the largest custom radiator built that would fit (very limited space). Still got too hot. I then added an external engine oil cooler. This helped some but still not enough. I next went to a mist system. I used a windshield washer tank with the motor in the bottom and connected this to a drip system mister that misted the front of the radiator and engine oil cooler whenever I turned on the switch. This solved the problem. Even though my speeds were not high in the hill climbs the fan sucked enough air past the misters that the engine ran cool.

I had contemplated doing this on my dodge but managed to solve the egt problems with a custom air intake system and didn't need this final step. It should work fine for those with egt problems and is really easy and cheap to make. And I only used distilled water, didn't want to chance any build up of minerals on the inside of the radiator fins.

 

[dewdo]

I don't have much trouble with the EGT, but the transmission can get real toasty. I was pulling my 2,000 lb boat and with the 4,000 lb camper and got on a rough dirt road I couldn't get off of. The transmission temperature pegged according to the gauge. Would a mist spray help in a situation like that?

 

[rich m]

start the spray before trans hits 200*F

Hey Dewdo---sometimes I hose down the transmission cooler in the front yard (and the A/C condenser). . brings'em down, but does take a little while if the temp has already gotten out of hand...





I think I'd devote a disproportionate number of nozzles to the transmission, to be quite honest... . the intercooler's outlet is nearest to there, anyway, and if there's heat transfer going on, re-heating the intake air, maybe that will be lessened at the same time.

 

[Gonzo 1066]

Water injection

Diesel tractor pullers have been injecting water into the intake air for YEARS and the results are dramatic! Cooler EGTs and longer engine life. The water on the intercooler will also work. The dryer the ambient air the better it will work. Hold your hand out the window at 70 mph then bring it back in wet it and try the same thing again. There should be no discussion on this, it is a simple and proven FACT.

 

[Casey Ray]

Desert SuperCooler

Months ago I purchased the Desert SuperCooler from http://www.rvjournal.com/rp_supercooler.html for my 1995 Dodge 1/2 ton gasser. I ended up selling the truck before installing it as we had upgraded to a larger travel trailer. The new trailer is too big for the 1/2 ton. Convinced the YF we needed a bigger truck.



Last night I happened across the unopened box containing the kit. I have been thinking of adding the kit, but have some reservations. I've swapped out the stock air box and filter for an AFE Mega-Cannon. Would I have any problems with moisture into my air filter with this setup? I know this is a mist, and if directed onto the intercooler and radiator do you think I would have any problems?



What do you think, should I just return the kit or give it a try?



Thanks for your time,



Bocifus

 

[Whitmore]

excellent post

If I may give some more input.



I work in gas processing and can tell all that the comments here are right on as far as h2o mist, we use it alot!

1. the mist will dramitically improve your temps

2. If you choose to use h2o mist , do go with distilled to remove impurities as to not cause buildup, if you use regular h2o than you will be stuck with the mist setup from then on or will do alot of chemical cleaning.



OK lets back up a minute, I have for the past year been doing an experiment for a new Ram air set-up and my first move was to installe a temp reading from the air horn to the cab for continuious monitoring and I can tell you that our intercooler is quite efficient, first let me tell you that a 100% effecient air exchanger can at best deliver to you ambient temp plus 20 degrees, thats with 100% efficiency so on a 100 degree day the best temp at the air horn can be 120 degrees, I have proven this theroy to be accurate whithin 2 or 3 degrees. Now with that being said I can also tell you that under a big load and 9 k elevation and 6 to 9 % climbs that our intercooler tends to be a touch undersized or just plain get overloaded, on a 100 degree day I was able to reach airhorn temps of 145 to 150, and a max egt of 1350 degrees, this was with the a/c on as well, I was trying to load up the system to the max.

Let me back up a minute, this was all done with the BHAF in place too. OK then I made an adjustment ( sorry I cant be too in detail about this as this mod may get a patent) . but I can tell you that the mod is a ram air system ... ... ... ... . when I made the mod and under the same pulling conditions I was only able to reach 125 degree at the air horn and 1250 max egt, this was with my comp on 5x5 too and I even lugged the truck down to 1500 rpm and it wouldnt go any higher so I proved its value, mainly what was done was a cooler air was fead to the intercooler, what I am saying from this is that we still have other ways to help before we add h20 mist !

Now let me add one more twist, my mod is not done yet and will get even better, what I am saying is that my ram air is not complete and I was still getting an aproximate 50% of the air from under the hood, I am this week going to get with my fabricator to finish the ram air system and have confidence that I will get even lower combustion air, my goal is ambient air temp plus 20 into the all mighty CUMMINS and I do think that it will be done. Please be patient with me and I WILL keep all of you up to speed with this mod but I just cant yet.



Let me ask you all one... ..... In my mind the intercooler is there for 2 things.

1) to help warm up the air or even out the temps when the ambient is cool or cold ? am I right ?



2) the intercooler is there as a efficience ploy on fuel as well as a means of assisting the motor for complete combustion ? (emmissions) am I right ?



If those 2 things are true than answer me why we cant simply remove the intercooler and then ram air the compressor with cooler air ? what I am saying is that with my new bomb the best I will get is ambient plus 20 ... ... ... . seams to me we could without the intercooler get ambient ????? streighten me out boys... ... ... ... Kevin

 

[Diesel Freak]

Re: excellent post

Originally posted by Whitmore

1) to help warm up the air or even out the temps when the ambient is cool or cold ? am I right ?



2) the intercooler is there as a efficience ploy on fuel as well as a means of assisting the motor for complete combustion ? (emmissions) am I right ?



If those 2 things are true than answer me why we cant simply remove the intercooler and then ram air the compressor with cooler air ? what I am saying is that with my new bomb the best I will get is ambient plus 20 ... ... ... . seams to me we could without the intercooler get ambient ????? streighten me out boys... ... ... ... Kevin

nope, check the temp of the air at the compressor discharge at full boost. At 30 psi it will be over 350F.

 

[Whitmore]

OK OK OK

I had a brain fart... ..... where is my processing mind?



Ambient temp goes in to the compressor wheel and from the compression of the air it heats up... ... ... who knows what the temp is post compressor??? I am guessing its around 180 to 190. So then the intercooler has more duty on it than I thought... ..... DUH... ..... I think I need another probe to add to the post compression, Kevin