I've been learning a bit about boost technology over the past few days and I've been thinking that a lot of the problems which turbos must overcome can be avoided by using a supercharger.
For example, one problem is the build up of goop in the exhaust turbine combined with the fouling of the bearings. I realize that with proper cool down, etc. this problem can be minimized, but a supercharger wouldn't have to deal with this at all! Another problem is the heating of the intake air as it passes through the turbo. Again, this is largely solved by the addition of an intercooler, but a supercharger wouldn't have this problem to begin with, meaning an intercooler isn't necessary thereby making the setup cheaper and easier to package in the engine compartment. Or, if you do include an intercooler, it would be much more effective since the incoming air is that much cooler to begin with. On a side note, do they make intercoolers that are misted with water? That would be pretty sweet
I was also thinking that using a supercharger might allow you to avoid replacing the manifold. Since the intake tube and exhaust tube don't need to converge to one spot like they do with a turbo setup, I would imagine you could simply cut out a section of the intake tube just after the air filter, drop the supercharger in and call it done. Of course this makes things difficult if you want to power the supercharger off an engine belt, but what if the supercharger were run off an electric motor? I don't know if such things exist, but even if they didn't it should be relatively easy to convert one to electric power.
Another neat thing about an electric supercharger would be that you could turn it on and off from inside the cabin. For example, for daily driving where gas milage is important, you can disable the supercharger. You could also have a little knob that allows you to adjust the boost. And if you're into drag racing, you could be sitting at the starting line idling with your supercharger blowing at 6psi giving you full boost right off the line.
As far as losses go, the electric motor would use some electricity which would need to be generated by your engine, but even a 1/4 hp motor is pretty darn big as far as motors go... which is peanuts compared to 150+ hp that the engine's producing. And even turbos have some losses since the engine must work to pump the exhaust gasses through the turbine.
So to sum up, the way I see it, an electric supercharger would be cheaper (no manifold or intercooler necessary), easier to install (again, no manifold or intercooler necessary), require less maintenance (no cooldown, no coking), give you more adjustability in your setup (you can adjust the boost from within the cabin with the turn of a knob or even turn it off for better gas mileage), and would have only slightly more losses than a turbocharger (if any).
Seeing as how I know nothing at all about boost, I'm sure I've made lots of mistakes in my logic. What are your thoughts? All of you folks out there who know what you're talking about, try not to flame me too much, I'm just a newb asking questions
For example, one problem is the build up of goop in the exhaust turbine combined with the fouling of the bearings. I realize that with proper cool down, etc. this problem can be minimized, but a supercharger wouldn't have to deal with this at all! Another problem is the heating of the intake air as it passes through the turbo. Again, this is largely solved by the addition of an intercooler, but a supercharger wouldn't have this problem to begin with, meaning an intercooler isn't necessary thereby making the setup cheaper and easier to package in the engine compartment. Or, if you do include an intercooler, it would be much more effective since the incoming air is that much cooler to begin with. On a side note, do they make intercoolers that are misted with water? That would be pretty sweet
I was also thinking that using a supercharger might allow you to avoid replacing the manifold. Since the intake tube and exhaust tube don't need to converge to one spot like they do with a turbo setup, I would imagine you could simply cut out a section of the intake tube just after the air filter, drop the supercharger in and call it done. Of course this makes things difficult if you want to power the supercharger off an engine belt, but what if the supercharger were run off an electric motor? I don't know if such things exist, but even if they didn't it should be relatively easy to convert one to electric power.
Another neat thing about an electric supercharger would be that you could turn it on and off from inside the cabin. For example, for daily driving where gas milage is important, you can disable the supercharger. You could also have a little knob that allows you to adjust the boost. And if you're into drag racing, you could be sitting at the starting line idling with your supercharger blowing at 6psi giving you full boost right off the line.
As far as losses go, the electric motor would use some electricity which would need to be generated by your engine, but even a 1/4 hp motor is pretty darn big as far as motors go... which is peanuts compared to 150+ hp that the engine's producing. And even turbos have some losses since the engine must work to pump the exhaust gasses through the turbine.
So to sum up, the way I see it, an electric supercharger would be cheaper (no manifold or intercooler necessary), easier to install (again, no manifold or intercooler necessary), require less maintenance (no cooldown, no coking), give you more adjustability in your setup (you can adjust the boost from within the cabin with the turn of a knob or even turn it off for better gas mileage), and would have only slightly more losses than a turbocharger (if any).
Seeing as how I know nothing at all about boost, I'm sure I've made lots of mistakes in my logic. What are your thoughts? All of you folks out there who know what you're talking about, try not to flame me too much, I'm just a newb asking questions
