An intercooler idea I've been playing with... is it worth it?

[jacob360]

I was thinking about rerouting an air conditioning evaporator in front of an intercooler, and build a housing that would force the cold air through it.

I know it would be a ****** of a project, but would it make any significant difference in performance?

[I am Technoman]

No, use a chiller system No2

[C-Kwik]

Not enough and you would absorb more power doing so. Keep in mind energy can not be created or destroyed. So the energy needed to run the A/C system will need to get power from somewhere(likely, the motor). And with the thought that A/C systems are not 100% efficient, you've already wasted more energy running the system than the gains you get. Also take into consideration the amount of air that flows through the I/C and radiator at speed. To cool all this air to any significant amount, you will need a rather large heat exchanger that can maintain a very cold temperature. And then throw in the fact that this condensor can block flow to the intercooler and the radiator. Water or some sort of liquid gas discharged onto the core would do fine. Disgaherd liquid gas will evaporate and supercool the core. Water would evaporate as it draws heat from the core in the process. and best of all, you waste little to no energy and get much better results.

[huguetpj]

I second that, it'll be best to just spray water on the cooler or even better CO2 or NO2.

[Chingon]

or water to air intercooler, or use an electric compressor.

[jacob360]

Yeah, I had my doubts, but the idea was kind of fun to play around with.

I like the system Ford has using the AC system to super cool a charge of coolant, then using it for a boost of cooling efficiency in the water cooled intercooler. The effect is only temporary though, and the system needs time to recharge (recool).

[C-Kwik]

or water to air intercooler, or use an electric compressor.

Regardless of the source of power, ultimately, the same amount of energy would be needed to drive an electric compressor or a mechanical compressor to drive the same amount of refridgerant at the same pressure through the same system. So what will end up taking the slack is the Alternator. But now you introduce one more component that is also not 100% efficient at converting energy. If it were something that required a short burt of high energy, no big deal since a battery or capacitor can store the energy or allow it to build back up slowly after a slight discharge. But a compressor would have to be run the entire time so the load would revert back to the alternator. And if the alternator is trying to put more electricity out, it will become harder to turn. No energy is free. But energy tends to be wasted quite a bit.

[I am Technoman]

Dude you would need a huge compressor to keep up with a turbo ha ha ha it just sounds funny. It would also take about 10 lbs of refrigerant!! he he he ho ho hummmmmmm :pface