Is CO2 cooling a good idea?

[zelone]

Hello,
I am new to this web site, I am not an engineer, I just like to design and build my own ideas. I think this site will help with alot of them.

My question is about using compressed CO2 to cool a lower intake manifold on a Ford 302L engine. The engine has a Kenne Bell Twin-Screw type of supercharger which sits directly on top of the lower intake manifold. Because of this design, there is not much room for an intercooler. I have been considering building a CO2 cooling system which would operate similar to a N2O system. It would be activated by either a WOT switch or a manual override switch, which would activate a solenoid/valve to allow compressed CO2 to travel from the tank to a "rail" made from 3/8" steel fuel line. The line would be shaped like a "U" and be mounted over the lower intake manifold. Above each intake runner I would drill a small hole or seies of holes aimed at the lower intake. When the solenoid is activated, CO2 would spray on the lower intake manifold, cooling it significantly. I believe this can be put together for very little money. I would like some opinions and suggestions about this idea, before I spend the time and money. It will be completely removeable and will not changes the a/f ratio because nothing is being added to the actual induction. It shouldnt require any tuning. The engine control system should be able to sense that the air going into the engine is more dense and therefore add slightly more fuel to compensate.

Any suggestions are welcomed.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.

-Den

 

[wildcatgeorge]

No broadband available here =(
if your doing this on the cheap
air to air is the way to go, and I know you
have that setup allready so you have some
choices to make. Add 50% alcohol to your
water injection for additional cooling, more
than that will not help.

The bottle needs to be as close as possable to the
cooler, and to get liquid it needs to feed upside down.
With insulated lines the bottle could feed from the trunk,
but you might not want to insulate the lines until the engine
compartment.

Thermoelectrics will not have the BTU to be effective
unless they are quite large, which is $$$.

12V refrigerators are available, don't remember how much
but they also have a freezer so one of those might be able
to chill the water and keep up with demand, or at least keep
the temps lower than they would be otherwise.

You might also consider an engine driven A/C compressor
to chill the water, but I don't think you want to sap 15 HP
from the engine to do this.

On the other hand an ammonia system that uses heat from
the exhaust could cool the water with no drag on the engine,
but I don't think you want to learn commercial refrigeration
to acomplish this LOL.

Ideas to think about,
Darrin

 

[drjclark]

Darrin,
Try these links for pics:

[

http://www.hpphoto.com/sessions/349631472669/26649419lg.jpg

]

[

http://www.hpphoto.com/sessions/349631472669/26649301lg.jpg

]

 

[wildcatgeorge]

these are passworded sites

 

[drjclark]

Crap, let me work on that.

 

[wildcatgeorge]

LOL no worries,
I need to go to bed now, got to get up at 2AM
to go to work.

You might try direct links to the pics
unless these were, I didn't / couldn't see
the whole address.

Just checked, they are direct links, I guess
you need to post in a public forum site.

 

[zelone]

Darrin,
Its funny, I was also considering water injection lately, and I was planning to look for ways to keep the water chilled. I too, considered a type of 12V refrigerater to do this. It seems like we think alike. What about a small thermos to hold the water. You could fill it with ice/water/alcohol and it will stay cooler longer then the usual water injection tanks. Good Luck.

 

[patprimmer]

Alcohol in your water injection also has the added advantage of preventing the growth of algy in the water. Algy can block a nozzel. I know, it cost me an engine

SEE PREVIOUS THREADS ON THIS SUBJECT

Regards
pat

 

[drjclark]

Darrin,
Try this link:

http://www.geocities.com/drjclark/blownindex.htm

 

[wildcatgeorge]

Windows but no pics, I see the name of the pics are
Caps, if the upload pic is lower case they will not
show up.