Important of Intercooler

Intercooler are installed near the front bumper so that it continously comes in contact with the cold air from outside.The function is to reduce the air temperature that goes into the car engine.
The hot air from turbo engine goes into the intercooler, then flows through the high surface area vanes, causing heat to be lost through dissipation. The air then flows out the other end of the intercooler at a lower temperature and then into the intake of the engine.
By reducing the engine's inlet temperatures, a denser air charge will enter the engine which enhances the combustion of the air/fuel mixtures. This can produce more horsepower at the same boost level and even more power at higher boost levels.


Intercooler performance is measured by the amount of energy (temperature) that can be remove from the inlet charge air as well as the pressure drop across the entire system. It is important to consider the entire intercooler system to determine the intercooler performance:

• How big the intercooler surface area
• The intercooler internal passage volume
• The lowest possible the pressure can drop
• The highest possible the intercooler core efficiency
• It should matched to the turbocharger air delivery

Blow Off Valve

A Blow-Off Valve(BOV) is a component present in turbo engines with function to release a pressure. It is located right before the throttle body.
Actually it is a vacuum operated valve which releases air to the atmosphere or back into the intake.

It helps to protect our turbo system from 'compressor surges'.
These surges occur when throttle pedal is released while under turbo boost, normally when we changing gear.
When the throttle plate is closed, the high pressure air in the intake system is trapped by the throttle and a pressure wave is forced back into the compressor.
With no place to go, the compressed air will pushes back against the turbo, possibly damaging it.
The Blow Off Valve will react quickly to this situation and release the compressed air.

So, the turbocharger will keeps spinning even the throttle plate is fully closed.
Once the driver presses the throttle pedal once again, the turbocharger - which is still spinning - will keep on providing the optimal power .

Comparison between turbocharger and supercharger

The main difference between a 'turbocharger' and a 'supercharger' is its power supply. Something has to supply the power to run the air compressor.
In a supercharger, it use a belt that connects directly to the engine. It gets its power the same way that the water pump or alternator does.
While a turbocharger, gets its power from the exhaust stream. The exhaust runs through a turbine, which in turn spins the compressor

Basically, a turbocharger is more efficient because it is using the "wasted" energy in the exhaust stream for its power source. The bad thing is, a turbocharger causes some amount of back pressure in the exhaust system and tends to provide less boost until the engine is running at higher RPMs. Superchargers are easier to install but the price is more expensive.

Main component in the turbo system

There are five main parts of a turbocharger;

1. turbine housing
   
2. turbine wheel,
3. compressor housing
4. compressor wheel,
   
5. connecting shaft.

The turbo is mounted to the engine by bolting the turbine exhaust inlet to the exhaust manifold.

Exhaust will exits the engine into the manifold, flows into the turbine, and spins the turbine wheel. The turbine wheel is connected to the compressor wheel via a shaft . The spinning compressor wheel then sucks ambient air into the compressor and forces it into the engine via a sealed tube, maximizing air intake. It is called "forced induction". With more air in the cylinder, the engine is able to burn more fuel, making more power.
Some turbo expert can tune fuel intake and timing to extract the most power and efficiency from a turbocharged engine.

How turbo engine works.

Turbo engine works by supplying additional air into the engine to produce more complete combustion, thereby increasing the engine power produced. Turbo engine in the early days, only work to pump extra air into the engine using exhaust fans . The fan rotation will rotate the turbo pump with the help of connected shaft, thereby ensuring the total air exit are same with amount of air enter into the engine.

However, if the entry of air into the engine is over the limit, it can damage the engine. Therefore, an additional air release device known as "Westgate" must be installed to prevent this from happen. This "Westgate" will act to ensure that the number of air pumped into the engine does not exceed the prescribed limit.

Compressed air by the turbo engine will raise the temperature of the air in the engine. The engine will becomes hot. To prevent the engine from overheat, air is pumped-in using cooling device known as intercooler. Usually intercooler will be installed at the front of the vehicles.

If the turbocharged engine is turned off by sudden, the pump is not pumping more oil to the turbo lubricating system . This situation will increase the friction in the turbo engine, which will enhance the rate of turbo thirst system and damage the component in the turbo system.

Therefore, to avoid this situation, turbocharged engines must be stabilized by letting it running for 20 to 30 seconds before the engine is switch-off . For those who do not want or do not have time to wait before turning off the engine, a tool known as the "turbo timer" can be installed. It can be set to turn the engine off after the preset time passed.

In addition, turbocharged engines should also be warm-up before starting the journey to ensure that lubricating oil has been spread all over the engine. For turbocharged engines, users are recommended to use lubricants that hold high temperatures, especially synthetic oil.