Turbochargers: Part 1 - Basics

Internal combustion engines, including the one powering your hell-on-wheels ride, are based on a simple principle--the breakdown or burning of
fuel into basic components.

This releases the enegy stored within the chemical bonds that hold each molecule of fuel together and converts it into useful action, like beating
old ladies off the line.

Therefore, when distilled down to its essence, all motorsport that is based on this chemical reaction relies on one principle - when you burn
more fuel, you get more power. Just like Richard Simmons--just a whole lot less&, uh, yeah.

So, how exactly do we accomplish this feat? Our friends who live down the street with their cousin-girlfriends might say that we could add
cylinders or make the current cylinders bigger. More cylinders means more room to burn more fuel.

"There's no replacement for displacement." As some men arose from the mire of this primitive thinking, the turbocharger and other means of
forced induction were born.

Forced induction systems, most notably the turbocharger and the supercharger, work by compressing the air into a denser form that flows into
the engine. This packed air allows the engine to squeeze more air into the cylinder and this extra air means that more fuel can be added. And,
back to lesson one, more fuel equals more power.

This first installment will deal with the basic principles

and mechanisms of the revered turbocharger.

Makes power fast, promise

It just looks like a snail

A turbocharger consists of two main components - the compressor section and the turbine section. These are also sometimes called the cold
and hot side or intake and exhaust sides. The sections look similar; both have housings with an inlet/outlet for gas and have a fan-type structure
inside.

The fan blades of the compressor side and the turbine side and connected by a common shaft, therefore, when one side turns, so does the
other.

The turbine section is mounted to the exhaust manifold, where exhaust exits the engine on its way out to kill birds and cause acid rain and the
greenhouse effect. As the exhaust exits, if a turbocharger is in place, the hot gas spins the turbine wheel.

Because the turbine wheel and compressor wheels are connected, the compressor wheel also begins to turn. As the compressor wheel turns, it
pumps air into the cylinders of the engine. More air, more fuel, more power.
Although it sounds simple, the turbocharger is truly a precision device. At times, they spin upwards of 150,000 rpm, making them some of the
fastest cycling things that man has created.

The turbine shaft requires careful handling and heat control, solved in most turbochargers by a fluid-type bearing that circulates oil around the
shaft for friction and cooling purposes.

-Allied Signal
In N Out

Stay tuned for scenes from the next episode

The exact interplay of the compressor, turbine, and shaft sections - size, material, configuration - are all important in determining the
characteristics of the turbo. In addition, there are other components or add-ons that can control or adjust the turbo such as wastegates, ball-
bearing shafts, sequential setup, and ceramic blades. We'll explore some of these in later installments.

And the price for all of this power? Sign here on the dotted line first. We'll take a look at some of the compromises that a turbo forces upon
engines and some of the ways that have been developed to get around them.

Next - If there is a heaven, then there must be a hell.

-Allied Signal
The turbo cycle
Turbochargers: Part 2 - The Intercooler
We dive deeper into forced induction.

October 13, 2003 - Did you miss our first installment of Turbochargers Part 1 - Basics? There we began our in-depth look at the world of forced
induction. professional You best read that story before moving on.

PV = nRT
It's called Boyle's law and it has to do with gas. This equation sets the relationship between pressure, volume, and temperature of a gas. One of
the consequences of pressurizing gas within a set volume (as as what a turbocharger does) is an increase in temperature.

Add into this the temperature boost of something spinning at tens of thousands of rpm and you're blowing some hot air.

But what does this have to do with you, your engine, and your eternal mission to go faster than your average space shuttle?

First, hot air is lighter (less dense) than cold air - hence the ability of hot air balloons to work, aka "heat rises". There are less air molecules
packed per cubic unit hot air than cold and thus, less air per unit for the engine to burn. And, going back to our basic tenant, less air = less fuel
burned = less power.

In addition, the burning of hot air (which already has inherent heat) is more uncontrolled within the engine's environment. Uncontrolled burning
leads to instability of the gas/air mixture and introduces even further mayhem to an already violent reaction. The end result? Detonation.
Detonation is bad.

This is where the intercooler steps in. In its essence, it's one of those straightforward things that does exactly what it's name says. It cools in
between the turbocharger and the engine. And as superficial as we are here, it also looks damn sweet.

There are several intercooler type systems on the market. These vary in terms of cooling media (air-air versus air-water) as well as mounting
location (front-mount, engine mount, V-mount) but serve the same above-mentioned purpose. All resemble radiators except that the boosted, or
charged, air is being run through the inside of it instead of coolant.

Air-air intercoolers use air blowing across the fins of the intercooler to cool it; air-water intercoolers have an additional, but more efficient, heat
exchange from the charged air to a surrounding water media to the ambient air blowing through it.

Some cars, even stock ones such as the Evo VIII and STi, have incorporated water sprayers into their intercooler system. If you think about
how cold you get when you hop out of a pool on a cold day (the scientific phenomenon known as "shrinkage"), you know that things coated by
water transfer heat very well - as the water evaporates, it takes heat from whatever its sitting on, be it intercoolers or your swim trunks.

The popularity of intercooling is such that most stock turbocharged systems run some sort of intercooler. Like turbos, the proper sizing of the
intercooler, especially its core, is important.

Of course, the dimensions of a unit affect its ability to cool charged air, with cores that have more surface area with less depth have more
efficiency than those that are shorter and "fatter". In addition, there is also the consideration of a phenomenon of "pressure drop".

This is most notable when an intercooler that is too large is matched up with a turbo that is on the smaller side. (and this isn't a reflection of Ty's
manhood)

In order to properly pressurize the air in the system, the turbo must work harder to "fill" a larger intercooler than a smaller one. This leads to
increased turbo lag and turbo wear.

So now you're sitting cool instead of blowing hot air with a big-ass Cadillac grill. What's next? You'll have to wait and see. We'll be back later in
the week with more info on the beauty that is the turbocharger.

-- Emory Chang, M.D.

Turbochargers: Part 3 - The Wastegate

It's like your turbo letting out a bit of, uh, gas.

October 16, 2003 - "Power is nothing without control". It's the tag-line for the ad for a popular brand of tires. And it's true. So how do we reign in
our boost and why would we have to?

The problem - let's take a turbo system in which the exhaust gas runs solely through the turbocharger. More exhaust, more power. More power,
more exhaust. You get the idea.

Eventually, however, we reach a point where either the turbocharger will fail because it is spinning too fast, or, more likely, your injectors or
some other component within the system will be unable to keep up with the amount of charged air that the overworked turbo is pushing.

The solution is a simple one and manifests itself in the form of what is known as a wastegate. A wastegate is a simple device that allows some
exhaust air to bypass the turbine of the turbo. It uses a combination of inputs as to what the boost pressure is within the pre-combustion system
(usually with a vacuum hose) and springs to figure out when and how much to open.

As it opens, air is bled off from increasing the turbo speed and thus helps to modulate and limit the amount of boost the engine sees.

There are numerous ways as well to affect the action of the wastegate itself and thus gain ultimate control over the system. Manual boost
controllers modulate the amount of pressure that the wastegate sees and controls it in that way.

Electronic boost controllers are based on a module that is mounted within the cockpit of the vehicle and use a solenoid valve to control the
wastegate.
 Now, that's a wastegate!

This technology has advanced to the point where these systems can control boost based on factors such as rpm on an on-the-fly basis. Even
control of complicated sequential turbo systems can be achieved effectively with these new units.

Don't forget that the wastegate needs to be big enough to bleed enough exhaust away. A larger-than-needed wastegate usually doesn't have
any detrimental effects except in the wallet; one that is too small will not allow for enough control of boost and may lead to uncontrolled boost
creep.

Of course the spring constant is important as well - if your wastegate has a spring constant that opens at 14.7psi of boost, no amount of tricking
it with solenoids or manual controllers is going to get it to open sooner. If you're trying to limit boost at 12psi--uh, tough luck.

The blow-off valve--like an intake-side wastegate

Turbochargers: Part 3 - Turbo Lag

The enemy of every turbocharger

October 31, 2003 - So what do we do about turbo lag?

First, the choice of the proper turbo is paramount. A larger turbo will be able to flow more air and thus gain you more horsepower. This power,
though, is traded for an increase of the larger turbo in lag time for it to spool up and gain a useable amount of boost.

This is especially true in smaller displacement engines (which are seeing most of the turbocharged applications anyways) that already have
less exhaust to push the turbo to start with.

So what would happen if you stuck a giant turbo onto your Ford Aspire? Provided you can actually get the turbo to spin with this straw-full of
exhaust, your potential horsepower gains would be huge--and within the workable range of about 15,000 to 20,000 rpm. No Ford Aspire we
know revs this high.

The proper sizing of the turbo is important with regards to how the car will be driven. If you're looking to be a street terror (not recommended),
faster-spooling, smaller turbos are the answer. For true techies out there, the "speed of spooling" is read out as the A/R on the side of the
exhaust housing.

If power is more important, such as on the racetrack, the turbos will be somewhat larger to allow for higher boost at rpm that are usually
maintained throughout the race (unlike you sitting at the stoplight). As expected, cars that are designed for pure power will usually garner these
bigger numbers with larger turbos that flow more air.
Ok, so now we've got a turbo that is applicable to the type, as well as the projected use, of the vehicle in question. How do we get this turbo to
lag less and be as efficient as it can be?

As every fledgling Road Racer knows, exhaust backpressure is the enemy. While this is only partially true with normally aspirated engines - a
little backpressure is good for torque (which is more used for day-to-day driving) even though it sacrifices a little horsepower up top - most
turbocharged engines want an outlet that is as free-flowing as possible.

Exhausts that flow more freely allow the turbo to spool up faster. That's a good thing. Although not much has been said of it, it's probably true
on the intake side as well; the less resistance it's pushing against, the faster the turbo will spool.

There are inherent devices and modifications to the turbo itself that will allow it to spool faster. Most of them are intuitive. One popular variation
that has come on the market of late has been the advent of the ball-bearing turbo.

There are three types of bearings that are commonly used in turbochargers - the conventional "floating-type" bearing, the Garrett ball bearing
(BB), and the ceramic roller thrust bearing.

The Garrett Ball Bearing center section was developed for use in CART and other high-end racing arenas and often finds them mated to other
fancy materials. The original concept was to improve durability and also to reduce lag in road racing. They have the potential to be very
expensive. These turbos are designed to spool up quickly and allow for quick response to sudden changes in acceleration needs like passing
maneuvers.

The Turbonetics Ceramic Roller Thrust Bearing (CRB) uses a hybrid type center section that incorporates a ceramic roller bearing on the
compressor side and a conventional floating bearing for the turbine section.

Although they do reduce friction quite a bit (these are the turbos you can push a little and the blades will keep spinning for a long time, like
those 24-inch wheels on your homies' Escalade), the main intent was to create a stronger center section that could handle larger loads for big
compressors.

So, if you're just looking at center sections, it would seem that a Garrett BB would be more suited for quicker response and spool times while a
CRB would be more resilient (as well as spool faster than a conventional). And because most of you don't have umbrella girls following you
around, price is also a consideration - A Garrett BB will run you about 250% the cost of a conventional and the CRB about 150% of the same.
 Sxilvia needs one of these

Materials choice is also another way to aid in the creation of better turbos. Some turbos will use blades made from lightweight materials in order
to allow the turbo to be moved with less force; making it spool up faster without sacrificing too much in terms of potential. Many options have
been explored from ceramic to other more exotic alloys including Inconel, a nickel-chromium alloy that is also used in Formula 1 exhaust
systems).

All this work just to get rid of turbo lag? Like was said before, it is one of the most bothersome problems with the turbocharger. But, with
solutions as well as proper matching of components, the effects of the LAG can be minimized.