Electric supercharger! COOL!

[ciper]

Was that title deceiving?

Autospeed did all the math and we can finally see gems of information like
"flowing 265 cfm and developing a boost of 11.5 psi, takes 14.5kW to drive it" "So, to supply the current to drive an electric supercharger having the same airflow output as the most energy-efficient type currently available, it would take 1000 amps. To generate this much electrical power would require at least 8 heavy-duty alternators bolted to the engine."
and
"3 litre engine is revving at 6000 rpm full throttle," "each minute this engine consumes 254 cubic feet of air. To put that into context, a little 60mm diameter PC cooling fan flows only about 18 cubic feet per minute. So, just to flow the amount of air that this naturally aspirated, 3 litre engine needs, you'd need an array of fourteen 60mm fans working flat-out. And that's without creating any boost at all"



http://www.autospeed.com/cms/A_0237/art ... larArticle

One important point they miss is how important intake tube size is. Inserting these fans greatly reduces size and will restrict the amount of air entering the engine.
The fans end up spinning at near supersonic speeds to keep up. I dont have to explain what happens to a cheap peice of plastic when it spins too fast! Lets just hope the plastic gets chewed up and passes through the engine without harm.

[THAWA]

only problem I have with that article is this line

a little 60mm diameter PC cooling fan flows only about 18 cubic feet per minute

That's a good lie. That's like saying a 2.0 liter engine only makes about 100 hp, different fans flow different cfm, and so this article gets a big fat X in my book. (don't let my opinion get you all riled up though)

The actual "supercharger" they were testing looks and most likely is a piece of crap.

What someone needs to do is slap this onto an engine and see if it makes a difference.

[Brat4by4]

Hmmm... looks like it's rated for basically no backpressure. Try to put it on an engine and it looks like it will do nothing...

Take something like that and put a real blade on it and have it driven by the accessory belt and.... oh yeah, that's a centrifugal supercharger, they already make those .

[91White-T]

When will people understand... If a little electric fan works, then why would anyone pay 2000$ for a real supercharger? That alone should prove that these electric superchargers are nothing but something to fool ricers out of their money!

[evolutionmovement]

It's too bad the profits from these things didn't go to the government for like education or something. It would be an appropriate destination for what would essentially be a voluntary stupid tax.

Steve

[vrg3]

When will people understand... If a little electric fan works, then why would anyone pay 2000$ for a real supercharger? That alone should prove that these electric superchargers are nothing but something to fool ricers out of their money!

While I agree with you, I think your logic is flawed.

In many cases, it's the reverse. Companies sell working stuff that's really expensive, fooling ricers out of their money, when much cheaper solutions exist.

Witness the ~$140 HKS FCD and the ~$7 FCD I describe in my post in the Turbo forum (mine's not quite the same, but could be functionally more or less identical with the replacement of two resistors with a potentiometer).

If a $7 circuit works, why would anyone pay $140 for a "real" fuel cut defender? Because there are a lot of people out there with too much money who would never put something that cost less than a hundred dollars on their cars.

Or why would people buy $10983271928 blue headlight bulbs from PIAA if $20 Sylvanias work better?

[Grant]

That Grainger would be rad to bolt onto a car. Screw that Garrett crap, I've got a Grainger! 6"X7" Outlet. Put that in your HVAC! No really. SOmeone with too much money to spend should try it. Too bad that's not me.

[123c]

Looks like snake oil to me, and if anyone wants to buy it, I have some stuff I would like to sell them.

[vrg3]

Some people claim slight improvements with these things and say it's probably because the fan's blades improve swirl and so fuel atomization. I have no idea whether that's believable or not given how the air has to then go through other tubing, the throttle body, and the intake manifold.

If it is true, I'd imagine it helps down low and hurts up high, since it's still a restriction.