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An electric supercharger is a specific type of supercharger for internal combustion engines that uses an electrically powered forced-air system that contains an electric motor to pressurize the intake air. By pressurizing the air available to the engine intake system, the air becomes more dense, and is matched with more fuel, producing the increased horsepower to the wheels.[ better source needed ] [1]
An electric supercharger, if supplied by common stock electric accumulators, runs independent of the engine to which it provides its boost. However, electrical energy consumed is often higher than what a production-line generator (e.g. alternator) of the engine can supply. Larger alternators are therefore fitted to recharge accumulators during the engine run.
The efficiency of an electric supercharger is curbed by several energy conversion losses (alternator for charging), damp energy while charging the accumulators and the compressor providing boost. The losses are in general higher than direct kinematic linkage of intake air compressor to engine crankshaft. If the vehicle implements kinetic energy recovery, then the battery can be charged on otherwise wasted energy.
Electrically assisted turbochargers also use an electric motor to power the compressor; however in the case of the turbocharger, the traditional gas-driven turbocharger remains the primary power source, and the electric motor is used to reduce the turbo lag.
Several companies sell low-cost aftermarket products, claimed to be electric superchargers. These devices are typically simple ducted fans or blowers, often directly repurposed from marine and naval supplies, and are simply not capable of providing an intake manifold pressure increase, or a flow rate greater than what an engine draws. They can not measurably compress air or increase airflow, and instead draw electrical power and act as an obstruction for air flow to the engine. Usually, this leads to a slightly reduced power output, never an increased one. [2] In order to increase performance in any automotive engine, a compressor must force (compress) a significantly greater volume of air into the engine than it would otherwise draw naturally. This requires a large amount of energy. An effective electric supercharging system requires additional batteries on board, and uses multi-horsepower electric motors and high-speed compression impellers similar to those used in exhaust-coupled turbochargers. Every psi of boost uses 6-7bhp from its power source, but many such kits use 12-volt battery system instead of 48-volt battery system used in the chargers for production vehicles, so the gain from a 12-volt kit is effectively cancelled. [3]
In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake air, forcing more air into the engine in order to produce more power for a given displacement.
In engineering, the Miller cycle is a thermodynamic cycle used in a type of internal combustion engine. The Miller cycle was patented by Ralph Miller, an American engineer, U.S. Patent 2,817,322 dated Dec 24, 1957. The engine may be two- or four-stroke and may be run on diesel fuel, gases, or dual fuel. It uses a supercharger to offset the performance loss of the Atkinson cycle.
A four-strokeengine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either direction. The four separate strokes are termed:
The Roots-type blower is a positive displacement lobe pump which operates by pumping a fluid with a pair of meshing lobes resembling a set of stretched gears. Fluid is trapped in pockets surrounding the lobes and carried from the intake side to the exhaust. The most common application of the Roots-type blower has been the induction device on two-stroke diesel engines, such as those produced by Detroit Diesel and Electro-Motive Diesel. Roots-type blowers are also used to supercharge four-stroke Otto cycle engines, with the blower being driven from the engine's crankshaft via a toothed or V-belt, a roller chain or a gear train.
A centrifugal supercharger is a specialized type of supercharger that makes use of centrifugal force in order to increase the manifold air pressure, MAP. An increased MAP allows the engine to burn more fuel, which results in an increased power output. Centrifugal superchargers are generally attached to the front of the engine via a belt-drive or gear-drive from the engine's crankshaft.
An air compressor is a machine that takes ambient air from the surroundings and discharges it at a higher pressure. It is an application of a gas compressor and a pneumatic device that converts mechanical power into potential energy stored in compressed air, which has many uses. A common application is to compress air into a storage tank, for immediate or later use. When the delivery pressure reaches its set upper limit, the compressor is shut off, or the excess air is released through an overpressure valve. The compressed air is stored in the tank until it is needed. The pressure energy provided by the compressed air can be used for a variety of applications such as pneumatic tools as it is released. When tank pressure reaches its lower limit, the air compressor turns on again and re-pressurizes the tank. A compressor is different from a pump because it works on a gas, while pumps work on a liquid.
A compressor is a mechanical device that increases the pressure of a gas by reducing its volume. An air compressor is a specific type of gas compressor.
A naturally aspirated engine, also known as a normally aspirated engine, and abbreviated to N/A or NA, is an internal combustion engine in which air intake depends solely on atmospheric pressure and does not have forced induction through a turbocharger or a supercharger.
In an internal combustion engine, forced induction is where turbocharging or supercharging is used to increase the density of the intake air. Engines without forced induction are classified as naturally aspirated.
Automobile accessory power can be transferred by several different means. However, it is always ultimately derived from the automobile's internal combustion engine, battery, or other "prime mover" source of energy. The advent of high-powered batteries in hybrid and all-electrical vehicles is shifting the balance of technologies even further in the direction of electrically powered accessories.
The EMD SD24 was a 2,400 hp (1,800 kW) six-axle (C-C) diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division of La Grange, Illinois between July 1958 and March 1963. A total of 224 units were built for customers in the United States, comprising 179 regular, cab-equipped locomotives and 45 cabless B units. The latter were built solely for the Union Pacific Railroad.
A wastegate is a valve that controls the flow of exhaust gases to the turbine wheel in a turbocharged engine system.
The anti-lag system (ALS) is a method of reducing turbo lag or effective compression used on turbocharged engines to minimize turbo lag on racing or performance cars. It works by delaying the ignition timing and adding extra fuel to balance an inherent loss in combustion efficiency with increased pressure at the charging side of the turbo. This is achieved as an excess amount of fuel/air mixture escapes through the exhaust valves and combusts in the hot exhaust manifold spooling the turbocharger creating higher usable pressure.
A twincharger refers to a compound forced induction system used on some internal combustion engines. It is a combination of an exhaust-driven turbocharger and a mechanically driven supercharger, each mitigating the weaknesses of the other.
Twin-turbo refers to an engine in which two turbochargers work in tandem to compress the intake fuel/air mixture. The most common layout features two identical or mirrored turbochargers in parallel, each processing half of a V engine's produced exhaust through independent piping. The two turbochargers can either be matching or different sizes.
In an internal combustion engine, a supercharger compresses the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to produce more power for a given displacement.
Hybrid vehicle drivetrains transmit power to the driving wheels for hybrid vehicles. A hybrid vehicle has multiple forms of motive power.
A pressure wave supercharger is a type of supercharger technology that harnesses the pressure waves produced by an internal combustion engine exhaust gas pulses to compress the intake air. Its automotive use is not widespread; the most widely used example is the Comprex, developed by Brown Boveri.
An electrically assisted turbocharger (EAT) is an arrangement where an electric motor assists the gas-driven turbocharger in providing forced induction, particular at times when exhaust gas flow is insufficient to produce the desired boost. Some systems integrate the motor inside a turbocharger, while others use a separate electric supercharger.
An internal combustion engine is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal combustion engine, the expansion of the high-temperature and high-pressure gases produced by combustion applies direct force to some component of the engine. The force is typically applied to pistons, turbine blades, a rotor, or a nozzle. This force moves the component over a distance, transforming chemical energy into kinetic energy which is used to propel, move or power whatever the engine is attached to.