SUPERCHARGER

SUPERCHARGER:-

Superchargers, otherwise known as blowers, are a form of compressor driven by the engine’s crankshaft (often with a belt) to turn an impeller or rotors, which compress air to create boost.Originally built for World War II aircraft, superchargers have become very common in today's performance automotive world, and featured as original equipment on some new sports cars straight from the factory.Superchargers have become popular in recent years for several reasons, including cost efficiency, reliability, and of course, performance. Supercharging an engine often results in huge power increases in the range of 50% to 100%, making them great for racing, hauling heavy loads, or just having fun in your daily driver.

Heat exchangers (intercoolers) are frequently used in conjunction with superchargers. Compressing air increases its temperature thus making it less dense. By re-cooling the compressed volume of air before it enters, density is increased allowing even more air to be forced into the engine. Intercoolers are more important for turbo superchargers as there are two heating sources present, the act of compression and heat from exhaust gasses both increase air temperature.

What is the need of extra air by external means?

Engines combust (burn) fuel and use the energy of that combustion to do work. The more fuel that is combusted in any given time then the more energy is available to carry out the engines task. Fuel requires air (or the oxygen contained within air) to burn so if there isn’t enough air mixed with the fuel it will not burn. This also means that the amount of air entering an engine determines how much fuel can be burnt and consequently how much energy (or power) an engine can produce. Superchargers are essentially an air pump designed to cram extra air into an engine allowing it to combust more fuel than would otherwise be possible.

Many people assume that running a supercharger, and hence added intake boost, puts added strain on an engine's engine parts. This is not necessarily true, because engine damage is almost always caused by RPM. Because a supercharger helps the engine produce more power at lower RPM, supercharged engines will make the same horsepower as their naturally aspirated counterparts at substantially lower engine RPM, where today's street engine's are designed to run (around 6000 RPM). Another concern some people have towards using a supercharger is that they think it will increase the engine's compression to the point that it will cause detonation inside the combustion chamber. Detonation exists when the combustion pressure is raised so high that the inlet charge ignites itself before the spark plug fires. When this happens, combustion takes place while the piston is still traveling up in the cylinder bore, which puts tremendous loads on the piston, rod, and crank. While it is true that a supercharged engine creates boost and increases the engine's compression, most supercharger kits include a boost timing retard chip that retards the engine's ignition timing under certain conditions to prevent detonation. With some kits, detonation is not a concern, in which case the kit will not include a boost timing retard chip.

Advantages:-

1.)Increased horsepower: adding a supercharger to any engine is a quick solution to boosting power.
2.)The supercharger does not have a delay. It is always operating at the speed of the engine.So Power delivery is immediate because the supercharger is driven by the engine’s crankshaft.
3.)Supercharging systems are less complex than turbos, which require extensive modification of the exhaust system.
4.)Low RPM boost: good power at low RPM in comparison with turbochargers.
5.)Because they are less complex, and easier to work on, they are thus cheaper to install and generally cost less to service and maintain.