Using AC system as blow-through intercooler?

gearheadmb wrote: I have a couple questions. 1) These have roots type blowers bolted right to the intake, no plumbing post supercharger, so where and how would you install the evaporator in the system? 2) What about all the water constantly condensing on it? Wouldnt you be sucking the water through the engine at a pretty high amount? Which, i guess all that water was already in the air, maybe it doesnt matter.

1) Yes, the M90 supercharger bolts directly to the LIM. The evaporator would be installed between the two in a custom housing- this would of course raise the supercharger up and require a longer belt. This is probably the biggest concern, the evaporators tend to be fairly thick. Raising it up a few inches isn't a problem, there are a number of A2W intercoolers and simple spacers that raise it up 1-2 inches, but 6+ would be a lot more of a challenge both in getting the belt to behave as well as hood clearance (not that I'd be wholly opposed to going old-school and having the blower sticking through the hood...)

2) Yes, it would be putting the condensed water through the engine, but as you pointed out- it's not adding water, it's just changing the phase from vapor to liquid.

I had a similar idea while working at Saleen a decade or so ago. The idea sounded right and was met with some "hey that is an interesting idea" comments, until one of the engine development guys mentioned that a freon leak in the intake turns the engine into a pretty efficient bomb. Apparently the refrigerants don't play well with ignition events.
I still say give it a try, but be prepared for fireworks if there is a leak in the 'intercooler' section.

stafford1500 wrote: I had a similar idea while working at Saleen a decade or so ago. The idea sounded right and was met with some "hey that is an interesting idea" comments, until one of the engine development guys mentioned that a freon leak in the intake turns the engine into a pretty efficient bomb. Apparently the refrigerants don't play well with ignition events. I still say give it a try, but be prepared for fireworks if there is a leak in the 'intercooler' section.

Hm. R12 is dichlorodifluoromethane -- two chlorines and two fluorines bonded to a carbon. Things don't get much less flammable than that. If it was a refrigeration system using R290 (propane) that might be a different story, although given that the engine is already designed to safely contain vaporized gasoline mixed with air and ignited with a spark, I dunno how big a deal it would be even to add propane.

In reply to codrus:

I was thinking the same thing, except along the lines of, "Free nitrous boost!"

An air to air intercooler in, quite literally, a giant box of icy water works very well.

gearheadmb wrote: I have a couple questions. 1) These have roots type blowers bolted right to the intake, no plumbing post supercharger, so where and how would you install the evaporator in the system? 2) What about all the water constantly condensing on it? Wouldnt you be sucking the water through the engine at a pretty high amount? Which, i guess all that water was already in the air, maybe it doesnt matter.

As you say, #2 isn't a problem, and as for #1, you'd have to use a box between the supercharger and the intake manifold.

I forget if the Cobalt SS used a separate box or if it had the heat exchangers (water/air) integrated with the intake manifold.

stafford1500 wrote: I had a similar idea while working at Saleen a decade or so ago. The idea sounded right and was met with some "hey that is an interesting idea" comments, until one of the engine development guys mentioned that a freon leak in the intake turns the engine into a pretty efficient bomb. Apparently the refrigerants don't play well with ignition events. I still say give it a try, but be prepared for fireworks if there is a leak in the 'intercooler' section.

If it's any consolation, if your evaporator springs a leak with the car parked (the time when evaporator pressure is at its highest, BTW) hard enough to release all of the refrigerant, there will easily be a fatal dose in the car when you get in, even if you don't ignite it with a cigarette.

Burning refrigerant isn't explosive, but it makes some very nasty-to-humans chemicals, in the same vein as chlorinated brake cleaner, because the common refrigerants have chlorine as part of the molecule.

echoechoecho wrote: guys there is no free lunch in physics, you can not gain more energy than you put in. Now you can store it and use it later like the ford system linked above, but its will be much easier to use a container full of ice which you refill(instead of making ice/cold liquid on-board with the A/C system)

You are not trying to get more energy out than you put in, you are trying to get more energy by improving the efficiency of the system.
For example, adding a supercharger may increase horsepower by 100%, while requiring only 25% of that power gain to drive it, a net increase of 75%.