Power and performance of vehicles are two of the essential attributes that every auto manufacturer constantly strives to improve. Latest car models not only provide ergonomics and safety features but also, the higher horsepower and effective engine efficiency. Car turbochargers and superchargers help in boosting the engine power and torque by increasing the air supply.
Here’s a complete guide on how a supercharger works, its types and advantages:
WHAT IS A SUPERCHARGER?
A car supercharger increases the air intake through compression. In this way, the internal combustion engine receives a rich supply of air and fuel resulting in a powerful combustion process. This process increases the engine torque and power. Turbocharger and supercharger are different from each other because exhaust gases drive the turbine to power the engine in turbochargers, whereas the car supercharger uses the power from the mechanical belt or chain to compress air.
WHAT DOES A CAR SUPERCHARGER DO?
Combustion engine requires more fuel to generate more power. A car supercharger uses crankshaft by means of belt or chain drive to generate more power for air intake. It increases the volume of air which automatically demands more fuel to maintain the air-fuel ratio.
Therefore, the main function of a supercharger is to intake more air and burn more fuel to produce a greater power output. Moreover, following are different construction methods that define the working principle of supercharger:
- In the first arrangement, the engine powers the compressor and then the compressor supercharges the engine.
- Second arrangement couples the engine, compressor and turbine to supercharge the engine.
- Another method uses an engine to power the compressor and the exhaust gases run the turbine to intake more air.
TYPES OF SUPERCHARGERS
Car superchargers are of following three types and each has different designs and pros and cons:
- Root blower
- Vane blower
- Centrifugal type
ROOT BLOWER
This type of car supercharger is one of the oldest in supercharged engines. They intake large amounts of air and blow air to stack it up in the engine cylinder and create positive pressure. Root blower superchargers are usually larger in size and preferred in the muscle cars.
However, the root supercharger is very less effective due to the following reasons:
- They are large in size and weight more which affects the road performance and aerodynamics of vehicles.
- The root supercharger blows air in large amounts but doesn’t supply it at a constant flow which affects the performance.
VANE BLOWER
The vent type supercharger is often known as centric, arnott or shorrocks. Two ball-bearings support the vane which passes through the rods in the rotor. The rotor uses the power from the engine through belt, chain or gear mechanism.
The vane blowers are as effective as root blower supercharger. This type of car supercharger has one major drawback that it requires lubrication due to the mechanism of vanes in the rotors. Lubrication is not a difficult task but the oil mist surrounds the engine affecting the combustion process.
CENTRIFUGAL SUPERCHARGERS
The centrifugal blowers are one of the common types of car superchargers. They have a relatively smaller size but larger air intake. The centrifugal superchargers draw air from the impeller and then pass it to the intake manifold.
This car supercharger has an impeller which requires high rotational speed which is four to five times more than the normal engine speed. This also results in two main disadvantages:
- It doesn’t remain effective at lower rotational speeds.
- The drive train may encounter problems at rapid acceleration or deceleration of the car due to high rotational speed of the impeller.
PROS AND CONS OF SUPERCHARGED ENGINES
PROS
A car supercharger has following advantages:
- Increases the engine power and torque
- Better fuel combustion
- More air supply to the engine cylinder
- Better air fuel ratio
- Improves engine performance at all speeds
- Enhance engine performance in high-altitude areas where oxygen level is low
CONS
Alongside benefits, following are the disadvantages of superchargers:
- More thermal stress on the engine require better cooling
- May cause light or super knocking in the engine
- The overlap period increases in the crankshaft angle
- Increases the cost of engine
- More fuel consumption
Although car superchargers allow more intake, they may result in higher amounts of carbon emissions which will affect the environment. This was all about car superchargers. You can learn about more automotive parts from the car glossary that enhance road performance and safety of the vehicle.
You can have a look at some of the used cars for sale in the UAE with some of their trims equipped with supercharged engines:
- Pre-owned Dodge Challenger for sale in the UAE
- Used Toyota MR2 for sale in the UAE
- Second hand Chevrolet Camaro for sale in the UAE
Stay connected with the top auto blog in the UAE to find out more about car parts, their types and use cases.
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