How Turbo Chargers Work
Cars have been fitted on a regular basis withturbo chargersfor the last thirty, forty years or so. Turbo chargers have been used in aircraft from much earlier. Indeed the first turbo charger was introduced in the 1920’s. The device has been fitted to cars small and large, petrol or diesel. Turbo chargers are popular because they markedly increase a performance of a car without adding significantly to the vehicle's weight.
Turbo chargers significantly increase the power of an engine. This is done by a process called ‘forced induction’. The turbo charger compresses air passing into the engine. Compressed air works by squeezing more air into the cylinders. The advantage of having more compressed air in the cylinder means simply more fuel can be added. More fuel spells more power as it explodes in the combustion chambers. A turbo charged engine is much more powerful than a standard engine. A turbo charger has the advantage of significantly increasing the power of the engine without significantly increasing the weight of the engine.
The turbo charger works by using the exhaust from the engine to power a turbine. The spinning turbine also spins an air pump which increases the density of the air reaching the combustion cylinders. The turbo charger turbine spins at speeds thirty times faster than the car engine.
Some vehicles will require an intercooler and this is because as the pressure of the car engine’s intake is increased so too will the temperature increase. It is common for intercoolers to be checked when the vehicle go for a service as leaking intercoolers vastly reduce the vehicles fuel consumption. Sometimes instead of an intercooler water injection is used to cool the temperature and this method is often used in aircraft.
The lifespan of a turbo charger is short as damage can occur by contaminated oil and engines with a turbo charger should be serviced at more frequent intervals than a vehicle with a standard engine. Some manufacturers suggest and recommend the use of synthetic engine oils which flow more freely when cold and do not denature so quickly as standard oils.
In modern times turbo chargers have been fitted to engines in commercial aircraft, trucks, production cars and motorbikes. Diesel cars have become more popular since turbo engines have become available vastly increasing the performance of a diesel vehicle. In 1978 the first turbo charger was fitted to a Kawasaki motorbike but turbo chargers have yet to prove popular with motorcycles and few have been made since.
