Cooling block on top of your SC - an idea to try ??

[MvM]

I was wondering the following.

The issue of heatsoak of the NSX engine combined with a supercharger has come up a few time over the last few months.
The problem is that during prolonged use, the heat generated by the engine and supercharger heats the intake air, thereby reducing the engine's power output.

One of the things you can do is getting thermo insulating gaskets, which will delay the heatsoak issues for some time.
Another possibility would be the installation of a kind of intercooler like the Laminova (no longer being made AFAIK).

I did come up with an idea looking at than nice flat Autorotor surface last week.
I will admit readily that I am a novice when it comes to thermodynamics, but what if you would mount a kind of cooling block made from aluminum (with cooling fins) of the supercharger itself to draw as much heat from the SC as possible.
Just like the cooling block you see in a PC directly mounted on top of the CPU which, I know from experience, will get extremely hot without cooling very quickly.
Of course, the heat drawn by the block from the SC will have to go somewhere, but that would the next thing to look at.

Just an idea...

 

[goldNSX]

Maarten

Does that mean that the thermo insulating gaskets just delay the heat soak but will result in heatsoak anyway?

The most overlooked source of heat is the snout. The strong tension of the belt and the power used by the CTSC let the bearings heat up very high. I've measured 70 degrees C. The pulley and the snout are the hottest Region and transfer it to the whole unit. Isolating it would be a very bad idea because the heat energy has to go somewhere. If it can't your bearings will heat up even more with unknown results.

But I would not cool it down to ambient temperatures because the unit has been designed for these temps. There's is even a warning of the supplier in very cold climates to not rev it above 2500 rpm (very tight tolerances) until it got some temperature. I would be happy to cool the pulley down to 50 degrees C as the rubber belt needs to create grip. There are several ideas on this we're working on. And I hope we have something next year.

 

[MvM]

Maarten

Does that mean that the thermo insulating gaskets just delay the heat soak but will result in heatsoak anyway?

The most overlooked source of heat is the snout. The strong tension of the belt and the power used by the CTSC let the bearings heat up very high. I've measured 70 degrees C. The pulley and the snout are the hottest Region and transfer it to the whole unit. Isolating it would be a very bad idea because the heat energy has to go somewhere. If it can't your bearings will heat up even more with unknown results.

But I would not cool it down to ambient temperatures because the unit has been designed for these temps. There's is even a warning of the supplier in very cold climates to not rev it above 2500 rpm (very tight tolerances) until it got some temperature. I would be happy to cool the pulley down to 50 degrees C as the rubber belt needs to create grip. There are several ideas on this we're working on. And I hope we have something next year.

Hi Thomas,

I haven't got the car back with the new gaskets installed. I know Ryu has the same gaskets including the gasket that goes between de SC and the intake manifold. Perhaps he has some information about the difference they make in real life.
From what I understood from SOS, these gaskets will eventually only delay the heatsoak of the engine.
After a while, there must be a balance between heat production and heat dissipation.
Adding a supercharger introduces more heat into the engine system (air compression, increased power = increased heat production) without much in the way of cooling the system again.

I have been thinking about using the passenger air intake with a proper duct to blow cool air into the engine room, but I haven't really looked into that yet.

 

[goldNSX]

After a while, there must be a balance between heat production and heat Dissipation.

Adding a supercharger introduces more heat into the engine system (air compression, increased power = increased heat production) without much in the way of cooling the system again.

I have been thinking about using the passenger air intake with a proper duct to blow cool air into the engine room, but I haven't really looked into that yet.

This is to be expected. The driving Profile determines where the Balance will be in the end. I don't see a Problem with cruising around and occasional spirited stints during a trip. On the German Autobahn or on the track it gets heatsoak. You actually loose topspeed with a CTSC without added cooling. You can feel a clear difference in power in >25 C versus <10 C outside air temp for example. Most of the people live with it.