Superchargers

Superchargers

A supercharger, often referred to as a “blower”, is a mechanism for forcing or “blowing” air into an internal-combustion engine in order to increase engine power. The power of an engine is directly related to the amount of air it can consume, mix with fuel, and burn in its cylinders, and therefore the more air that can be forced into the engine, the more power the engine can produce. However, in a non-“blown” engine, only a certain amount can be forced in. In order to understand the workings and importance of a supercharger, we must first be familiar with how a normal or stock engine’s intake works.

A four stroke engine is the kind most commonly found in automobiles, and operates in four distinct steps or “strokes”; induction, compression, combustion and exhaust. On the first stroke, the piston moves downward and causes a pressure in the cylinder which is less than the atmospheric pressure outside of the engine. As a result, the air outside of the engine moves into the cylinder where there is less pressure, and is actually forced in because of the now higher pressure outside of the piston. On the second stroke, the piston moves upward and compresses the air with gasoline. The sparkplug ignites the mixture which combusts and moves the piston downward for the third stroke. This is where the power of the engine comes from. The piston then returns upward for the fourth stroke in order to push out the exhaust gases. Because the power of an engine is dependent upon the volume of air that can be drawn into the cylinders, it becomes limited at a certain point when the cylinder reaches its maximum negative pressure, and no more air can be sucked in. Not even an efficient engine, which at best is said to be on...

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“Superchargers.” 2 December 2002 http://www.gmcmotorsport.co.uk/superchargers.htm.

“Supercharging 101.” Ed. Dave Berger. Interjunction.com. © 2001-2002 Interjunction.com. 2 December 2002. <http://www.ask.com/main/metaAnswer.asp?t=ai&s=a&MetaEngine=directhit&en=te&eo=2&o=0&frames=True&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Einterjunction%2Ecom%2Ffeatures%2Fsupercharging%2F&ac=&adcat=jeev&pt=INTERJUNCTION%2ECOM%2D+Automotive+Supercharging+101%2C+Supercharger%2C+car&dm=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Einterjunction%2Ecom%2Ffeatures%2Fsupercharging%2F&io=19&qid=&back=base%3D10%26o%3D0%26ask%3Dhow%2Ba%2Bsupercharger%2Bworks&ask=how+a+supercharger+works&dt=&amt=&pg=&qsrc=14>.

“What is the difference between a turbocharger and a supercharger on a car's engine?” Howstuffworks.com. ©1998-2002 Howstuffworks, Inc. 30 November 2002. http://www.howstuffworks.com/question122.htm.