Engines by design have a lot of power, this is necessary in that most cars are very heavy. At times, there may be a need to increase the power of an engine, either for racing, heavier payload, or simply owner’s choice. There are a lot of ways to increase the power, one way is by making the engine run more efficiently. This can be done by pressuring more air into the chamber of combustion; this is where a supercharger comes into play. By adding more air, you are able to put more fuel into the engine, which translates directly to a larger explosion in the chamber and added horsepower.
Turbochargers or Superchargers
Any device that pressurizes the air intake and brings it to above atmospheric pressure is considered a supercharger. In essence, a turbo charger and a super charger are the same, what differentiates one from the other is their energy source. A Turbo is energized from the massive flow of exhaust gasses from the turbine; Supercharger is energized mechanically from the chain drive or belt in the engine.
A typical four-stroke engine will dedicate air intake to one stroke in all there are three parts to this endeavor. First, a piston will move down, a vacuum will be created, and then the air at the proper pressure is then pulled into the combustion chamber for the next steps in the process. After the air is brought into the engine, it has to be added to the gas to complete the transformation into combustion. The spark plug housed n the engine is the catalyst for this transformation. Its job is to ignite the charge. The gas then goes through oxidation which releases a large amount of energy. This explosion creates a force which is held above the head of the cylinder and drives it down, this reciprocating motion is carried via conduits to the wheels.
Of course, this process seems simple in words. It would seem that all you need to do is add more gas to make the explosion more powerful and thus the engine more powerful right? Not quite. A specific amount of air is needed to burn each part of gas, exactly 14 parts of air for each part of gas is required for an engine to run properly. If you use more gas, then you have to add more air.
That’s the job of the supercharger. Superchargers increase intake by compressing air above atmospheric pressure, without creating a vacuum. When air is forced inside, then a boost is created, due to the boost of air, more fuel can be put into the charge thus increasing the horsepower exponentially. In the case of turbochargers, the power is drawn from the compressors, but in the case of superchargers, it’s taken from the crankshaft. The shafts are typically run by belts wrapped around a pulley and saddled to the gear drive. While all of this may sound highly complex, and it certainly is, it all happens within the space of milliseconds inside of your engine.
