Heat exchangers for many industrial applications use a 50/50 water/ethylene glycol (WEG) solution for cooling. Not only does it lower the freezing point, but it also raises the boiling point so the operability range of the solution is broader vs. just water.

However, the heat capacity of WEG solutions are LESS than that of water. So to get the same cooling capacity as pure water, the volume of WEG circulated must be INCREASED.

The main benefit or using WEG is the increased temperature range of cooling.....

I would guess that some amount of WEG is probably added to the water to prevent from freezing. (Ive only owned a car with an air to air IC so Im not 100% familiar with air to water or the amount of WEG added) Otherwise, whats to prevent the water from freezing if you park your car outside overnight in the wintertime. The last thing you want is water freezing in lines in your car. But the more WEG you add, the less cooling capacity the fluid has.

 

what kit has everyone decided on? I'm just looking to see who is going with which kit?
we should start a poll.

 

Agreed......(although I think I disagree on the terminology. Anything thats placed after the compressor/turbo/supercharger which cools the charge before it goes into the engine is technically an aftercooler. The intercooler name came decades ago when aircraft engines had multiple stages of charging, and in-line coolers were placed between the stages, hence the prefix "inter"........... but people tend to use the terminology interchangeably)

Im very interested in getting a more detailed schematic of their manifold with the IC built into it. Id be curious to know the surface area of the IC and if the volume of water circulated can be increased for better cooling.... although Im sure Stillen looked at this when sizing the pump to go with their system.

Also, wouldnt the location of the air to water IC also suffer from heat soak from the engine being that its essentially a top mounted intercooler on top of the engine?

 

To a degree yes, but it shouldn't (theoretically in my mind) be that much. The intake manifold from the factory already gets pretty hot, and it doesn't affect performance much. Air temp of the intake charge is already pretty warm. Of course if the water inside the Aftercooler gets heated by the engine, that's not good. It all depends on the location of the aftercooler in the manifold, and how much heat is conducted to it. I really hope Stillen follows through on this with a spectacular design.

Innovation is always good, and this would pave the way for a spectacular comeback for Stillen.

 

The lines maybe, but Im sure they will be insulated. The IC itself will not be subject to heat soak since it will be located inside the manifold. The air between the manifold and IC will provide a natural insulation effect.

 

I'm guessing you want to "refrigerate" the water? Wouldn't that expel more heat into the engine bay? (I guess relocating the battery and putting it where the battery was would semi-eliminate that problem... )

 

But at some point, there will be potential for conducting heat between the manifold and plenum...

With sufficient flow, I doubt heat radiated from the engine would be enough to significantly change the temperature of the water flowing in the lines. It's similar to how the tubes of a CAI aren't hot after a hard drive... the flow is so much that it just makes the radiated heat in the engine bay moot..

 

Most chillers I have looked at include a high volume pump. (or you select on of your own.)

 

Actually I was thinking of relocating the battery and the chiller into the trunk and putting the resivor and pump in the area of the battery.

 

You gonna be the first one with a vented trunk?

But seriously, that would have the same/similar effect as icing down the aftercooler and/or putting ice in the resovoir.

What would be the weight penalty of doing all this? The kit, wires for relocating the battery, chiller, lines for the chiller, etc. Relocating all this to the back would help a bit with weight balance, to a degree.

 

^ in addition to relocating the water lines to the trunk, additional lines and bends are going to cause additional losses, which might cause a reduction in flow through the air to water intercooler.... and any reduction in flow reduces the amount of heat that the water can take out of the intake charge. Depending on how much additional cooling you can get by relocating it to the trunk, it might not be worth your while. And if you can only realistically get a few additional degrees of cooling, thats a lot of work and additional relocation just to get that.

Hence why I'd like to see a more detailed schematic or a flow chart of their custom designed manifold.

Ehhh.... I dont know if I agree with that. But I guess time will tell!

 

Again all of this is just me thinking out loud. Also that small chiller I posted only weighs 12 lbs and has a small btu capacity, I really dont need to worry about airflow to it.

 

The air inside would (minimally) cool the manifold/engine....

Now that I think about it, I think the little air conditioner I have for a single room is rated at like 9000 BTU... and I think the charge would require a rather large amount of cooling to be noticable...

Any physics experts want to chime in with some calculations?

 

Also Stillen did ALOT of testing, Im sure they have taken into acount all of this.

 

TBH, repeated low-speed WOT runs are much harder to keep cool than repeated high-speed WOT runs, due to decreased airflow through the engine bay.

E.G. guys who hit limp mode at Streets of Willow (technical track) vs guys who can do WOT runs on the freeway for extended periods of time (5+ minutes at WOT 95% of the time) without hitting limp mode.