Compressed Air Supercharger
#1
Compressed Air Supercharger
We had the pleasure of tuning and doing testing on a unique Nickens 565 big block chevy at Nickens Brothers Racing Engines using Holley EFI with the guys from Compressed Air Supercharging. Their compressed supercharger system (CAS) doubled the horsepower and tq of the 565 at 5-6 lbs of boost by 6,000 rpm from the compressed air. It was an awesome experience working with the crew from Nickens and CAS on this project. We will try to post some video's of the dyno runs.
#5
#7
My lack of terminology in the subject isn't letting me get the question out right I guess. The most important thing I was wandering on the gas mixture used in the compressed cylinders is the percentage of oxygen. As that will greatly affect power output.
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#10
TECH Senior Member
#11
Dale Vaznaian is the principle driving force behind Compressed Air Supercharging. Previously Dale was co-founder and COO of Nitrous Oxide Systems, successfully overseeing the operation and growth of the company for its first 20 years. During Dale’s tenure at NOS he was involved in many of the breakthroughs in Nitrous Oxide Injection Technology that are now common place; he was the inventor and patent holder for the first “Fogger Nozzle”.
Upon sale of NOS Dale stepped away from the High Performance aftermarket entirely. After an absence of five years the itch to return to the industry was too strong to ignore.
Since the early 1970’s Dale had been intrigued by the short lived, highly controversial and incredibly powerful Funny Car that Mickey Thompson put together that featured a (by modern standards) crude compressed air supercharging system that was mechanically controlled. The question of what would happen if you married this concept with modern electronic controls kept cropping up in his mind, ultimately leading to his decision to pursue the concept.
Karl Staggemeier was the Chief Engineer at NOS for nearly a decade prior to departing just prior to its sale. During his time at NOS he was the technical lead for many products that are now considered common place among nitrous users. His multiple degrees in Aerospace Engineering coupled with the time he spent at NOS and fifteen years additional experience designing, testing and building high and medium pressure gaseous fuel and pneumatic systems left him well suited to lead the technical side of this project when Dale came calling.
Dale and Karl then put together a group of engineering experts in Thermodynamics, Engine Management and Controls, Data Acquisition and Instrumentation and Engine Testing. The ensuing development project spanned more than ten years, consuming close to 9,000 hours of development time, culminating in the public unveiling of the concept in August of 2014.
Upon sale of NOS Dale stepped away from the High Performance aftermarket entirely. After an absence of five years the itch to return to the industry was too strong to ignore.
Since the early 1970’s Dale had been intrigued by the short lived, highly controversial and incredibly powerful Funny Car that Mickey Thompson put together that featured a (by modern standards) crude compressed air supercharging system that was mechanically controlled. The question of what would happen if you married this concept with modern electronic controls kept cropping up in his mind, ultimately leading to his decision to pursue the concept.
Karl Staggemeier was the Chief Engineer at NOS for nearly a decade prior to departing just prior to its sale. During his time at NOS he was the technical lead for many products that are now considered common place among nitrous users. His multiple degrees in Aerospace Engineering coupled with the time he spent at NOS and fifteen years additional experience designing, testing and building high and medium pressure gaseous fuel and pneumatic systems left him well suited to lead the technical side of this project when Dale came calling.
Dale and Karl then put together a group of engineering experts in Thermodynamics, Engine Management and Controls, Data Acquisition and Instrumentation and Engine Testing. The ensuing development project spanned more than ten years, consuming close to 9,000 hours of development time, culminating in the public unveiling of the concept in August of 2014.
#12
Fascinating project, thanks for sharing!
Are those pressure-activated one-way valves in the intake tubes?
How many quarter-mile passes are they expecting with those two bottles feeding that engine? I mean, do you recharge after each pass, or can you do a few passes, or...?
Are those pressure-activated one-way valves in the intake tubes?
How many quarter-mile passes are they expecting with those two bottles feeding that engine? I mean, do you recharge after each pass, or can you do a few passes, or...?
#13
The valve at the very end of the intake closes completely when the system turns on and the motor runs on compressed air only. The next valve done the intake is a DBW TB that that control what % the intake is open, its how they control the compressed air. We were running it 100% wide open one system and could only do one dyno run on 2 full bottles. On that motor it would not make it through the 1/4 on 2 bottles.
#14
A few really dumb questions:
How do you fill the bottles up at the track?
Will a standard portable air compressor work?
Optimal PSI of the bottles?
Weight of the whole kit?
Do you run a filter to keep water out of the lines?
How do you fill the bottles up at the track?
Will a standard portable air compressor work?
Optimal PSI of the bottles?
Weight of the whole kit?
Do you run a filter to keep water out of the lines?
#17
A few really dumb questions:
How do you fill the bottles up at the track?
need 4 mother bottles
Will a standard portable air compressor work?
no
Optimal PSI of the bottles?
3200 psi
Weight of the whole kit?
not sure
Do you run a filter to keep water out of the lines?
didnt see one
How do you fill the bottles up at the track?
need 4 mother bottles
Will a standard portable air compressor work?
no
Optimal PSI of the bottles?
3200 psi
Weight of the whole kit?
not sure
Do you run a filter to keep water out of the lines?
didnt see one
see replies above
#18
TECH Addict
UHP (32'000 PSI) Bottles will fill a 3200PSI bottle multiple times..
Straight compressed air bottles are relatively cheap for welding suppliers,, You can get real really big ones too..
The bottle need regular hydrotesting if they are dumping from full to zero ,,, the expansion and sudden compression of the bottle ages them.
The caveat,, Most tracks would not if they had any common sense allow a bottle in a car without some pretty extreme containment.. At least for the valve..
I dont do this on a car but I used abuse the bottles in a similar fashion in construction..
Straight compressed air bottles are relatively cheap for welding suppliers,, You can get real really big ones too..
The bottle need regular hydrotesting if they are dumping from full to zero ,,, the expansion and sudden compression of the bottle ages them.
The caveat,, Most tracks would not if they had any common sense allow a bottle in a car without some pretty extreme containment.. At least for the valve..
I dont do this on a car but I used abuse the bottles in a similar fashion in construction..
#19
UHP (32'000 PSI) Bottles will fill a 3200PSI bottle multiple times..
Straight compressed air bottles are relatively cheap for welding suppliers,, You can get real really big ones too..
The bottle need regular hydrotesting if they are dumping from full to zero ,,, the expansion and sudden compression of the bottle ages them.
The caveat,, Most tracks would not if they had any common sense allow a bottle in a car without some pretty extreme containment.. At least for the valve..
I dont do this on a car but I used abuse the bottles in a similar fashion in construction..
Straight compressed air bottles are relatively cheap for welding suppliers,, You can get real really big ones too..
The bottle need regular hydrotesting if they are dumping from full to zero ,,, the expansion and sudden compression of the bottle ages them.
The caveat,, Most tracks would not if they had any common sense allow a bottle in a car without some pretty extreme containment.. At least for the valve..
I dont do this on a car but I used abuse the bottles in a similar fashion in construction..
They have had the camaro tech'd at a track and contacted NHRA about it and havent been told no yet.