Cool Can Conversion Project

[KLLR SNK]

For the past few years I had been thinking about experimenting with a cool can idea for the intercooler to help with ITA2's. My intentions were to get more consistent coolant temperatures between the heat exchanger and intercooler. I considered wet ice, dry ice, and even liquid nitrogen as possible cooling agents. The nitrogen was quickly dismissed for extreme temperatures, source, and safety reasons. The canister's pitcock helps drain wet ice melt and dry ice sublimates so either would be a good option based on availability.

I found an old coolant can that had been formerly used to cool racing fuel that appeared to be ideal for the conversion project. Unfortunately the aluminum 3/8" lines were too small for my application so I gutted the canister and drilled out the connectors.

The worst part of the entire project was bending tubing that would fit inside the canister yet not impede the coolant flow to much. I wanted to use 3/4" OD refrigerant copper tubing but it would not radius tight enough to fit plus bending it without a bending tool or spring was impossible. Next I tried 1/2" copper tubing which was easy to bend with a spring but it still wanted to crimp in a couple of places. A HVAC friend had a 5/8" bending tool and all the fittings I needed so that was the best solution but both inlet and outlet are 3/4". I could have used 3/4" plastic tubing but I felt the wall thickness would prohibit good cooling transfer plus I felt thin walled copper would be most beneficial. With dry ice as the coolant of choice at -109 degrees I insulated the interior top, bottom, and sides of the canister. Leaving the canister lid loose or adding a vent to release the CO2 gas is a step yet to be decided.

Now, finding a good place to mount the can (6"x7") is problematic and my next hurdle for a mostly stock engine compartment. If the air filter wasn't there the canister would be mounted there really close to the HE outlet tube and IC manifold inlet tube. Another option would be battery relocation and mounting in that space. I doubt I do either and this project ends up sitting on the shelf.

As an aside: I don't know if this could be used as a transmission cooler by adding a pump and lines to the trans or not.

goes on the shelf.

 

[zredfire04]

seems like one could do something like this in a killer chiller fashion, where the coil in the tank is used to cool water that flows through the reservoir and into the intercooler.

 

[cj428mach]

seems like one could do something like this in a killer chiller fashion, where the coil in the tank is used to cool water that flows through the reservoir and into the intercooler.

Thats the idea.

Ray, I hope you install it on the car, if you give up on it I have a buddy that likes to drag race and is on a budget. He'd probably give it a go if you pass on it.

 

[keith89]

seems like one could do something like this in a killer chiller fashion, where the coil in the tank is used to cool water that flows through the reservoir and into the intercooler.

I tried this about 8 years ago and compared it to the killer chiller. I should have posted results and photos but I had lost them all. I had a larger coolant tank with AC hard lines coiled inside. It took longer for it to lower the intercooler fluid temperatures and got nowhere near as cold as the killer chiller. It would go into limp mode by the end of a 1/4 mile pass without the heat exchanger circuit. I believe it has to do with the method of conduction. The killer chiller passes a smaller amount of coolant through it's core before going directly to the intercooler where a coil inside the intercooler tank has to cool the entire fluid tank before the benefit is seen at the intercooler.

This was my experience and I encourage you to consider this but also continue thinking outside the box.

 

[KLLR SNK]

Thanks Mike. Yeah I would like to see it installed and tested. I would really like to have it in my car but being a stock guy I am not going to change my engine compartment. I believe the stock pump would be sufficient to flow the extra coolant, it has ~7.5 feet of 5/8" copper tubing coiled inside the canister. I also have more 3/4" copper tubing and insulation to route to the HE and IC manifold. I think dry ice pellets would be best but I would use block if the pellets were not available.

I have a few bucks and a lot of time invested in this thing so I hate to ship it away too soon then live to regret it later on. I'll keep your buddy in mind.

 

[KLLR SNK]

keith89 thanks for your input. I wanted something that was an easy add-on, that mounted quickly (space providing), and cooled based on...wait for it...the old rolling a beer concept of cooling. I also wanted it as close to the IC as possible so the coolant wouldn't have much time to heat from engine compartment temps.

Ideally I would take out all the insulation and fill the canister with liquid nitrogen. At -320 degrees there should be some effective cooling of the IC coolant. But at that temp the coolant would probably have to remain circulating with the pump on so it wouldn't freeze and plug up the lines. So dry ice would probably be the safest bet. That's why we test, test, and then test some more.

 

[zredfire04]

I tried this about 8 years ago and compared it to the killer chiller. I should have posted results and photos but I had lost them all. I had a larger coolant tank with AC hard lines coiled inside. It took longer for it to lower the intercooler fluid temperatures and got nowhere near as cold as the killer chiller. It would go into limp mode by the end of a 1/4 mile pass without the heat exchanger circuit. I believe it has to do with the method of conduction. The killer chiller passes a smaller amount of coolant through it's core before going directly to the intercooler where a coil inside the intercooler tank has to cool the entire fluid tank before the benefit is seen at the intercooler.

This was my experience and I encourage you to consider this but also continue thinking outside the box.

i think i failed to properly express my idea.

using the OP setup, i'd run refrigerant through the copper coil and water through the tank that the coil is in. the inlet to the add on tank would be the outlet of the heat exchanger, and outlet on the add on tank would go to the intercooler. would probably benefit from some baffling inside the tank as well.

i doubt i'd ever bother with a project like this though...i have too many other things i need to do to make more power first.

 

[1wild-horse]

Nice Ray. I thought about doing something similar, but building it into the reservoir for the intercooler.
Got a buddy that does hvac and he said why not just plumb a low side line in and out of the intercooler, essentially making it an evaporator core? Interesting idea, but then you would be commited to running the a/c all the time.
I did end up building my own killer chiller. Instead of mounting the heat exchanger in the foam I built a bracket and bolted it to the back of the crash bumper. There s a nice sized void back there and it tucked neatly behind, without blocking any airflow.

 

[zredfire04]

If you were going to plumb the low side into the intercooler, you could use a solenoid valve to close the circuit to the cabin. I'd be concerned about the btu capacity of the a/c system...it can't cool ambient air more than 30 degrees or so. Can it really move enough heat to be the sole heat exchanging device? Of course I'm assuming he was talking about deleting the air & water system to accommodate that.

 

[1wild-horse]

Yeah, eliminating the coolant and just running freon in there. Would take some work to get it dried out too. Its an interesting idea, not sure how well it would actually work.

 

[DSG2003Mach1]

If you go to some of the lightning boards I believe they've tried things like this and posted their results. They did coiled chill tanks and well as the icey tank I think it was called that had ac lines through it. I think a lot of that stuff is referenced on lightningrodder

 

[KLLR SNK]

Hey Joe! The biggest problem I had was finding the largest tubing I could find that would be close to the 3/4" oem lines and still be able to coil it small enough to fit my container. I only wanted plug & play, so for me, using the AC lines is not an option.

 

[2000GTSTANG]

I would be worried of condensation in the intercooler if you were to turn it into an evaporator.