Forced Air

[Anonymous]

Hey guys


TOday i was screwing around in my shop and came up with a good idea i think. I had an extra little 3x3 electric type fan and an air cleaner housing from a 1999 dodge durango i picked up at the pick and pull, and an air cleaner for our 200's. So my idea was to mount the fan in the box type air cleaner from the dodge and run the ram air hosing to the box and seal it so that it wont come off or leak then attached the other end to an old air cleaner house for a 200 . My idea in doing this is to have the fan force air to the carburetor, kinda like a ram air setup. The electric fan spins pritty fast not even sure what it is off of the motor on the little fan is a Zaharon 3500 according to a local hobby shop. the guy said that it can spin extremely fast and acturatly. so do you guys think this will work like the ram air setup. Ill put it on and try after you all tell me what you think.

 

[ludwig]

I think the whole ram air idea is great. I did a passive ram from the radiator support to the air horn on the stock 200 air cleaner (props to Mr. Wizard at the Falcon Performance Handbook). I used a conical plumbing stack flashing from the local building supply house, cobbled together (neatly!, as Addo would recommend) a funnel with a clamping surface and connected it with real 2.5" ram air tubing from a speed shop. It does no good at idle or low speed, but on the freeway I can feel it dig in from the positive pressure.
I think that the forced induction air from the fan will probably help most at low speed where there is little or no passive induction. At some point the entering air will exceed the speed of the air pushed by the fan and there will be no gain past that.
Very soon, much more knowledgeable fellows will add commentary to this post and every scrap of it will be wise and of immediate use to you.

 

[Anonymous]

Well, by the numbers....a typical 3"x3" fan moves about 15 CFM of air, maximum, in an ambient environment. In a closed tube, about 10% of that much. The 200 engine pulls about 180 CFM at 3000 RPM or so. So, I don't think that little fan will help much.

However....

...if you have a LARGE capacity electrical system, there are electric turbochargers available. They require about 12 HP worth of electrical power, but generate up to 18 PSI of boost. They are popular on all-out drag racers that are used on the street (without the fan running) to go back & forth to work on a daily basis. These fans generate about 1100 CFM in ambient air, but about 250 CFM at 12 PSI boost.

A typical, well-designed ram-air system can create 5 PSI inside the air cleaner. A good NACA duct can reach 11 PSI (at 200 MPH) with a flush mount.

Don't wish to be a 'wet blanket', but those are the numbers...

 

[BB6Mustang]

12 hp is equal to 8955.6 Watts. 8955.6 Watts divided by 12V is 746.3A. I don't know of an alternator that will output that much current, and even if you found one, it would require more than 12 hp to turn the alternator due to ineffeciencies. It is really no better than a belt driven supercharger.

Multiple batteries hooked up in parallel could hold enough energy and output enought current for very short bursts, but you would have to wait a long time between bursts for the batteries to recharge, and the batteries would be very heavy. You probably wouldn't gain much performance.

A normal exhaust driven turbine is far more effecient and will make more power.

 

[pedal2themetal45]

HI
I would find out how much CFI it put out. That would tell ya how much it would work.. As long as it didn't restrict the air flow at high speeds it might be effictive at low speeds and help boost.
Tim