water injection

[cycloneb18c3]

I have seen these systems of water injection... What the heck do they do... im just curious.

 

[HellBentHONDA]

they allow you to run more timing advance , leaner air/fuel mixture and more boost pressure. it can help prevent detonation and engine overheating at a slight loss of power by changing nozzle sizes and/or a 3D comp. controller thats programmable kinda like Hondata.

water absorbs alot of heat when it evaporates so when its shot into the intake charge the intake temp can be reduced 20-30 degrees F. it retards combustion a little and thats what helps control detonation.

i guess they're mostly used on road course events and rally events, stuff where you're pinning the throttle for long periods of time.

that answer your question?

l

 

[cycloneb18c3]

intresting concept. yes that answers my question--thanks. lol.

 

[posol]

pretty much, if you're under 500 hp, there's no pont in trying it.

 

[highperboi]

at school ive seen these people doing smog stuff and they have like this IV thing full of water and they like drip it into a vacum line. what is this?? sorry about jacking this thred it just came into mind when you said water injection.

 

[posol]

chances are, that's actually a "top end cleaner"

it works pretty good... cleans the valve train and shit of gunk..

 

[Loco Honkey]

Here's how it works on the molecular level...

When an air/ fuel mix burns, it's a chain reaction from one fuel molecule to the next. If you have water molecules in there, they put the fire out, breaking the chain reaction. This might sound counterproductive, but this is how water injection prevents detonation.

 

[Franknstein]

Another cool thing about water injection is that if done correctly, you can run without an intercooler. Kinda cool, but don't forget to fill the resevoir.

 

[cycloneb18c3]

intercooler $ is less than water injection $. id rather run intercooler with water injection.

 

[Loco Honkey]

On top of that, basing your power delivery on a deplenishable source is assinine.

 

[RENR]

Originally posted by cycloneb18c3@Mar 21 2004, 08:25 AM
intercooler $ is less than water injection $. id rather run intercooler with water injection.

no intercooler means less lag. u can loos about 2psi going through an intercooler. IMO id still keep the ic though.

 

[hcivic.com]

but an intercooler donsn't only last for 2mins at wot

 

[FutureCivic]

Well you guys have already explained water injection, and ive never seen anybody use it on a turbo'd car before. but one down here has a JRSC Sir sedan with a built b16a. he has run street times of 12.3. pretty hard to believe but its been backed up on numerous occasion ok. he spanked my uncles R33.(i cryed) ihe doesnt let anyone see under the hood but i already got a peak when he was filling his N20 tanks. i keep wondering why he didnt blowup already.

 

[Canuck 93 Civic Si]

Like turbochargers, superchargers and alot of the other fancy things we bolt on our cars, we can thank aviation for water injection as well. Water/alchohol injection was first introduced during the second world war to aid long range bombers in extending thier range and decreasing cylinder head and exhaust temperatures. Using a 50/50 mix of distilled water and glycol ( alchohol ) the pilots would turn on the water injection system once they reached thier cruising altitude. The alchohol was added in order to keep the water from freezing. Usually about 15 to 20,000 feet. Since water has a rate of vapor expansion about twice that of gasoline when it burns, the pilots of the bombers were able to lower their fuel consumption by throttleing back. The normal combustion process would vaporize the water wich would push down the pistons just as if there it was the proper fuel air mixture. Because there is less fuel and air being used, fuel consumption is decreased and so is engine operating temperature.

The advantage of water injection was further realised during the introduction of turbocharging and power recovery turbines. Since the exhaust charge is much more dense then normal, the pressure differential between the exhaust gas and thin atmosphere, turbines would spin faster and produce more flow with no increase in throttle. This would greatly improve scavanging in the cylinders and greatly increase the performance of the 4, 3350 cubic inch four bank radial engines.

There are many web sites that should be able to explain how water injection is usefull to the automotive performance market. Google search works best. Stay away from aquamist, there are better and cheaper DIY setups available. I know for sure some people run low boost with no fuel management, just water injection. They just use windshield washer fluid as a the injection media because it is about 50/50 water alchohol and about 0.001% blue. So far, the people ive spoken to running these setups have never seen detonation and thier engines arnt blown up yet. Also, thier internal components seem to be very clean .

Hope this helps

Sean