Superchargers. The blowers of evil. The blowers with a dark secret, that pour more air and more power into engines and make them powerful beasts. With the marketing that I did just now, even a fool will believe that a supercharger makes an engine more powerful. But for the guys who really want to gain something beautiful from this blog post, what are superchargers? How do they work? Why are they even used, if turbos and NOS can power your car? I will throw some light on these questions.
So, what are superchargers? Now, as I had explained in the previous blog post, we can increase the power of an engine by forced induction, which means blowing more air into the engine to produce more power. Supercharging is another method of forced induction, just like turbocharging. The difference between supercharging and turbocharging is that the turbocharger is powered by the exhaust gases, whereas the supercharger is powered through a belt, chain or shaft, which is connected to the crankshaft of the car’s engine. So, in easy words, the supercharger is powered by the engine itself. Another different between a turbo and a supercharger is the sounds that both of them create. The turbocharger creates a signature flutter-“stututututu”, whereas the supercharger creates a whine. Honestly, that supercharger whine is one of the things that people, especially car enthusiasts, appreciate most about superchargers. You must take a listen, then you will know. Precisely, a supercharger is an air compressor. It is just there to blow more air, to produce more power. So now, I am going to talk about all the types of superchargers and I will describe how each one of them works.
So, there are three types of superchargers-
Roots supercharger- The roots supercharger is the oldest type of supercharger. Initially it was used to blow air in blast furnaces that melted iron. The Roots supercharger was invented by Philander and Francis Roots in 1860. The roots supercharger works through a pair of rotors that blow air at a high speed into the intake port. As the port then contains a greater quantity of air, it becomes compressed. So as more air is poured into the engine, more fuel is released and more power is produced. Roots supercharger is mounted on top of the engine and it can give that classic air intake that classic, hot-rod, American muscle cars are known for. It looks the coolest but it’s the least efficient.
Twin-screw supercharger-The only difference between roots and twin-screw supercharger is that how and where the air is being compressed. Instead of air being compressed in the intake port, it compresses air within the supercharger housing itself. Plus, it is more efficient than a Roots supercharger. Two screws draw in and squeeze the air before sending it to the engine.
Centrifugal supercharger-Centrifugal superchargers are the most efficient type of superchargers. They look like turbos, so none of that unique blower look, but it gets the job done. The impeller rotates at very high RPM, which draws in air. The impeller is the rotating part of the supercharger. A good example is Kawasaki H2.
So, this is everything about superchargers. The majority of people think that they are not that relevant because turbos are more efficient, but I think that they improve the driving experience while increasing the power. I think that they are still awesome.
Thank you for reading my blog!!
