How Does the Turbocharger Work?

Most of us know that the word turbo or to have turbo in your vehicle means to give it “more get up and go,” but if you are like me you have no clue as to what the turbocharger really does for the engine. We are going to try to explain it in simple words.

The turbocharger makes the air and fuel mixture more combustible or ready to burn. The air and fuel mixture is more combustible because it can fit more air into the engine’s chambers that create more power and torque when the piston is forced downward by the combustion or explosion.

These engines draw in the air and fuel as energy and this is released as the air-fuel mixture that ignited or explodes and followed by the waste being expelled with the work of four strokes of the pistons.

The turbocharger is basically an air pump. The hot exhaust gases are being emitted from the engine after the combustion and they are sent directly to the turbine wheel side of the turbocharger to make it rotate.

The turbine wheel is connected to a shaft to the compressor wheel and as the wheel spins faster and faster it causes the compressor wheel to spin quickly.
The rotations of the compressor wheel pulls in the ambient air and compresses it before it pumps it into the engine chambers.

The compressed air is very hot that is leaving the compressor wheel housing because of the result of the compression and friction. Because of this it needs a way to cool that air down before it can enter the chambers.

The process of cooling the air down before it enters the chambers is done with the charge air cooler or the heat exchanger.

This charge air cooler reduces the temperature so that it is denser as it enters the chamber and it also helps keep the temperature down in the combustion chamber also.

The engine, turbocharger, and the charge air cooler all together form what is called the charge air system.

Some of the engines include a tip turbine fan that will draw air across the charge air cooler to reduce the temperature of the compressed air even more and this is generated by the turbocharger.

The basic principle behind the turbocharger is really simple but the turbocharger itself is a very complex piece of machinery.

The components within the turbocharger not only have to be precisely coordinated but the turbocharger and the engine must be matched perfectly. If this does not happen, the engine will run inefficiently and after a while damage can result to the engine and the turbocharger.

If you are installing a turbocharger into your engine, you want to make sure that you follow the correct instructions, the correct operating procedures and the proper preventative maintenance procedures.

If you do not do this then you will waste a lot of time and money because your will cause more damage to your vehicle’s engine and to the turbocharger.

Comment on "How Does the Turbocharger Work?"