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Use fuel in liquid-to-air intercooler?

2K views 6 replies 4 participants last post by  LBZjunkie 
#1 ·
Was looking into adding some kind of an intercooler to a custom build and was wondering why nobody seems to be using diesel fuel as coolant in liquid-to-air intercoolers. Only applications found where it seems to be relatively common is in planes. Thinking it would be simpler to use liquid already onboard than add another tank and plumbing required, and seems like there might be a small gain in fuel economy related to pre-heated fuel too?
 
#2 ·
Fuel returning from the injectors to the tank is very hot, and in warmer weather, you would likely be warming up the engine air rather than cooling it. I have seen easily 170* fuel temps on my monitor.
 
#5 · (Edited)
Jesus - Best to be checking the temp of the fuel in the tank where you use your truck to see what the temp is BEFORE you build your system. If you never travel the desserts of the SW where the air temp can be 115* in the shade, the fuel may or may not be cooler than the air. Also, since your fuel will gain heat because of the intercooler heat gain, it will be even hotter than current tank temps. Do you always have 40-50 gallons in your tank? What happens when you have say 10 gallons remaining? What if the fuel is warmer than the air??



Just thinking about what could happen.
 
#4 ·
I would think that if you used fuel from the tank you would want to put it through a cooler before returning it to the tank.



Interesting idea though.
 
#6 ·
Could certainly add a heat exchanger, but figured +40ft of hardline for the supply and return would be a good start, and system would obviously become less effective when tank is near empty. Could install a valve to bypass intercooler, and pressure drop through liquid-to-air intercooler is so minimal can't really see how this could possibly hurt. Have asked a few friends what they thought and everyone has commented on possibility of a ruptured intercooler causing a runaway engine. Some kind of butterfly shutoff valve would be an essential safety measure. While researching, saw that some vehicles are using AC system go cool air charge, and that seems pretty cool for maxing max power, but would consume power to chill, so would prob not be any net gain in terms of fuel economy, right?
 
#7 ·
The diesel fuel in these things are already on the verge of being too hot. DTC P0087 gets tough to repair as it is, when the fuel creeps up to 165* and a little impatient with the throttle while towing it's easy to set this DTC on an otherwise "good" running truck with miles on it. Warm fuel is good, hot fuel is not. The fuel cooler on these things is a joke, minimal benefit at best. The best thing one could do to a Duramax is cool the fuel more. I've seen 125* just cruising up the road not pulling or driving it hard, and as stated 170* isn't out of the norm.
 
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