What is the optimum intake air temperature?

[Ciro Pabón]

Yes, zac, I misread your post egregiously. I thought you were talking about carburetor freezing. True, you need some serious energy to cool the entire air intake to -20C.

I'm not sure about the Tesla Turbine, what I read is that it could be more efficient than a turbine at low heads, but it doesn't work very well against backpressure, because it works using the Coanda effect and the "spiral" that the air makes when moving on the impulsor disks detaches from the surface. Frankly, that's what turbos are for, but, as Carlos says, Wilie Conceptual could be on the track of something.

[rodders47]

Back in the 80's it was fashionable to fit "water Injection Units" to particularly V8's in order to provide better power.

This was achieved as well as smoother running. The water was injected at the top of the Carby intake.

I suspect that the addition of water not only humidified the air but would also COOL it as the air speed increaced through the carby. Maybe the added benefit was from not only humidity but also temperature ??

[mikaela]

injectar h202 agua oxigenada

[Flummo]

I suspect that the addition of water not only humidified the air but would also COOL it as the air speed increaced through the carby. Maybe the added benefit was from not only humidity but also temperature ??

Water injection has about the same effect as using fuel with slightly higher octane rating. The water slows down combustion (and may cool intake air in supercharged engines), so you may use slightly higher compression ratio, more ignition advance and/or leaner fuel mix without having problems with detonation. Done correctly it may give a little extra power, but if the amount of water is not precisely adjusted you may just as well lose power. For good results you basically need a water system about as advanced as a simple fuel injection system, so you can adjust water amount vs. rpm and load.