Jakpro1

Long story short, was thinking of how I could wrap the trunk intercooler 4 gallon reservoir with dry ice to keep it frosty while I do some dyno runs.

Thought I remembered it got pretty heated a few years ago when we discussed dry ice right on aluminum. Some said that it would crack it or severely weaken it over time. Some said no way.

Long as I made sure it was well vented, was thinking of just dropping the dry ice in the res.

What do you guys think?

Thanks for any input

velvet fog

Depends on the alloys I don't think it would be a problem if you used one of the more ductile alloys like 6061 or 2024. If you used 7075 it might be a problem. Is this thing welded or soldered?

Another consideration is if the tubing between the trunk and intercooler is insulated? If the plumbing is not insulated, then cooling the trunk reservoir may not make any difference.

MB_Forever

Jim, dry ice will do a lot more than just frost the reservoir, it may over cool (or freeze) the whole container too rapidly. We used it at Famoso a couple of times (very sparingly) when it was too hot on top of the supercharger on Shawn's car, and it did a great job in cooling the engines down fast, but at times, it actually "over cooled". A few times it made the engine too cold to race and we had to warm it back up.

ChicagoX

Dry ice in warm water will turn into an instant fog machine. I have an idea for your setup - please PM me.

blackbenzz

Truth. I've done it at work a few times

lane_change

I am planning on using a copper coil inside the fluid resvoir that I am planning to chill down with some co2. From talking with some engineering friends of mine, we have came to the conclusion that it will work more efficiently at cooling down the temps and basically allowing the car to run at 40' F weather 100% of the time that we are using the co2. I had debated going with a regular co2 kit to spray into the intake streams on both sides as well as to spray the remainder onto the intercooler/heat exchanger itself, but after thinking about it more, the copper coil should work better. We have to look into the resevoir design now though to make sure that we can actually do this, on paper it works best though. So we'll see. I am still just in the idea stages of this, once I look into the diagrams some more, play with some numbers, and have my smarter friends figure it all out for me, I will see where I end up.

I think my plans for upgrade are pretty simple and should keep my warranty in good standing. Upgraded pump, heat exchanger, -10 thermo, and co2 cooling. If I can get away with an upgraded pulley and tune, I will...but I think I will run into warranty issues, and I don't want to have to take stuff apart and reset my ECU everytime I need to go in for service.

Jakpro1

Here is the unit. It's from Summit



Guess it is 5051 Aluminum.

Made from 5051 aircraft aluminum alloy, our Summit® aluminum fuel cells offer superior strength in a lightweight package. The cells have foam in the base to prevent fuel aeration, and have TIG-welded seams, and mounting tabs for superior strength. Other features include a flush mount, aircraft-style cap and -8 AN pickup, vent, and return line fittings. Plus, some models include a 0-90 ohm GM sending unit. They're available in natural satin, or red, blue, and black powdercoated finishes.

chiromikey

no putting dry ice IN the reservoir...wrapped on the outside is ok.

dry ice when melted in liquid (water) goes directly from solid to gas and skips the liquid stage. because dry ice sinks in water, it will be giving off gas directly in front of your pick up lines...therefor introducing gas/air into your i/c system. not good for cooling!!!

Jakpro1

WOW, I never thought of that one Mikey!!!

Looks like it's a dry ice wrap coming up.

May have to rig up a fan to blow out the bottom of the trunk. Otherwise they will see me slumped over the steering wheel on the dyno. Always worried bout CO2 getting into the cabin with this idea.

Thanks again for all the input!!

chiromikey

it's carbon dioxide not carbon monoxide so no worries about toxic gas.

HYEPWR

jackpro,

Ive used this and it works RIDICULOUSLY well. Im a bit confused---are you trying to cool the water flowinginto the IC??

If so---I have to agree with MB_Forever---watch out for freezing. Dry Ice, as you know, is at -78*C(-109*F). Depending on the following 3 factors--water flowspeed, length of tubing for contact and the mix of antifreeze in your cooling medium.....Your coolant can freeze. if you have 50:50 anti-freeze/water mix(most people in the warmer areas seem to run straight h2O or 90:10 water!!)...thats good to -35*C to -40*C. Lower than that and the water will freeze.

Once the car is running and the pump is pumping---it should be ok......but if you leave it in there and turn the car off...or even have the pump running and the engine off---it will freeze the water eventually. Dont even think about it with straight water or 90:10 mix.

Its good stuff though!!

juicee63

JJ,

just wrap it man. I have a Summit Pro account if you need that part . I can check and see if I can get you a better price.

I think an ice bath 4C inside and exterior wrap of dry ice would be great

jangy

Definitely wrap it. It will evaporate and you have no liquid issues. The heat you remember is from when I wanted to make a dry ice / alcohol slurry (much more efficient at heat transfer than dry ice alone) and use it IN the cooling line. Turned out to be a crazy idea but I am still looking into a double walled reservior with a vented outer core so I can do that.

Jakpro1

Yeah, tank flows through the Johnson and right up front and into the IC.

Looks like wrapping it will be the way to go.

Any ideas on how to create some type of wrap device??

chiromikey

you can take josh up on his offer and get one of summit's highly overpriced dry ice blankets...or you can just leave it in the plastic bag it comes in and tape it to the outside of the reservoir like i do.

Jakpro1

Oops, sorry bout that Josh!! Didn't even see that.

jangy

I use cheese cloth and get it tight with duct tape.

HYEPWR

you guys are suggesting wrapping the outside of the water reservoir with dry ice??

I dont see the point in that. If you have ice water in the reservoir at ~2-4*C ---you cant cool that down any further without the water freezing.

You want to try something that will work as a HYPERCOOLER?? GEt one of these...




Portable icebox......cut 2 holes in it (input & output).... Then get a couple of these.....





Copper cooling coils. Take the output of your reservoir and attach to the end of the coil. Place the coil into the ICEBOX. Then add about 1-2 lbs of ....





DRY ICE PELLETS. Make sure your intercooler water is actually 50:50 water/antifreeze. That dry ice will cool the liquid down waay below 4*C....maybe -10* to -20*C (depending on several factors).

jangy

The ice melts in 1 run (or less) and the reservoir becomes warm to the touch. Wrapping it doesn't make the inner fluid freeze, it barely keeps it cold.

I like your setup, but this is an easy remedy for the occasional track trip.