NoPistons -Mazda Rx7 & Rx8 Rotary Forum

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-   Rotary Engine Building, Porting & Swaps (https://www.nopistons.com/rotary-engine-building-porting-swaps-55/)
-   -   Alcohol: the missing link (https://www.nopistons.com/rotary-engine-building-porting-swaps-55/alcohol-missing-link-60341/)

howracer 07-06-2006 09:23 PM

first, allow me to congratulate NO PISTONS and Brian Cain ( AKA BDC) for the excellent idea of the new forum section...



given the fact that the rotary runs an easy 300 more degrees of EGT compared to a piston engine and given that most of us turbo the XXXX out of our motors it is not surprising that we get pretty good at rebuilds and the install/jerk-it process. if you build them and treat them right they do work fine and those that never learn end up w LS1s.



the bigtime heat and boost we run simply require Auxilliary Injection (AI).



simply put.... add alcohol, jack up the timing at least 3-4 degrees, add another 8 psi of boost and hang on.



unlike racegas, which delivers some, not all, of alcohols benefits alcohol is used only under boost. the rest of the time you are cruising around w (relatively) cheap pump gas. i run a 4 gallon fuel cell in my Fd and it lasts thru numerous tanks of gas. others get by fine w a gallon.



so you can make racegas power when you put your foot down and go to the grocery store for the other kind of alcohol.



it gets better. not only do you get the octane necessary to run 23-24 psi on the street but you get major league cooling. you may know rotaries that run on 100% alcohol and run in the 8s and 7s often don't even run an intercooler. you don't want to put your hand on the intake runners after a trip down the quarter or you may find your hand freezing to the runner. you do not get this cooling w racegas.



the forum is entitled Auxilliary Injection as it is meant to cover all types of injectives... such as water, nitrous and propane.



as usual almost everything you need to know is on the net. i have around 100 bookmarks. the best single source of info as to theory tuning whom to deal with and hardware, IMO, is the Turbobuick.com site. the subsection is entitled Alcohol, Nitrous and Propane Tech. it has over 65 PAGES of THREADS. since the Buicks came turboed there's been alot of research and drag radials incinerated over the years. it is interesting as you see AI's story unfold in realtime dating back a number of years. it is all alcohol and started out w water.



lots of racers over there.... the guy i ended up dealing w Julio Don, Tampa Fl runs a transam firebird w the buick V6... stock block, pump gas w alcohol, 231 cu inches, 2 valve pushrod motor at 3860 pounds... 134 mph. that's on pump gas. without alcohol he can only run 17 psi. add another 10 psi w alcohol along w a bunch of timing advance.



a properly designed alcohol kit will have a re-engineered pump so as to be compatible w alcohol, the lines will b braided stainless w brass hydraulic fittings. the controller will be an adj progressive type.



tuning is VERY interesting... we generally tune w AFR. (along w some egt and knock). since alcohol has a very different AFR and we are combining it w pump most of the tuning is done w knock.



i expect alcohol (methanol, $1.99 gallon in Milwaukee) will garner a huge eventual following as more people realize what a perfect fit it is to the turbo rotary.



howard coleman













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j9fd3s 07-06-2006 11:25 PM

ive happened across some of the details of the mazda japan/RB bonneville FC engines. mazda japan developed the engine starting in 81 but only ran it i think twice, dnf'ing. then they went to RB who lost an engine in setting the 236mph record.



those engines were a bp twin turbo setup https://www.nopistons.com/forums/pub...DIR#>/wink.png , making 530hp@15psi, with water to air intercooling down to 45degrees F, etc etc.



we now have efi, where they had a mechanical



we now have ceramic apex seals, who knows what they had? 2100f egts....



but still i dont see it as a combo that can even be made to be reliable, except with water, or maybe alcohol



interesting stuff guys!

z-beater 07-07-2006 11:22 AM

I am happy to see this sub-forum made. I feel this is the next movement that is going to happen for our little rotary engines...especially since forced induction is needed to make any "real" power. IMO, before this, you needed to do one of two things to create power.



1. Run high boost on race gas on a "smaller" turbo and risk blowing

2. Run a huge turbo and suffer with lag



Now that water/meth injection is here there is no need for either downside.



Howard, excellent job on laying out the basics. I would hate to see a few individuals ruin a great thing from a little misinformation and or incorrect setups.



I am all about building the base of Nopistons up with writeups and tech articles. I say that the first person that installs a Water meth kit should do a writeup. I have a coolingmist 2 stage kit. I would be happy to do this but it is still quite some time before I will actually install it.



Z

BDC 07-07-2006 04:08 PM

I'm still working on my AlkyControl kit installation. I've been doing some preliminary testing now that it's leak proof but I believe the fuel cell is mounted too high with respect to the output nozzle. So, Razor is sending me a check valve to help with some dribbling that I think is occurring. Here's a link to the installation pictures:



http://bdc.cyberosity.com/v/ProjectC...C/AlkyControl/



Comments always welcome.



B

sdminus 07-07-2006 04:26 PM

Howard. I will add in if need since i run alch inj on my fd.



Mail me and let me know of the progress.



Scott

1Revvin7 07-07-2006 05:02 PM


Originally Posted by z-beater' post='827257' date='Jul 7 2006, 11:22 AM

I would hate to see a few individuals ruin a great thing from a little misinformation and or incorrect setups.







Z



Get used to it, this is the internet.



Alcohol injection works great, its no mystery. Its been used on aircraft for almost a hundred years. If its not a common practice its going to be cast down, esp by the internet gurus. Its going to be knocked for a long time to come, last time I was on the dyno with an Rx-7, the operator was casting it down also..

z-beater 07-07-2006 05:17 PM


Originally Posted by 1Revvin7' post='827310' date='Jul 7 2006, 03:02 PM

Get used to it, this is the internet.



Alcohol injection works great, its no mystery. Its been used on aircraft for almost a hundred years. If its not a common practice its going to be cast down, esp by the internet gurus. Its going to be knocked for a long time to come, last time I was on the dyno with an Rx-7, the operator was casting it down also..





Whoa, calm down. Yes to YOU alcohol may be no mystery. There are tons of people that just slap a system together without research. More so there are tons of people that are still in the turbo world that do not even know what water injection is. This is my attempt to help those that do not properly search or are looking to make that next step. And I am well aware of the history.

howracer 07-07-2006 07:34 PM

this falls under my "still learning" category and is another reason to seriously discount the water-alcohol mix program..





i was talking to Julio Don today and mentioned that somewhere on one of the rotary boards someone had posted a picture of their throttle body. as i recall they were running a 50-50 mix of water and alcohol.



their comment was based on observation of the 3 butterflies.... that more of the AI was going to the rear rotor. (you could see that the rear half of the three throttle plates was cleaner than the front half.)



Julio's comment was that the problem related to mixing alcohol and water. water does not "flash" like alcohol. if you inject water w alcohol you get small droplets in the intake runner just after the nozzles. these droplets capture the alcohol. in addition to not atomizing like alcohol, water weighs around 8.5 pounds per gallon and alcohol about 6.4 pounds. as a result the mixture tends to fall out of suspension as it makes the elbow turn and thusly favors the rear rotor.



if you run straight alcohol it "flashes" vaporizes before the elbow turn and is in better suspension for a more even distribution.



BTW, i think i have an excellent location for my 2 nozzles: they are in the silicone coupler immediately infront of the elbow and just behind my relocated air temp sensor.



finally, i am well aware that there are numerous people out there running AI and i do hope that we all find this section a great place to exchange ideas so that everyone wins.



our overworked engines are counting on us.



stay tuned.



howard coleman

sdminus 07-08-2006 02:52 AM

Howard. The post was mine and the mix was 100% High grade Meth. (The same as used in Methanol dragsters)



Have you seen the pic ?



Scott

howracer 07-08-2006 08:00 AM

i stand corrected. have you observed any difference front to rear as to spark plug reading or egts?

howracer 07-08-2006 08:02 AM

scott,

where exactly is your nozzle/s located?

sdminus 07-08-2006 08:41 AM

The nozzles are located at pressnt. Just after the intercooler and just before the throttle body in the elbow. I hoped this all being down stream would have given me even distribution.



I am now changing to push fit connectors. I am also gonna up my meth flow from 348cc/1 or 5.5GPH to 505cc/1 or 8 GPH. My egts are very low (around the 770deg C mark) and the plugs still look quite dark.



I also had a problem with the injectors going gummy and messing up the spray pattern. I know of a couple of other guys that also had the same problem using differant jets, so it seems to be a universal problem.



Scott

howracer 07-08-2006 11:41 AM

so you run 2 nozzles...



they are located in a Greddy elbow?



where on the elbow? are they on the top and bottom? are they on both sides of the elbow? are they across from each other or staggered?



based on your experience as to the picture you posted i am going to bias the location of my nozzles so they both aim a bit towards the inside of the elbow turn. that may help front to rear distribution.



your nozzles are getting gummed up? that's really bad as it may impede the flow. that is not a universal experience. it is most likely either the nozzles ( what brand and size) or the alcohol or the pump pressure. i will ask Julio for you...



good luck and keep us updated.



howard coleman

sdminus 07-08-2006 11:49 AM

I really wanna change to the aquamist nozzels. They have a very good spray pattern.



I have a really poor pic of the lay out. Im going to alter it while the car is off the road. ( smashed lsd )



I have some cool power graphs that i can share if you like. I have the untuned meth and then tuned meth graph.



The Meth i use is the very best i can get. I buy it from the place that supplies the top fuel cars.



Scott



The first nozel is in the intercooler coupler after the IC. The second is in the elbow.



The nozzels are coolingmist m5 and m0.5. i have also seen this with the snow performance ones

howracer 07-08-2006 02:23 PM

based on your experience as to flow pattern i just located my 2 nozzles. since the secondaries are larger and located on top of the primaries and i wanted to go for a bias towards the front rotor due to the elbow turn i located my 2 nozzles as follows:



in the silicone coupler just in front of the elbow.

looking back towards the mouth of the tube i mounted one at 4 and one at 6 o'clock.



i leave for a week so will report in upon return.



howard coleman

sdminus 07-08-2006 02:41 PM

The problem has got to related to the shape of the elbow. Im ok at the mo becasue i have richer injectors in my front rotor but it will come to a point. I will re post the pic on here so people know what we are talking about.



I think the only answer to this will be 2 jets of the same type above each runner on the elbow. I know it has to flash over but the thing with meth is. It will change state/ atomise when it comes in contact with a surface above 11 deg C. it has a 40 odd degC boling point and once it changes state ( ie from a liquid in to a gas ) it is imposible for it to turn back to a liquid. We have tried pre turbo methanol, This made up a whole AFR with only 31 cc/1 of methanol on SU carb elford turbo FB. My next project will be pre turbo meth or may be a hybrid mix.



I have a motorway cruse log in 11 deg C ambiant air that shows the IAT drop to -13 deg C after boost.



It is important for all to share info on this because it is a black art. Methanol will not give you instant HP but it yeilds more tq and the tuning capabilties are huge.



Scott[attachment=38779:attachment]

sdminus 07-09-2006 02:05 PM

Providing the aquamist jets are meth friendly i am going to swap to there jets this week. I am still gonna run 2 jets but i am gonna re position them. I am not sure quite where yet. I am thinking in the elbow but on top and one per secondary runner



Scott

z-beater 07-10-2006 10:53 AM

huh, interesting stuff guys. There is quite a bit of information in here that I have not heard before.



A couple questions though...



1. What injectors are the "best"?



2. Has anyone tried the probe adapters for the silicone couplers? They puncture the silicone coupler and allow for a probe, possibly and injector to sit in the IC pipe.

rotarygod 07-12-2006 02:54 PM

Just to add a small amount of information that may be relevant. The lower the temperature at which the liquid used turns to gas, the easier it will be to keep it in suspension in the intake manifold. We all know what temperature water is a gas above. This also assumes at sea level pressures. What about ethanol or methanol at sea level pressures? It doesn't take much to find out how this changes with various pressures.



Water: 212*

Ethanol: 172*

Methanol: 147*



See why water pools easier in the intake manifold than the other 2?

sdminus 07-12-2006 03:47 PM

I addition to that . Methanol changes state when it comes into contact with oblects above 11 deg C. It has a very low flash over and once it changes state it will not change back again.



Scott

sdminus 08-05-2006 04:30 PM

Bump... is this thread still alive...



Scott


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