Nissan ECU Tuning

fasterthanyou · Joined: 22 Apr 2006 Posts: 98 Location: MA

Anyone know of any side effects if I were to construct a Copper intercooler??? The heat transfer coefficient would actually be higher than that of aluminum....I could cool more with smaller intercoolers.....so whats the down side??? Deterioration over time? strength?

pimpmobile · Joined: 08 Nov 2005 Posts: 21 Location: Sydney

A copper intercooler would have a higher coefficant then aluminium. However how are you going to transfer the heat from tube to fin? you will need to braise somewhere along the line... do you have some heavy machinery available to produce copper intercoolers?

the cost of the raw materials would be qa lot more than a premade alloy intercooler.
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fasterthanyou · Joined: 22 Apr 2006 Posts: 98 Location: MA

I can produce them....and get copper for much cheaper....

pimpmobile · Joined: 08 Nov 2005 Posts: 21 Location: Sydney

your biggest enemy will be corrosion.

as you know copper goes green with corosion and water does not help so a FMIC is going to get fairly wet due to rain. bit it will cool better. if you could annodize it it will protect it. and yes copper can be annodized!

I would love to se e the results of an all copper cooler.
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Nunook · Joined: 17 May 2006 Posts: 72

I would love to see in the future some kind of copper/aluminum mixed intercooler.

Like how they make cpu heatsinks. Maybe copper tubes, and aluminum fins?
probably not possible.

my 2 ¢

fasterthanyou · Joined: 22 Apr 2006 Posts: 98 Location: MA

your two cents is semi paralleling what I am debating on creating.....THe copper fins and alum tubes is brilliant if I ever get around to making these your on the list!!
I have been worried about corrosion most of all....but most homes have copper piping and I drink that water that travels through those pipes that have been where they are for over 30 yrs......I'm not sure how temperature differentials/enviornmental issues will impact this system....The one thing I know is that I don't want copper residue flaking off into my z's motor.....I am a mechanical engineer and roomed with a few materials engineers I'm going to have to make a few phones calls and get some science behine all of this!

Warpspeed · Joined: 11 Jun 2006 Posts: 1 Location: Melbourne

Sure a copper intercooler would have a higher heat transfer, but not enough to be worthwhile. The problem is that air itself has a very poor heat transfer.

What you need is a really big exposed fin area, not a higher heat conductivity metal.

Now if we were talking about a water to water heat exchanger, copper would win easily. But air to air it is just not worth doing.

Copper is also a lot heavier than aluminium. None of the top race cars run copper intercoolers, and that should tell you something.
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Cheers, Tony.

NewKleer · Joined: 09 Oct 2004 Posts: 159 Location: Sydney