Turbo chargers

How does a turbo work?

Good question.  Something I love talking and learning about is turbo.   They are a very simple component to forced induct air into an engine.  Since they are fairly sophisticated  (compared to superchargers, they have plenty more parts to work)  there are so many things that can be done to improve turbo response and efficiency of small engines. This is what my notice board looks like:

 But in this case, we are only talking about turbo for diesel engines.

Diesel engines run with turbo for plenty of reasons.  I think that one of the main reasons is that diesels do not run as efficient as petrol engines.  They tend to need a lot of help to run (glow plugs, super strong fuel pumps, etc.) and one of the members of the team is the turbo charger.  This component uses the exhaust gases as energy to spool a turbine connected to a shaft inside a separate turbo housing with an air compressor inside.  This compressor pushes air into a series of piping and an intercooler, and finally into the throttle body.  Since the turbo can spool up to RPM's of up to 50,000, the turbine includes an internal waste gate, which is basically a bypass valve which opens when enough air pressure is built inside the piping and intercooler.  This wastegate opens to let exhaust gases flow through without spooling the turbine wheel.

Since the turbo is a component that is dealing with hot exhaust gases and highly moving parts, it runs an oiling and coolant system.  An oil line is run through to the turbines bearings and shaft to help it spin freely.  The oil is then fed back into the sump through a return line.  Here is a very simple photo of a turbo system.  (notice the long piping that the air has to travel through)

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