intercooler vs. aftercooler definition
Thread Starter
Former Moderator
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 20,448
Likes: 0
From: internet
intercooler vs. aftercooler definition
a few of us started to discuss this at thunderhill and couldn't come to any conclusions. Here is something my dad found and sent to me:
If anyone else has input I'm sure we'd all be glad to hear it 
An aftercooler is a heat exchanger placed between the compressor and the engine's inlet. Vortech uses the term "aftercooler" as we feel it is more accurate; it is "after" the compressor. "Intercooler" means a heat exchanger placed between two compressors in a multi-stage system, but has been used as a synonym for an aftercooler ever since it was incorrectly stuck on the backend of a Volvo in about 1981. Aftercoolers and intercoolers are both also called charge coolers.
Stay cool...
Stay cool...
Registered User
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 831
Likes: 0
From: Bellingham, WA
"Intercooler" means a heat exchanger placed between two compressors in a multi-stage system
These concepts are a little easier to visualize in a gas turbine engine, which I spent my career designing. There, the second stage is simply another compressor similar in principle to the first stage.
Thread Starter
Former Moderator
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 20,448
Likes: 0
From: internet
Originally posted by dhayner
Thermodynamically, the two compressors here are 1) the supercharger (or turbocharger) and 2) the compression stroke of the engine itself. An intercooler, between the two stages, increases the efficiency of the overall system, by making it easier to do the second-stage compression. An aftercooler, after the second stage, would actually hurt the efficiency by removing energy that could be at least partially recovered in the power stroke (to say nothing of being damn near impossible to incorporate in a reciprocating engine).
These concepts are a little easier to visualize in a gas turbine engine, which I spent my career designing. There, the second stage is simply another compressor similar in principle to the first stage.
Thermodynamically, the two compressors here are 1) the supercharger (or turbocharger) and 2) the compression stroke of the engine itself. An intercooler, between the two stages, increases the efficiency of the overall system, by making it easier to do the second-stage compression. An aftercooler, after the second stage, would actually hurt the efficiency by removing energy that could be at least partially recovered in the power stroke (to say nothing of being damn near impossible to incorporate in a reciprocating engine).
These concepts are a little easier to visualize in a gas turbine engine, which I spent my career designing. There, the second stage is simply another compressor similar in principle to the first stage.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Curated Content Editor
Car and Bike Talk
3
Apr 2, 2019 11:48 AM
StancedS2k
California - Southern California S2000 Owners
133
Oct 15, 2010 10:10 AM