alcohol injection

BobAvellar's

Alcohol/WaterInjectionSystem
NOTICE: The following pages contain information that I learned and developed during development of my alcohol/ water injection system. I created the web pages as I was developing the system. Consequently, you will find some details changing as you read through the pages in proper sequence. I felt that the information contained herein would be more beneficial if I left the pages during developmental stages alone and just added any new information as I found it. It may read more like a diary as the experiment progressed and the final details and tweeks will be found in the last pages. The experiment really has no end as the need for speed always continues. It is my hope that seeing the experiment in its natural progression might enable the reader to better understand the working of the system and perhaps lead to ideas that I may have missed.
Let the Journey Begin
    Below is a schematic of a water / alcohol injection system I just installed. I will follow up with more detailsafter some testing. Without very much tuning time I am running 24 lbs boost on a race chip with 93 octane with little or no knock retard. Power is incredible especially at 15 lbs boost pressure and above. I have installed an 80-100 psi pressure switch as a replacement for the 40-60 psi switch that came with the SHURflo model 8000 pump. In addition to this change I have also added a bypass line much like the one in the Buick fuel system. This was done in order to stop the pump from cycling between the upper and lowerlimits of the switch. At this time I have not yet read the actual output pressure which is adjustable by a small allen screw on the pressure switch. The bypass line (or return line) has a ball valve that I adjusted to the point where the pump does not cycle on and off but produces just enough volume to stay within theswitch limits.
    The weather has been snowy and brutally cold lately and testing has been very limited to small time periods when the roads were dry. Also, this extreme cold (-5F) is very untypical for my area and trying to tune to these conditions would be a waste of time. The system has performed very well at temperatures in the 30-50F range.
    The nozzles that I am using are rated for 7.5 gal. per hour and 13GPH. That totals 20.5 GPH at 100 psi. During an actual flow test the volume that was sprayed was actually 17.5 GPH and that may be due to the pump pressure not being set to 100psi. I will eventually get to monitor and set the pump pressure acurately. I am very happy with the results so far including drivability at lower boost levels. I will be doing additional tuning and experimentation in order to develop the system to its optimum potential, reliability, and drivability. Right out of the box it was a significant success.
    I must thank many people for valuable information that was incorporated into the design of this system. Many of the links to alcohol injection sites on the web were a wealth of information. Special thanks go to Carrol's Supercharging for a fantastic catalogue with invaluable diagrams and for some of the parts they have available. I would like to add Steve Hill's name to the most helpful list as well.    Steve offered advice, enthusiasm, and motivation for this project. Steve has       developed his own system that works extremely well and had to pretty much go it alone while developing it. He was eager to share information and exemplifies   what "going fast with class" is all about.

As soon as I get a chance to take some pictures of the system I will post them here. It's not a stealth design but I think it looks impressive. When people see it they usually say "Wow". The pump is located where the battery normally goes but I relocated the battery to the trunk. The tank sits just above the pump forward of the Buick coolant overflow tank. The alcohol lines run just under the air conditioner lines behind the radiator. The 2 nozzles aim at the throttle plate and attach to the bend at the front of the uppipe. They sit aproximately 30 degrees apart from each other (7 and 5 o'clock positions when viewed from above).
I will also be assembling a parts list with costs and sources. A complete system will probably cost $ 275- $300. It may cost less if you have access to some of the wiring, electrical connectors, relays, hoses, and fittings.
Installation Pictures

Picture 2

Picture3

Picture4

Alcohol/H2O Injection Parts List

1 SHURflo pump Model 8000 from Northern Tool and Eqipment Co. Part# 2687-8216 List $100.95 discount price $69.99 (60psi @ 1.4gpm)

1 80-100psi replacement pressure switch aprox. $20. (raises pump pressure and is optional) Contact SHURflo for a distributor near you or Shuster Corp. 4 Wright St. New Bedford, Ma. 02741-3086 (508) 999-3261 part # 94-375-15 $19.30 + $4.80 C.O. D.

1 Water filter $3.95 part# 81-0240 from Carroll Supercharging Co. Inc. tel. 973/835-1705

2 3/8" barbed check valve $3.50 part# 2431 Carroll's

1 12v Solenoid valve $65.00 part# 359115 Carroll's

2 Stainless Steel Nozzles $5.95 Part # 1075 Carroll's or local plumbing supply $ 3.03 ea. (oil burner nozzles rated in GPH and either 45 degree or 30 degree spray pattern.

1 Tank ( windshield washer or coolant overflow tank will do) $5.00 Salvage yard. I used one from a VW that is sturdy, has outlet at bottom and return at top.

4 1/4" NPT x 3/8" Barbed elbows $ .50 ea. Part # L4-6BN Carroll's

1 3/8" Ball valve $5.00 Home Depot

Fuel injection hoses 3/8" and 1/4" aprox $10.00 ( lengths vary according to your arrangement of pump and tank) Aprox. 8 ft. of 3/8" and 3 ft. of 1/4".

15 (aprox.)Hose clamps and assorted tees and fittings aprox. $10.00 Depends on tank outlet and inlet size and how many reducers you may need.

2 Hobbs pressure switches $15.00 ea. Steve Chlupsa (adjustable 4-20psi)

2 Relays $6.00 ea. Radio Shack (30 amp)

3 Fuse holders Radio Shack (also need 1-3amp fuse and 2-10amp fuses) About $7.00

Assorted wiring, lighted switch, a green and blue bulb, and connectors for attaching to relays, and switches (Radio Shack) aprox $15.00

2 Outside Nozzle holders (2) Carroll Supercharging $10.00ea. part# 1582 (must be welded to uppipe) I had my own made from steel and TIG welded to pipe

2 Brass nozzle adapter $5.20 ea. from local plumbing supply (brass- they came in 2 lengths but I think I used the short ones). Made for holding nozzles in oil burner.

2 3/8" X 1/4" brass bushings (can't remember what these were) $3.03 ea. From local plumbing supply. Might be to step down from 3/8" to 1/4" hose.

2 1/4" hose barb X M adapter $ .72 ea. From local plumbing supply. ( screws into back of nozzle adapter and inside of the following adapter)

2 7/8". ODCOMP X 3/4M Adapter $5.20 ea. From local plumbing supply. (These hold the brass nozzle adapters inside and the whole assembly screws into the outside nozzle holders.

Aproximate cost for all materials is $293.00 + tax. I did not have to pay for the outside nozzle holders or welding so my cost was about $275.00.

If you have any fittings, clamps, relays, wiring, switches, hoses, etc you may be able to reduce this cost still further. Also, you may be able to use the 40-60psi pressure switch that comes with the pump and not bother with the bypass line in order to save another $35.00

If you have any problems finding what you need or need any questions answered you can email me at bavellar@massed.net

NOTE: The arrangement and fittings for mounting the nozzles to the nozzle holders was confusing and I will have to research the proper names for these fittings. I also used an o-ring and epoxy to assemble each unit.Kind of hard to explain but neat and long lasting. Nozzles attach to these fittings and are easily changed when tuning. I will try to give more detailed instructions later.

Updates as of 1/20/99

    Zero and below zero temperatures in the Northeast and more snow predicted prevent any worthwhile testing for the moment. At this time I must do some testing of pressures from the pump to be sure that the pressure switch setting is near to the 100psi range. Also I may use a smaller diameter return bypass line with the present ball valve in order to be able to open the valve a bit more to a position where it is less sensitive. This should allow the valve handle to be moved more with a slower change in the pressures. Now it is open only a small amount and small changes in its position seems to vary the pressure too quickly. It works as is but just in case the handle were moved a little I would not want it to affect the sytem pressure too much.A minor problem to say the least.
    Driveability has been better than expected at less than wide open throttle and boost less than 20 lbs. BUT I have experienced some fluttering at about 17 lbs at times like it was injecting a bit too much of the 50/50 mix of alcohol and starting to drown the motor. This has only occured at about 1/2 to 3/4 throttle position and if you increase the throttle it goes away. I believe this to be just a tuning issue with respect to the type of chip and fuel curve along with fuel presure setting and wastegate setting. When the weather was 40-50 F it did not seem to be present unless I used larger nozzles than the ones shown in the schematic.
    I feel that it is most important to have a pump with high enough pressure and volume capability and GOOD nozzles for proper atomization. Pump pressures of 60psi are probably sufficient to work with this setup but I opted to change the pressure switch to 80-100psi for potentially better operation. You must have a decent nozzle if you are going to atomize the liquid well and get an even distribution of the mixture.
    I think a 2 stage setup is the only way to go (unless you go super high tech). This will allow you to inject soon enough to prevent knock at lower boost levels with aggresive timing chips and not have to drown out the motor in the process. Leave the high flow nozzle out of the equation until the boost is higher and you really need the volume. With a little tuning the system becomes transparent and you won't know its even there (except for the front of the car wanting to lift up as your boost rises).
    I have much more tuning to experiment with and maybe some alternative chips but it has been a heck of an improvement on my car as soon as I fired it up.
    I would like to thank Steve Monroe for an excellent alcohol page and the idea for using the SHURflo pump. I have never spoken to him but his page did help me with some of the design problems.
    I have spoken to the tech at SHURflo about other options for pumps. They suggested that a different pump head could be used on the 8000 motor. I am not certain if this combination could be purchased as a original configuration but I would think so! I do not have any pricing information at this time. Here is the information as I received it:

"For testing purposes you can use pump head Model # 94-382-02.

This pump head includes internal bypass and 100 PSI switch.

Install this pump head on 12 VDC motor you have. Performance

of this combination will be close to you what you are looking for. You may

not even need the external bypass unless you have to have external bypass for some other reason. This pump is made of nylon material and has a lower cam.

Try this and contact me if you have any more question. Let me know more about your application and your company if you can.

Sincerely,

Nalin

Update 1/30/00

Finally had a chance to hook up my laptop to the car and test the alcohol system under boost. BLM's and integrator numbers were very close to 128 at idle and most cruise conditions. At WOT my Diacom reads low 900's for O2 voltages. These may be just a bit high but Diacom reads O2 higher than Turbolink and some of the other programs. I did not do any full throttle romps from a dead stop due to poor traction but eased into the throttle from speeds of 40-55mph. The most knock retard rcorded was 3.5 degrees and that happpened at part throttle around 15 psi or so. At wide open throttle knock was gone. Maximum boost was at 22-23 lbs on the race chip. Also, I did not experience any stumbling or drowning of the motor with too much H20/ alcohol. Outside temperature was aprox. 30 degrees. Boost was down a few lbs. and I think I heard the sound of a header crack ON THE PASSENGER SIDE. I have had a crack at one of the expansion points on that side and have wrapped and clamped it but the extra boost may be weakening that fix. I'll have to check that out further. I also let the water temperature climb to around 190 degrees (manual fan control) to avoid too much thermal shock from the cold weather so that could have dropped the boost slightly . Two additional WOT tests showed 1.5 degrees max retard. In all cases the max retard was only 1 frame and all retard was gone in 2-3 frames. The knock detector beeped the exact same number of times that the knock count incremented on the laptop so that makes me feel comfortable with monitoring the knock with just the detector .

    I ran a 50/50 mix of isopropyl alcohol and distilled water. I may try a 50/50 mix of Methanol / water to see if there is any difference. I'll probably buy some dry gas as the Methanol component.
    My fuel pressure gauge is reading inacurate but I believe it is set at about 45 psi from when it was accurate. I will probably try a Thrasher 108 chip for Bluetops if I can borrow one or just buy one. I still haven't verified pump pressure but I'm stalling until the weather gets better. I've only been running 93 octane in the tank.
    I think my part throttle knock may come from the fact that I may not be in full enrichment with this chip. Knocks are a second or two apart and average .5-1.5 degrees and only happen at part throttle over 15 lbs. Not too shabby considering the cold dense air, race chip, and 93 gas. This chip does not lock the BLM cells like some of the newer chips (at least I don't think so).

Update2/27/00

Not much new to report except for switching to Methanol/H20. Used dry gas from Benny's at 3 for $1.00. It seems to give the same amount of knock retard protection but maybe has a bit more power than the isopropyl. Can't test much due to losing all the alignment shims at the driver side upper control arm at one end. The front end is just to sloppy until I get it realigned and tight. I also had a leak develop at the passenger side mating area on the crossover pipe. The flange is getting weak and all the extra exhaust is probably straining it. I did manage to fix the leak but I don't know how long it will hold. Hopefully I will have the front end squared away this week.
I may also try some 94 octane in the near future to see how that affects the small amounts of retard that I get at part throttle. Still haven't seen over 4 degrees retard yet. The system seems to work consistantly and I have not had any malfunctions other than having to keep my eye on the tank to make sure I have enough alcohol or remembering to arm the system. I learned to just leave it on.

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