What does a intercooler do?

Laminova heat exchangers are especially designed for intercoolers in turbo and supercharged petrol and diesel engines. The heat exchangers are compact, easy to install and more efficient than conventional coolers. The Laminova system utilizes liquid as coolant.

Laminova heat exchanger systems have a unique designed core for intercooler applications. The air-to-liquid system gives increased efficiency compared to an air-to-air system. With the air-to-liquid system you will get cold air right from the start.

The most efficient way is to integrate the cooler cores into the inlet manifold. This gives a very compact and light system. The unit contains a small volume of air, which gives better torque, response and performance compared to those of conventional coolers.

The geometry and mechanical interface of the inlet manifolds is different on every engine; due to this we only supply the intercooler cores. The housing to integrate the cores and attach the unit to your engine, you’ll have to do yourself.

Good tips and useful hits can be found here.

The cores are available in different diameters and lengths:

An estimate figure is that you’ll need approximately 2.5 mm core per horsepower

Coolant routing

The coolant can be routed serial, parallel or mixed through the sticks. What is preferable for your application is depending on the number of cores, and the coolant flow in your system.

Intercooler

Laminova heat exchangers are especially designed for intercoolers in turbo and supercharged petrol and diesel engines. The heat exchangers are compact, easy to install and more efficient than conventional coolers. The Laminova system utilizes liquid as coolant.

Laminova heat exchanger systems have a unique designed core for intercooler applications. The air-to-liquid system gives increased efficiency compared to an air-to-air system. With the air-to-liquid system you will get cold air right from the start.

The most efficient way is to integrate the cooler cores into the inlet manifold. This gives a very compact and light system. The unit contains a small volume of air, which gives better torque, response and performance compared to those of conventional coolers.

Air slots

Inlet and outlet slots are needed to route the air in between the fins. The slots should be about 15 mm wide.

Special core for charged engines

We have a special core for air flow in charged engines. This core has longer and higher fins and fewer break-up zones (more surface) than the traditional core for liquid applications. The break up zones are not needed (like on oil cooler cores) as the air in normal conditions don’t act laminar the way oil does.

Normally, a package of 2-4 cores is needed to meet specifications. Cores used are ø39.5 and ø45 mm.

Clearance between cooler core and housing

A clearance example for intercooler applications is shown on the sketch. Please note that it must be possible to assemble the core, without tooling, in every occasion.

Standard core sizes and tolerances.

Core diameter is defined by the diameter of the finned section. The o-ring surface length can easily be adapted for different o-ring sealing designs.

The intercooler core is available in two diameters ø39,5 and ø45.

The core sizes above are standard in our production. For specific needs other sizes can be developed.

The total length including o-ring surfaces defines core length. Normal length tolerance is ±0,5mm. The sketch shows normal tolerances on a Laminova core. Please contact Laminova for consultation regarding specific needs.

Coolant side

In intercooler applications for automotives a separate coolant circuit is used. Preferably a small electric pump does the water circulation and therefore the intercooler cores are fully plugged most of the times, i.e. there is no internal by-pass. This means that all coolant takes part in the heat transfer process.

O-Ring Sealing

Below are examples of o-ring sealings for the ø39,5 and ø45 core. The core needs to be positioned axially. To prevent the fins on the core to be squeezed the housing should be slightly longer that the fin section on the core. Normally 0.2 mm.

Ø39,5 Core

Ø45 Core

In some occasions a larger chamfer is needed. Especially when a dead end hole is used (only one end cap). To prevent the o-ring to slide into the chamfer a Position Ring can be used. It is also important to check with a tolerance stack-up that the o-ring can’t fall off (Note C) in any occasion.