What will water do to my IP?? - Diesel Forum

luckys420 · 03-10-2007, 09:35 AM

I have heard that water will do all sorts of damage to my IP. lets forget about rust for a moment.. Will it cause any other physical damage?

I ask mainly because i saw something a while ago where a man made a 6-stroke engine, in addition to the normal 4 stroke operation it had a water injection stroke that injected water into the hot chamber that caused a rapid expansion into steam creating power.

anyway this was a small diesel engine that the IP was used to inject water how come it has not failed??

here is the article and another about the original article
http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dl...THISWEEKSISSUE

http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=467

Mr_Roboto · 03-10-2007, 09:53 AM

Rust is going to be the biggie. That guys' engine was only a prototype and the IP didn't have to last long.

kipamore · 03-10-2007, 12:45 PM

I was given to understand that the main reason you don't want water in your fuel is cavitation in the IP, lines, and injectors. When the water turns to steam it expands greatly; 1600 times per the Crower article. That's like a small explosion, and that explosion will pit and chew up the metal surfaces inside the IP and fuel system. Eventually, you get something akin to erosion in the fuel system. That and rust.

Anybody else?
Kip on Truckin'

Phillipmc1268 · 03-10-2007, 04:35 PM

There has to be a way to do it without corrosion of the system. Water jet cutters pressurize water from 40,000 psi to 80,000 psi. The steam expansion is not in the IP, it's in the combustion chamber.

cdnsarguy · 03-10-2007, 08:06 PM

There are water injection systems out there, Travis tried a home made one and blew his engine while perfecting his... intake I think was used for spraying in the water/methanol mix......cold weather requires no freeze water/meth mix.

arthurgoboom · 03-11-2007, 12:30 AM

I would say that as long as all of the water injection components were compatible with water (i.e. stainless steel, brass, or plastic) there'd be no problem with running it through a high pressure injection system. I think the fear of water in diesel fuel is because of rust like Mr. Roboto said, as well as the potential of freezing in the tanks/lines/filters in cold weather. I'm guessing that any water that makes it into a diesel injection pump couldn't turn to steam until it's injected into the combustion chamber, because the fuel is under such pressure that the boiling point of the water will be much higher. I'm too lazy to search for a chart of boiling point of water vs pressure, but I know there's a difference.

icanfixall · 03-11-2007, 01:02 AM

Nope Nope... You guys are missing it. The oil (diesel) that is pumped thru our injection pumps is very much thinner than water. Any water going thru our pumps or injectors will kill them. Water-methonal injection is best done into the intake manifold area. Now is that easy or what. If you want to find a leak in something try water. If that doesn't show a leak try gasoline. If that doesn't show a leak try diesel. If that doesn't show a leak you don't have a leak. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smokin.gif[/img]