TVS Supercharger

A TVS, Twin Vortices Series, Supercharger is a device which was created by the Eaton Corporation as an improvement upon the currently existing superchargers. The TVS supercharger is similar to most superchargers as it is connected to the engine's crankshaft, whose spinning motion in turn powers the supercharger.^[1] The supercharger utilizes this spinning motion to compress the available supply of air above atmospheric pressure, thus allowing for more air to be packed into the system and as a direct result allowing for more fuel to be ignited, delivering a larger supply of energy to the car.^[2] Additionally, the TVS supercharger conducts this entire process with a significant reduction in noise, vibration, and harshness.^[3]

History

The original TVS supercharger was invented by Eaton Corporation, a company which has been inventing superchargers since 1985.^[4] The TVS supercharger is a 5th generation supercharger and its design was stated to be a game changer for the world of superchargers. The TVS supercharger at its initial release was being primarily used by muscle car fanatics in their much older, 1960's-1970's, muscle cars. This is because superchargers tended to be heavier and better suited to increase power on heavier muscle cars who could handle the extra weight, rather than the modern-lighter sports cars being invented today. However, due to the lighter and more efficient design of the TVS supercharger, the TVS supercharger was quickly picked up by many modern car companies . One of the first companies to employ this supercharger was Toyota in their Toyota Aurion in 2007 and Audi quickly followed in 2010 by employing the TVS supercharger in all of their TFSI V6 engines.^[5] Currently there are many other high-end luxury and sport car companies using the TVS supercharger in their production line including: Chevrolet (Corvette ZR1), Cadillac (CTS-V), Jaguar (XFR), Lotus (Evora S) , Range Rover (5.0 L V8), and Mustang (GT 500).^[6]

Performance

Design

The TVS Supercharger is unique because of two specific changes in its design which help greatly enhance its performance while producing minimal vibration and harshness. The first improvement is the fact that it has four lobes instead of the regular three lobes and its rotors inside are twisted at 160 degrees rather than the usual 60 degrees.^[7] The extra lobe in the design allows for the supercharger to pack in a larger supply of air and the combined 160 degrees twisted rotor allows for this air to stay sealed in the lobes for a longer period of time before being let out. This means that the car has a larger supply of air for an extended period of time which creates a larger supply of energy when fuel is combusted, since there is more air available for the combustion process.

The larger intake of air and the larger degree of motion also helps reduce the speed at which air enters the system and gets compacted. This is immensely useful in increasing the efficiency of the supercharger. Because, the older superchargers lost too much energy as heat and useless kinetic motion with the excessive spinning of their smaller lobes that only had 60 degrees of rotational mobility. In direct contrast, the TVS supercharger has 160 degrees of rotation in each spin and as a direct result, it does not have to spin as many times to pack the same amount of air. Thus reducing the loss of energy as heat and excessive kinetic motion produced by the rapid spinning of the rotors. The rotors and inner parts of the supercharger are also packed closer together with friction reducing agent further helping reduce the loss of energy as heat produced by their motion.^[8] All of these design upgrades give the TVS supercharger an estimated 12% boost in efficiency in comparison to other superchargers in the market.^[4]

Power

The TVS supercharger was ranked higher than most of the superchargers and turbochargers available in the market. It boosts engine power by an estimated 20% and this power boost is comparable to turbocharged compressors, but with the lower impact on fuel economy, the TVS supercharger trumps them as well.^[9]

The TVS supercharger is able to beat a large number of the turbochargers simply by the fact that there is no lag in power. Because unlike turbochargers, superchargers are connected directly to the crankshaft of the engine and can provide an immediate power boost as the engine speeds up.^[1]

Additionally, the TVS supercharger is also able to beat most other superchargers with its design improvements which pack more air through the fourth lobe, and its lower temperature functionality. Low temperature functionality is possible because the TVS supercharger does not have to spin as much to pack air into the combustion chamber. As a result, the TVS supercharger produces a significantly lower amount of heat through the entire process. Thus there is more energy delivered straight to the supercharger for more air, less energy is wasted as heat (70% thermal efficiency) and the need for an external cooling unit to cool down the supercharger is eliminated.^[10] External cooling, as many other supercharger units would require, would mean a decrease in pressure and an increase in the weight of the car causing it to be slower, the antithesis of what superchargers are meant to do. However, the TVS supercharger is not only efficient in cycling power but also in maintaining fuel efficiency as well.

Fuel Efficiency

The TVS Supercharger also provides a higher fuel efficiency in comparison to any other supercharger in the market. As discussed in the introduction and design section, the TVS supercharger is connected directly to the engines crankshaft which spins the rotors in the supercharger, thus packing a larger supply of air for fuel combustion. The TVS supercharger with the extra lobe and degrees of motion is able to function at lower rotations per minute, RPM'S, produced by the engines crankshaft, allowing for a much more efficient fuel economy since the engine does not have to spin as much to get the same amount of energy out of the crankshaft.^[11]

Production

Since the initial release of the TVS Superchager, Eaton Corporation, has had to increase production and add facilities to keep up with the demand. Between 2008-2010, the company had to ramp up production by 80% and they were producing 400,000 supercharger in the first year alone. The demand for the superchargers was especially high in the Asian market, and a facility in China was planned while one in Poland was already being constructed to keep up with the high demand of the supercharger.^[12] Today, the TVS supercharger is the largest single product in production by the company.

Overview

Modifications

The TVS supercharger is now available for a much larger variety of vehicles. Companies such as: ROUSH Performance, Edelbrock, Street Legal Performance, Magnuson, and VMP Tuning have taken the TVS supercharger and modified it to allow for it to work with many different types of vehicles.^[10] Today the TVS supercharger is available for sedans, SUVs and trucks. It has also been modified so that it can be easily added as a post-factory upgrade to a larger number of cars available in the market.

References

External links

• Eaton TVS Superchargers Product Information