By Ro McGonegal - Images provided by Swain Tech - 8/15/2007
eat makes power. The more heat the engine can generate, the more power the engine will make. The camshaft, valves, pistons, connecting rods, crankshaft and all the other parts of an engine are simply there to convert the heat energy of combustion into rotational force. Their prime task is taking the heat energy from the combustion chamber and converting it into rotational force (torque) to propel the car forward. To understand just why these coatings work, you have to look at an engine from a thermodynamic point of view. The job of the engine’s cooling systems, be they air, oil, water, or a combination of all three, is to remove enough heat so that the engine parts do not self-destruct. On one hand, we are creating heat to use it for energy, and on the other hand we are working hard to remove that heat. If that doesn’t sound too efficient, you’re right!
The typical internal combustion engine manages to convert a mere 25 percent of the fuel’s energy into useful work at the crankshaft. Where does the rest of the energy go? About 35 percent of it shoots right out the exhaust. Another big chunk of energy is absorbed by the fluids in the engine, such as coolant and oil. The approximately 20 percent of power lost in cooling is nearly equal to the net power produced. Part of this is simply heat from combustion, and a smaller part is frictional heat from the engine’s rotating parts. The remaining 20 percent of power is lost to heat radiated from the exhaust system, crankcase, and coolant jacket and pipes.
Swain Tech has developed and applied high-tech coatings for engine parts for more than 25 years. As Swain tells it, some companies have tried to imitate them, offering commercially available coatings on products (pistons and exhaust headers, for instance) that basically do not work, even though you are charged a premium for them on top of the purchase price. It’s the same with do-it-yourself internal coatings. Results are poor bonding and durability, which has hurt the coating industry as a whole. Consider that Swain’s produce is routinely included by the top echelon of NASCAR Cup, Indy Car and Top Fuel teams, as well as some OEMs.
MaxChevy posed a hypothetical high-performance engine with aluminum cylinder heads to Don Swain to get his opinions on how he would approach applying engine coatings to improve it. Swain isn’t in this arena by itself. There are a few other companies that offer similar treatment for internal engine components, transmissions, brakes, etc, as well, but Don is an affable man who will take the time to explain just what his coatings are and how they work. There are three types: thermal barrier coatings hold heat in; low-friction coatings remove power-robbing, heat-induced friction; heat dissipating coatings allow heat to escape.
