i had an idea hit me today while trying to find the finances for a turbo kit for my 7.3 IDI. would "injecting" cold air via a small compressor or portable ait tank into the intake have slight increases along the same as those achieved by a turbo?
what are everyones thoughts on this?

 

you would have to have a air tank big as your bed to have the volume to go anywhere.

 

423 cubic feet per minute at 3300 RPM.
One of those tow behind air compressors that the utility companies use to run jackhammers would do.

They are able to do about 150 CFM at 80 or 90 PSI.

The connection between the compressor and the intake has to be sealed or the air would just go through the air cleaner backwards and produce no boost at all.

 

would just a pressurized stream of cold air coming in with the intake assist in keeping the EGT's down that i could turn the fuel screw more?

 

Really, with forced induction, you are looking at increasing the volume of air in order to burn more fuel. The charge air temperature is related to a degree. Cooler air is denser (more oxygen) and allows for more fuel to be burned which results in greater power gains. This is why most turbocharged or supercharged engines utilize an air to air or air to water intercooler. It is generally placed downstream of the compressor in order to cool the air charge after it has been compressed in the charger housing or the manifold. That said, it would be highly impractical to try to tote around a large enough tank to provide an adequate air charge for the motor and a method of cooling it before it enters the combustion chamber. An aftermarket turbo would be your best bet.

 

Just because you point the stream of compressed air at the intake does not mean it will go there.

High pressure always seeks lower pressure, no matter what direction it is in.
Plumb an insane amount of pressure into the intake, it will blow out the air cleaner.
Nothing there to stop it from doing so.

Plumb it in with an air tight seal, now it has to go through the engine and you can raise the intake pressure.
But the supply now has to be able to supply all the air for the engine.
257 cubic feet per minute at 2000 RPM with a NA motor.
To run 14 PSI boost, double that number.
So now 514 cubic feet of air every minute gets to be 30,840 cubic feet every hour at 2000 RPM.
Say you have a building 50 feet long, 30 feet wide with 10 foot ceilings.
It would contain 15,000 cubic feet of air and run your truck for 29 minutes at 14 PSI of boost pressure at 2000 RPM.

At 2700 RPM I am going 75 MPH, 33" tires, 3.55 gears and a four speed.
With what I am running for boost I figure my 6.9 is using almost 40,000 cubic feet of air every hour I drive at 75 MPH here in the mountains.

The only way to do this reasonably is with either a turbo or supercharger.
Ram air will help, but will not supply boost numbers over a couple pounds (2 or 3 at best) of pressure even at 70 MPH.
At lower speeds that number goes down to nothing.
Ram air will also be supplying cooler air to the engine, which is also a benefit.

Bottom line is this,
If there was an easy cheap method to put pressure into the intake manifold, no one would spend 2000 dollars for a turbo system and everyone would be running it.