Diesel Dyno Facility
 

The massive exhaust system from the two Banks Power dyno cells hint at the kind of power being generated inside. One cell is for gasoline engines and the other is for diesels.

Huge mufflers on the exterior of the building are needed to control sound pollution.

The compression ignition engine dyno at Gale Banks Engineering is one of two recently completed. A one-of-a-kind installation, it is able to handle up to 1000 horsepower, 3000 lbs.-ft. of torque, and engine speeds of 4500 RPM. It is based on a Superflow dyno model SF3100, a Superflow Pro-console with Wyndyn software, and a Superflow cooling tower #CT1002, which is fed by a 1750-gallon water storage tank, both of which are located outside, behind the dyno cell. The diesel dyno's first job was to "baseline" the ISB 24-valve as received from Cummins in a slightly hopped-up form. It produced 393 horsepower and 600 lb.-ft. of torque at 3600 rpm. But after installation of a Banks Big Hoss fully ported cylinder head, aluminum intake manifold, tubular stainless exhaust manifold, and Holset HY 55 variable geometry turbocharger, as used in the Sidewinder at Bonneville, this engine produced 700-plus horsepower and 1100 lb.-ft. of torque, just in its first week of testing.

 
     

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The diesel dyno cell power absorbsion unit has a capacity of 3000 lb.-ft. of torque. It is a relatively low-speed dyno, with a maximum of 4500 RPM, but that is more than adequate for diesel engines.

The power absorber is used to measure the torque output of the engine.
The first engine tested in the Diesel cell was the Project Sidewinder

The first engine tested on the diesel dyno was the baseline Cummins 24-valve, which made 396 hp and 580 lb.-ft. of torque. The two units in the foreground, with tubes leading to the intake manifold, are Cummins air-to-water intercoolers. These are used to cool the intake charge, and to control intake temperature from one run to another to keep results consistent.
The dyno cell control room offers operator protection while monitoring and recording all aspects of engine operation and the cell environment.

John Sinz and John Espino operate the controls and collect data during runs on the Banks engine dynos.
Inside the cell, the data acquisition box connects various sensors.

This Superflow dyno can gather literally hundreds of pieces of information during a "pull," but the most important—torque, horsepower, RPM, fuel consumption, oil pressure, and coolant, oil, and exhaust temperatures—read out digitally on this panel.
In the cell, a coolant tower routes constant temperature Water to the test engine.

This smaller cooling tower controls engine temperature, replacing a conventional radiator. It feeds from the 1750-gallon water tank outside.
A huge water cooling tower is located outside the dyno cell to dissipate the heat absorbed by the water brake power absorption unit.

The dyno itself is a water brake, which absorbs the engine's energy (power) as it measures it. This energy is converted to heat, which is transferred to the water. Besides the 1750-gallon water tank behind it, this large cooling tower outside the dyno cell releases the heat from the water.
Dozens of connections are made to the engine to monitor every aspect of operation and performance.

The next engine on the diesel dyno was the 24-valve Cummins with our initial modifications for use in Project Sidewinder. With our ported cylinder head, Big Hoss intake and exhaust manifolds, and a Holset HY 55 variable geometry turbo, the numbers immediately jumped to 700 hp and 1100 lb.-ft. Big numbers! And that was just the beginning of modification and testing. The spaghetti mess of wires, cables, and hoses is primarily for data collection.

The Holset HY55 variable geometry turbocharger provides the boost to the modified Cummins 5.9L diesel.

Although it's not fully hooked up, this side shows the big Holset HY 55 turbo mounted on a prototype Banks stainless steel tube exhaust manifold.