By integrating a turbocharger and a transmission into one device we have created a supercharger that works off waste heat recovery. The VanDyne SuperTurbo™provides increased efficiency when compared to both superchargers and turbochargers; while effectively eliminating their deficiencies.

The VanDyne SuperTurbo™ has the ability to utilize both waste exhaust heat and drive train torque to spin the compressor, increasing power throughout the drive cycle and nearly eliminating turbo lag. In addition, it has the ability to transfer the waste exhaust heat that a traditional turbine cannot handle directly to the drive shaft for additional torque. It does this through two interconnected transmissions that connect the drive train of the vehicle with the turbo machinery. Through this system, power can be driven to the turbo machinery from the engine in order to obtain supercharging. Similarly, once the turbine side of the turbo machinery has spun up, the power it collects in excess of that needed to spin the turbo machinery can be directed back to the vehicle drive train, increasing overall thermal efficiency.

This completely novel approach to turbo compounding provides two advantages: First, because it can extract energy by capturing approximately 30% of the energy in the exhaust gas, the VanDyne SuperTurbo™ improves overall engine efficiency. Second, by delivering increased low-end torque, the technology allows automobile manufacturers to down-size the engine in a vehicle with no loss of vehicle performance. The net result is an efficiency gain of nearly 30% over a normally aspirated engine and a gain of 18% over a turbocharger and downsized engine combination. If only 20% of new cars were equipped with the VanDyne SuperTurbo™, a reduction of 10.5 million tons of CO₂ emissions per year could be achieved. For a single automobile in the USA, this increase in efficiency represents savings of $350 annually in fuel cost and a reduction of almost 4,000 pounds of CO₂.