Exhaust Manifold System

EXHUAST MANIFOLD

The exhaust manifold is the first section of a vehicle’s exhaust system.

The word manifold comes from the Old English word manigfeald and refers to the folding together of multiple inputs and outputs.

In automotive engineering, an exhaust manifold collects the exhaust gases from multiple cylinders into one pipe.

Exhaust manifolds are generally simple cast iron or stainless steel units which collect engine exhaust gas from multiple cylinders and deliver it to the exhaust pipe.

individual exhaust headpipes for each cylinder, which then usually converge into one tube called a collector. Headers that do not have collectors are called zoomie headers.

The most common types of aftermarket headers are made of mild steel or stainless steel tubing for the primary tubes along with flat flanges and possibly a larger diameter collector made of a similar material as the primaries.

They may be coated with a ceramic-type finish,or painted with a heat-resistant finish, or bare. Chrome plated headers are available but these tend to blue after use.Another form of modification used is to insulate a standard or aftermarket manifold. This decreases the amount of heat given off into the engine bay, therefore reducing the intake manifold temperature.

There are a few types of thermal insulation but three are particularly common:

• Ceramic paint is sprayed or brushed onto the manifold and then cured in an oven. These are usually thin, so have little insulatory properties; however, they reduce engine bay heating by lessening the heat output via radiation.
• A ceramic mixture is bonded to the manifold via thermal spraying to give a tough ceramic coating with very good thermal insulation. This is often used on performance production cars and track-only racers.
• Exhaust wrap is wrapped completely around the manifold. Although this is cheap and fairly simple, it can lead to premature degradation of the manifold.

The goal of performance exhaust headers is mainly to decrease flow resistance (back pressure), and to increase the volumetric efficiency of an engine, resulting in a gain in power output.The processes occurring can be explained by the gas laws, specifically the ideal gas law and the combined gas law.