Since the advent of the diesel engine 127 years ago, the global industry scientists have always regarded the improvement of thermal efficiency as a lifelong dream. The higher the thermal efficiency of the engine, the lower the fuel consumption, and the more significant the effect of energy saving and emission reduction. Realistically speaking, with the increasingly stringent emission regulations, it is becoming more and more difficult to improve the thermal efficiency of internal combustion engines, which has become a world-recognized industry technical problem. However, on April 20, at the 2024 World Internal Combustion Engine Conference in Tianjin, Weichai Power released the world's first diesel engine with a thermal efficiency of 53.09%, achieving a higher and newer technological leap, and also marking that China's internal combustion engine industry has once again moved to the top of global science and technology.
The scene of the press conference
At the press conference, Wan Gang, Chairman of the China Association for Science and Technology, Jin Donghan, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and President of Tianjin University, Tan Xuguang, Vice Chairman of the Chinese Society of Internal Combustion Engines, Director of the National Key Laboratory of Internal Combustion Engines and Power Systems, and Chairman of Weichai Power, and Rick Boom, President of the International Society for Internal Combustion Engines (CIMAC), jointly unveiled the 53.09% thermal efficiency diesel engine.
The scene of the 2024 World Conference on Internal Combustion Engines
Before understanding Weichai Power's world's first diesel engine with a thermal efficiency of more than 53.09%, it is necessary to popularize science about what is engine thermal efficiency? Internal combustion engine is an energy conversion device, which is a device that converts the thermal energy generated by the chemical energy of the fuel into mechanical energy. Engine thermal efficiency, also known as "engine effective efficiency", refers to the ratio of the heat equivalent of the effective power of the engine to the heat content of the fuel consumed per unit time, which is used to evaluate the economy of the engine as a heat engine. Improving engine thermal efficiency is an important means to save energy, and it is also one of the main directions to improve thermal engines. In recent years, Weichai Power has focused on the core technology and cutting-edge technology of the engine, carried out special research on the thermal efficiency of diesel engines, created a series of proprietary technologies, and successfully solved a series of world-class problems such as efficient combustion, low heat transfer, high reliability, low friction loss, low pollutant emissions, and intelligent control.
On September 16, 2020, Weichai Power released the world's first commercial diesel engine with a body thermal efficiency of 50.23%, on January 8, 2022, the world's first commercial diesel engine with a body thermal efficiency of 51.09%, and on November 20, 2022, the world's first commercial diesel engine with a body thermal efficiency of 52.28% and a commercial natural gas engine with a body thermal efficiency of 54.16%. Technological upgrades have actively promoted energy conservation, emission reduction and green development of the internal combustion engine industry.
The world's first diesel engine with a thermal efficiency of 53.09%.
The continuous improvement of the thermal efficiency of diesel engines is an extremely complex system engineering. Based on the forward R&D process of the B701, Weichai Power has carried out a full range of technological innovations from the underlying architecture of the internal combustion engine to the detailed components to the core system. On the basis of 52% thermal efficiency diesel engine, focusing on the four major systems of combustion, air, fuel oil and friction, a major breakthrough in basic research and original development has been achieved, and four key core technologies have been innovatively developed: high expansion combustion technology, which increases combustion efficiency by 3.5% and thermal efficiency by 0.3 percentage points, mixed-flow supercharging technology, which has a pressure efficiency of 86.7%, vortex efficiency of 83%, and thermal efficiency by 0.25 percentage points. The leak-free injector and low-power fuel pump increase the thermal efficiency by 0.2 percentage points, and the low-resistance friction reduction technology, using low-flow crankshafts and other key components, increases the thermal efficiency by 0.15 percentage points, and once again increases the thermal efficiency of the diesel engine body by 1 percentage point, breaking the 53% mark for the first time in the world.
At the 2024 World Internal Combustion Engine Conference Weichai Power's new product launch ceremony, He Nobei, Vice President of TÜV SÜD North Asia, an international testing organization, and An Tiecheng, Chairman of China Automotive Technology and Research Center Co., Ltd., a professional testing organization for internal combustion engines in China, respectively issued the test report and test certificate with a thermal efficiency of more than 53% to Weichai Power, and Tan Xuguang accepted the certificate on behalf of Weichai Power. Tan Xuguang said in an interview that Weichai Power has broken the world record for diesel engine thermal efficiency for four consecutive times, thanks to the nearly 4,000 days and nights of Weichai engineers' collective wisdom research, thanks to the open cooperation with the world's top universities and research institutes, and thanks to the collaborative innovation with the global industrial chain and supply chain. This achievement belongs to Weichai, but also to the global industry!
There is no doubt that the global bulk thermal efficiency breakthrough of 53.09 diesel engine technology is an achievement of great significance, which is a historic breakthrough in the history of diesel engine development and sets a new benchmark for global diesel engine thermal efficiency. For the transportation industry, the launch of diesel engines that meet the thermal efficiency of 53.09% indicates that the industry has taken another solid step towards lower cost, higher efficiency and environmental friendliness. With the large-scale launch of the diesel engine on the market, it will comprehensively enhance the comprehensive competitiveness of the internal combustion engine industry in mainland China and promote the transformation and upgrading of the industry. In the context of the country's comprehensive advocacy of green, low-carbon and high-quality development, the independent breakthrough of this technology is of great significance and far-reaching impact.