On April 20, the 2024 World Conference on Internal Combustion Engines was grandly opened in Tianjin. The conference grandly released the latest technological achievements in the industry - the world's first diesel engine with a thermal efficiency of 53.09% developed by Weichai Power, marking that China's internal combustion engine industry has once again moved to the peak of global science and technology and led China's high-end equipment manufacturing industry to become world-class.
Wan Gang, Chairman of China Association for Science and Technology, Jin Donghan, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and President of Tianjin University, Tan Xuguang, Vice President 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 Institute of Internal Combustion Engines (CIMAC), jointly unveiled the 53.09% thermal efficiency diesel engine.
At the launch ceremony, He Nobe, Vice President of TÜV SÜD North Asia, an international authoritative 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 awarded the test report and test certificate with a thermal efficiency of more than 53% to Weichai Power.
More than 1,700 guests, including relevant leaders of Tianjin, Chinese and foreign internal combustion engine societies, Tianjin University, global academicians and experts, and scientific research institutes, witnessed this historical moment.
Since the advent of the diesel engine 127 years ago, the global industry science and technology workers have always regarded the improvement of thermal efficiency as a lifelong dream, and it is also a symbol to measure the comprehensive strength of a country's internal combustion engine. For a long time, the continuous improvement of the thermal efficiency of diesel engines has become an international problem.
Since 2015, Weichai Power has set up a high-thermal efficiency engine research team composed of hundreds of young doctors and 1,000 engineers, relying on the National Key Laboratory of Internal Combustion Engine and Power System, with the support of the National Key R&D Program, and linking the strongest brains and industry-university-research partners at home and abroad to carry out technical research around efficient combustion, low resistance and low loss, so as to continuously improve the thermal efficiency of the diesel engine body without any waste heat recovery device. On September 16, 2020, Weichai Power released the world's first diesel engine with a thermal efficiency of 50.23%, on January 8, 2022, it once again increased the thermal efficiency to 51.09%, and on November 20, 2022, it increased to 52.28% again, breaking through the limit for the third time and leading the technological upgrade of the global internal combustion engine industry.
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 fuel 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 crankshaft 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, which is equivalent to a human 100-meter race within 9 seconds. In the process of research and development, 176 invention patents and 68 utility model patents have been authorized.
In the past ten years, Weichai Power's scientific research team has boldly challenged the limits, devoted itself to tackling key problems and innovations, and has achieved four major leaps in diesel engine thermal efficiency in four years with a cumulative difficulty of 0.1% each, setting a new benchmark for global diesel engine thermal efficiency. In his speech, Wan Gang highly affirmed Weichai Power's research and development achievements in the thermal efficiency of diesel engine bodies, and witnessed the birth of another new world record on the spot. Van Waald, CEO of TÜV SÜD North Asia, congratulated Weichai Power via video. He said that looking at the global stage, this result is also far ahead, which is not only a reflection of Weichai's scientific research strength, but also shows Weichai's technical strength in the internal combustion engine industry. We expect that this technological achievement can add to China's "dual carbon" goals and green development, and also contribute to the sustainable development of the global industry, energy conservation and emission reduction."
"Green, reliable, intelligent and efficient" is the common pursuit of scientific and technological innovation in the global internal combustion engine industry. With the promotion and application of this innovative achievement, Weichai Power will lead the green and low-carbon development of the industry, profoundly affecting the strategic adjustment of China's multi-energy structure, and can be called a typical representative of the equipment manufacturing industry to generate new quality productivity through scientific and technological innovation. According to the current calculation of China's diesel engine ownership, compared with the 45%~46% thermal efficiency level, the economy of 53% thermal efficiency diesel engine is increased by about 14%, which can save about 31 million tons of fuel and reduce carbon emissions by about 97 million tons per year. According to the calculation that the heavy-duty tractor runs 250,000 kilometers a year, it can save about 12,000 liters of diesel every year, and the current diesel market price is 7.8 yuan per liter, which can save about 98,000 yuan for the owner a year. In addition to the field of transportation, this technological achievement will also be applied to construction machinery, agricultural equipment, ships, power generation equipment and other fields in the future, making new contributions to China's economic and social development.
Tan Xuguang said that Weichai Power has broken the world record of 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!