On April 20, the 2024 World Conference on Internal Combustion Engines was grandly opened in Tianjin. During the period, Weichai Power released the world's first diesel engine with a thermal efficiency of 53.09%.
Since September 16, 2020, Weichai Power released the world's first diesel engine with a thermal efficiency of 50.23%, and in less than four years, the thermal efficiency of Weichai Power's diesel engine has been upgraded four times, which is equivalent to breaking the world record of thermal efficiency once in less than one year on average. Such a strong strength has to be impressive. When the veil of new power products was unveiled, the venue of nearly 2,000 people in Tianjin Auditorium applauded.
In the process of continuous upgrading of thermal efficiency, Weichai Power has overcome four key core technologies around the four major systems of combustion, air, fuel and friction. The 53% thermal efficiency diesel engine is about 14% more economical than the 45%~46% thermal efficiency level. For logistics and transportation users, based on the annual operation of 250,000 kilometers of heavy trucks, this diesel engine can save about 12,000 liters of diesel, and the benefits are very considerable.
The thermal efficiency of diesel engine reached 53.09%, marking that China's internal combustion engine industry has once again moved towards the peak of global science and technology, and for the commercial vehicle and logistics and transportation market, it means that the qualitative improvement in efficiency has been achieved again.
Taoke Commercial Vehicle believes that Weichai Power will not only gain more say in the global development of the peak of science and technology, but also inject new qualitative energy into the core competition of users in transportation and other industries.
The hard power behind winning the "right to speak" in the market
As a major country, the breakthrough of core technology is bound to win the right to speak for products to enter the global market.
Tan Xuguang, chairman of Weichai Power, said that Weichai Power has broken the world record for diesel engine thermal efficiency for four consecutive times, thanks to the wisdom of nearly 4,000 days and nights of thousands of Weichai engineers, thanks to the open cooperation with the world's top universities and research institutes, and the collaborative innovation with the global industrial chain and supply chain. This achievement belongs to Weichai, but also to the global industry.
Of course, a new breakthrough in the thermal efficiency of diesel engines is an important weight for Weichai Power to enter the global market. Weichai Power is now a global high-end equipment enterprise, and its overseas market continues to grow and develop. From January to February 2024, Weichai Power's export business has achieved remarkable results, especially for large-bore engine products, which compete with many European and American brands, and achieve a substantial increase in orders.
In the commercial vehicle market, China National Heavy Duty Truck exported 13,000 heavy trucks in January and 14,000 in February this year, which was combined with Weichai Power to achieve the optimal matching of Weichai engine and all vehicle products of China National Heavy Duty Truck, bringing core momentum to its overseas sales growth and laying a solid foundation for overseas operations.
TÜV SÜD Vice President, North Asia, He Nobel
The test report on the thermal efficiency exceeding 53% was issued to Tan Xuguang, chairman of Weichai Power
An Tiecheng, Chairman of China Automotive Technology and Research Center Co., Ltd
The thermal efficiency exceeded 53% test certificate and was awarded to Tan Xuguang, chairman of Weichai Power
There is an absolute right to speak in the market, there must be extraordinary performance, and technological innovation is the absolute hard power.
Based on the forward R&D process of 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 and then to the core system, and the four key core technology breakthroughs are as follows:
High expansion combustion technology, combustion efficiency increased by 3.5%, thermal efficiency increased by 0.3 percentage points;
Mixed-flow boosting technology, the pressure efficiency is 86.7%, the vortex efficiency is 83%, and the thermal efficiency is increased by 0.25 percentage points.
High-efficiency fuel injection technology, using WISE independent ECU, high-flow, leak-free fuel injector and low-power fuel pump, the thermal efficiency is increased by 0.2 percentage points;
The low-resistance and friction-reducing technology, using low-flow crankshafts and other key components, increased the thermal efficiency by 0.15 percentage points, and once again increased the thermal efficiency of the diesel engine body by 1 percentage point, breaking through the 53% mark for the first time in the world.
In the process of research and development, Weichai Power has been authorized 176 invention patents and 68 utility model patents, building the foundation for technological breakthroughs.
Multi-energy simultaneous innovation forms a leading edge
Under the trend of low-carbon, high-efficiency and intelligent in the global internal combustion engine industry, as well as the steady growth of the domestic new energy commercial vehicle market, what is the significance of Weichai Power's continuous promotion of diesel engine innovation and upgrading?
Wan Gang, chairman of the China Association of Science and Technology, said in his speech at the internal combustion engine conference that the internal combustion engine industry still has a wide range of market demand and huge development space, and at present, under the transformation trend of electrification, intelligence and low-carbon power system, the traditional internal combustion engine industry is facing unprecedented challenges and unprecedented development opportunities. He highly affirmed the research and development results of Weichai Power's diesel engine body thermal efficiency, and witnessed the birth of another new world record.
Tan Xuguang has also said in a variety of public activities that in the situation of the coexistence of multiple energy structures, traditional fuel vehicles are still the dominant force in specific scenarios.
Then, Weichai Power's move is to seize the opportunity to carry out a precise layout, and create new breakthroughs in the development of multi-energy technology routes in parallel. As far as Weichai Power is concerned, in addition to fuel products, it also includes important sectors such as natural gas and hydrogen fuel, and continues to achieve leading advantages, among which the thermal efficiency of the natural gas engine released in 2022 has reached 54.16%, surpassing the diesel engine in the world and becoming the most thermally efficient thermal machinery.
Obviously, under the multi-energy route, Weichai Power is working hand in hand to achieve technological breakthroughs. The layout is diversified, and the products also cover many industries such as agricultural machinery, construction machinery, ships, large mining trucks, etc., and are constantly forming multi-party development advantages.
No matter what industries, energy saving and consumption reduction is always the goal to pursue. According to the current calculation of China's diesel engine ownership, a 53% thermal efficiency diesel engine can save about 31 million tons of fuel and reduce carbon emissions by about 97 million tons per year if the economy is increased by about 14%. The promotion and application of this innovative achievement will enable Weichai Power to lead the industry to a new level in the process of green and low-carbon development.
The strength transformation market will be the best witness
Weichai Power said that the thermal efficiency of diesel engines exceeded 53% for the first time, which is equivalent to a human 100-meter race in less than 9 seconds.
Such achievements can actually be reasonably imagined, but as a commercial vehicle market, the results of strength transformation can be calculated. As mentioned above, according to the annual fuel saving of about 12,000 liters of a heavy truck, the current diesel market price of 7.8 yuan per liter can save about 98,000 yuan for the owner of fuel a year.
Xiaobian counted many users who have visited the site and found that in the domestic logistics and transportation market, users' feedback on Weichai Power is also changing with the iterative upgrading of Weichai Power's product technology. First, the leather is solid, durable, carryable, strong, and good uphill, which is basically the label that everyone put on it ten years ago. Second, in addition to the above labels, there are more keywords such as fuel saving and economy, which are everyone's feedback in the past five years. Third, users of vehicles equipped with Weichai Power have given feedback on the advantages of intelligence, low noise, strong adaptability, and customization in professional fields, which is a loyal evaluation given by front-line users in the past two years. From 2.5 liters to 4-liter, 7-liter, 9-liter, 11-liter, 13-liter and 15-liter engines, Weichai power products have become the leading driving force in the light, medium and heavy truck market, and have become the benchmark power in the eyes of logistics and transportation users.
The thermal efficiency of the diesel engine reached 53.09%, which means that no matter whether domestic users or foreign users, as long as they choose the vehicle equipped with this engine, they can form a good technical advantage in the logistics and transportation, construction machinery, express moving, cold chain hazardous chemical and other markets, and then enhance the core competitiveness. In this way, this move will bring new expectations to the logistics and transportation industry. We also believe that with the release of Weichai Power's diesel engine with a thermal efficiency of 53.09%, the products will go to the market and will form a leader, leading the industry and the world. (Ruoxuan)