The world's first diesel engine with a thermal efficiency of 53.09% developed by Weichai Power was released (data map)
On April 20, at the 2024 World Internal Combustion Engine Conference in Tianjin, the latest technological achievements in the industry were released - the world's first diesel engine with a thermal efficiency of 53.09% developed by Weichai Power. This is the fourth time that Weichai Power has broken the world record for diesel engine thermal efficiency since 2020, marking that China's internal combustion engine industry has once again moved towards the peak of global science and technology.
Behind the four world records of diesel engine thermal efficiency, thanks to the wisdom of Weichai engineers for nearly 4,000 days and nights, thanks to the open cooperation with the world's top universities and research institutes, it is also a vivid embodiment of its acceleration to the "no man's land" of scientific and technological innovation, and the generation of new quality productivity with scientific and technological innovation.
Initiated by the Chinese Society of Internal Combustion Engines in 2018, the World Conference on Internal Combustion Engines is a comprehensive technical exchange event for the internal combustion engine industry with the participation of countries, regions and organizations around the world, held every three years, and the 2024 World Conference on Internal Combustion Engines opened on April 20, with the theme of "Green, Reliable, Intelligent and Efficient".
"As a landmark technological achievement of the second industrial revolution, the position of the internal combustion engine will not be easily shaken. Jin Donghan, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, chairman of the Chinese Society of Internal Combustion Engines and president of Tianjin University, said at the opening ceremony that the internal combustion engine is the most potential product for energy conservation and emission reduction at present and in the future. ”
The reporter noted that the conference attracted nearly 40 Chinese and foreign academicians and scientists, entrepreneurs and scientific and technological workers from more than 20 countries to discuss the future development of internal combustion engines in the context of "double carbon". Jin Donghan's views coincide with those of most of the experts and scholars attending the meeting.
Engine thermal efficiency, also known as engine effective efficiency, is the conversion of heat energy into kinetic energy of machinery, thermal efficiency is a measure of the fuel efficiency of the internal combustion engine standard, the higher the thermal efficiency, the less fuel consumption, the more significant the effect of energy saving and emission reduction.
The industry unanimously believes that improving thermal efficiency is the most realistic means to reduce carbon emissions of internal combustion engines, and it is an important indicator to measure the comprehensive strength of a country's internal combustion engines.
As the latest technological achievement of China's internal combustion engine industry, the world's first diesel engine with a thermal efficiency of 53.09% developed by Weichai Power was grandly released at the opening ceremony of the 2024 World Internal Combustion Engine Conference, attracting global attention.
The project has broken through key technologies such as high expansion combustion, mixed-flow supercharging, high-efficiency fuel injection, and low-resistance friction reduction, and its thermal efficiency has successfully exceeded the 53% mark after being tested by international authoritative institutions, creating a new world record.
At the event, 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 issued the test report and test certificate with a thermal efficiency of more than 53% to Weichai Power.
Nearly 4,000 days and nights of collective wisdom research
"We have witnessed the creation of another new world record. For Weichai Power's research and development achievements in the thermal efficiency of the diesel engine body, Wan Gang, chairman of the China Association for Science and Technology, highly affirmed.
The reporter learned from the conference that this is the fourth time since 2020 that Weichai Power has broken the world record for diesel engine thermal efficiency.
From the birth of the world's first diesel engine in 1897 to 2020, the thermal efficiency level of the diesel engine industry has remained at about 45%-46% for a long time.
Improving the thermal efficiency level of internal combustion engines is the main technical direction of the global industry, but because improving the thermal efficiency of diesel engines is a complex and systematic work with multi-parameter optimization, multi-factor constraints and multiple objectives, and requires huge investment in research and development, it is also a world-recognized industry technical 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, linking the strongest brains at home and abroad and industry-university-research partners, focusing on efficient combustion, low resistance and low loss to carry out technical research, without any waste heat recovery device, to start the diesel engine research and development plan with a thermal efficiency of more than 50%.
In September 2020, Weichai released the world's first diesel engine with a thermal efficiency of 50.23%, achieving a new leadership in the global internal combustion engine industry, on January 8, 2022, Weichai once again increased the thermal efficiency to 51.09%, and on November 20, 2022, it once again increased to 52.28%, breaking through the limit for the third time and leading the technological upgrade of the global internal combustion engine industry. On April 20, the world's first diesel engine with a thermal efficiency of 53.09% was released, setting a world record for the fourth time.
"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. Van Waald, CEO of TÜV SÜD North Asia, said in a congratulatory video.
"Weichai Power has broken the world record for diesel engine thermal efficiency for four consecutive times, thanks to the wisdom of Weichai engineers for nearly 4,000 days and nights, 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. 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, said.
While setting a new world record, the deeper significance of the project is to increase China's "dual carbon" goals and green development, and contribute to the sustainable development of the global industry, energy conservation and emission reduction.
"The innovative development of the internal combustion engine industry can not only provide a fundamental solution to the ecological and environmental problems, but also inject new momentum and shape new advantages for high-quality development. Wan Gang, chairman of the China Association for Science and Technology, said.
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.
Persistent long-termist
From 52.28% in November 2022 to 53.09% a year later, the scientific research team has achieved breakthroughs in four key technologies, breaking through the 53% mark for the first time in the world in the thermal efficiency of the diesel engine body.
This 0.1% increase not only represents the efforts and technological innovation leadership of China's manufacturing industry in the direction of "zero carbon" and "low carbon", but also reflects Weichai's unremitting pursuit of more cutting-edge and advanced technology and the spirit of "long-termism".
In 2020, in an interview with CCTV, the head of the scientific research team said that in the face of the goal of improving the thermal efficiency of diesel engines to more than 50%, he felt that it was an "impossible task".
In September 2020, the "mission impossible" was completed, and Weichai released the world's first commercial diesel engine with a thermal efficiency of more than 50%. Since then, Weichai's thermal efficiency technology research and development has entered the "no man's land", but Weichai is not satisfied, and continues to launch scientific research battles to sprint towards the goal of higher thermal efficiency.
The industry calls Weichai's dedication to the improvement of diesel engine thermal efficiency technology, continuous exploration and insatiable enterprising spirit as "Weichai's advanced spirit of thermal efficiency".
This spirit reflects Weichai's corporate passion culture.
"My life creed is to be the first if you want to be the first, and if you don't fight for the first, you are mixing. We dare to think things that others dare not think, and do things that others have not done. Weichai has always benchmarked against the world's first-class and made the best products. At the Weichai Group's 2024 Science and Technology Innovation Award Conference held on February 2, 2024, Tan Xuguang explained the corporate culture of "not fighting for the first place is mixing".
Behind the repeated world records, it is a vivid embodiment of Weichai's scientific and technological innovation to generate new quality productivity.
Over the years, Weichai has insisted on investing heavily in scientific and technological innovation to build the world's largest platform, the best policy, and the best ecology. Especially since 2022, Weichai has focused on its main business, firmly established scientific and technological self-reliance and self-reliance, continued to strengthen the capacity building of independent innovation, deepened original, leading and disruptive technological research, and achieved a large number of landmark scientific and technological innovation achievements.
On April 16, Weichai Power's Future Science and Technology Laboratory in Weifang, Shandong Province was launched, which invested 2 billion yuan and took 4 years to build, which is Weichai's scientific research and test equipment resource platform for the next 20 years.
With an unsatisfied spirit of advancement, Weichai continues to accelerate its progress towards the "no man's land" of scientific and technological innovation.