| Bertrandt
Matthias Rühl, Director Powertrain
How will biofuels affect the engine of 2018?
Biofuels and synthetic fuels will increasingly replace fossil fuels. Engines
that are marketed on a global scale must be able to run efficiently and
cleanly on a large number of different fuel mixes (with varying percentages
of ethanol, GTL, BTL, RME, etc.).
This is a great challenge not only for all the components of an engine
that are subject to thermal and mechanical loads but also for those that
are responsible for the engine control, the fuel supply and exhaust aftertreatment
systems.
This will increase the requirements for controlling raw exhaust gas and
exhaust aftertreatment and lead to higher application costs.
How big will engines be in 2018?
There will be a significant rise in the demand for fuel-efficient engines.
Downsizing with boosting or extreme boosting as one focus of development
will make a major contribution towards harmonising fuel efficiency with
future demands regarding driving dynamics.
There will still, however, be a place on the market for large-displacement,
powerful and high-torque internal combustion engines.
What sort of valve train/induction developments do you expect?
Stricter demands regarding the efficiency of the charge exchange and combustion
process will make further increases in the variability of the valve train
absolutely essential. Both mechanical systems and their alternatives,
such as hydraulically/hydropneumatically or electrically controlled valve
trains, will have their chances. The de-throttling of the air intake is
a further means of improving fuel efficiency.
How will combustion strategies develop?
Combustion efficiency will be further advanced by the optimisation
of the existing processes and by the development of alternative combustion
strategies.
With regard to existing processes, the aim will be to implement efficiency-improving
measures such as lean-burn combustion, jet-guided direct injection, supercharging,
higher compression ratios, etc., and their operating strategies in series
production and to optimise them.
There is also an increasing trend towards a convergence between the spark-ignition
and diesel combustion process in some future developments.
What will be the cutting edge engine technology of 2018?
There will not be one particular cutting edge technology. Instead, the
key to success will lie in using the optimum and most efficient technology
for each individual application. Costs will also be an important factor.
Cutting edge engine technology will therefore involve the identification
and optimisation of the overall system while at the same time taking financial
considerations into account.
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