ChangAn Displays FlexDI Concept Engine at Auto China 2008
23 April 2008
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| The ChangAn CA18 FlexDI Concept Engine. Click to enlarge. |
ChangAn Auto, China’s fourth largest automotive manufacturer, is displaying a concept engine developed with Orbital at Auto China 2008 (the Beijing International Motor Show).
The CA18 FlexDI concept engine, fitted with Orbital’s FlexDI combustion and direct injection systems (earlier post), was commissioned by ChangAn, with design and assembly by Orbital in collaboration with ChangAn.
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| The FlexDI combustion system. Click to enlarge. |
Orbital’s core technology—the Orbital Combustion Process (OCP)—uses air-assisted, low-pressure direct fuel injection rather than high-pressure injection to atomize the fuel charge. With OCP, fuel is first metered into an injector pre-chamber via a conventional automotive port injector (MPI), and then delivered into the combustion chamber with the assistance of air at pressure.
The air-assisted injector decouples the fuel metering and delivery events, thereby assisting the dynamic range of the injector, according to Orbital. The Orbital DI system creates a precisely-controlled, finely atomized fuel cloud allowing engines to run with greater fuel efficiently and with reduced emissions output.
The FlexDI system, introduced last October, enables engine manufactures to develop one spark-ignited engine family capable of handling different fuel types through changes to the fuel system. This opens up the potential for manufacturers to offer customers gasoline, ethanol, CNG, hydrogen and SI heavy-fuelled engine variants utilizing the same base engine design. FlexDI can also be configured for Bi-Fuel or Tri-Fuel operation.
The concept engine on display at Auto China 2008 incorporates a high-technology twin turbocharger design to enable very high levels of performance while maintaining a desirable flat torque curve across a wide speed range. The combination of engine down-sizing and the FlexDI combustion system can deliver significant fuel economy benefits and offers the potential to utilise both gasoline and other gaseous fuels in the same combustion chamber.
The concept engine is part of ChangAn’s advanced technology investigations, with the leading Chinese auto group continuing discussions with Orbital on a possible feasibility assessment of FlexDI technology with the objective of launching further joint engineering activities in 2008/09.
Chinese automotive manufacturers now account for approximately 15% of global automotive production, according to Orbital, and are seeking to implement cost-effective technology solutions for emission and fuel consumption control—both for export and for the rapidly growing Chinese domestic market.
The interesting aspect of China, India and other countries making cars is the various designs that come out of their efforts. Orbital may have never gotten that design into a major car maker's concept products, but here it is.
Posted by: sjc | 23 April 2008 at 08:48 AM
SJC,
Go here:
http://www.envirofit.org/media_docs/publications/BAQ%202002%20Direct%20Injection%20as%20a%20Retrofit%20Strategy.pdf
Page 6 and I quote:
"The Orbital system is well suited for use with gaseous fuels such as compressed natural gas (CNG),liquid petroleum gas (LPG), or even more exotic fuels such as hydrogen. This capability results from the ability to use the air injection stage of the OCP injector as an injector for gaseous fuels."
If this is so, that is something to think about, given the price point differential (and how much cleaner) gaseous fuels are in many part of the world.
Posted by: EGeek | 23 April 2008 at 10:28 AM
Thanks for the link. I think series hybrids open up whole new possibilities for power generation. With a nice even optimal load profile, efficiencies can go up while emissions go down.
We may see designs that would not make it in regular cars being considered for the series hybrid. The 3 cylinder 1L engine in the GM Volt was just a convenient place holder.
The old saying is "may you live in interesting times". This is coming true for all of us in a big way at high speed these days.
Posted by: sjc | 23 April 2008 at 12:08 PM