Title: Strategies for future heavy duty diesel engines for commercial vehicles

Authors: Walter Knecht

Addresses: Iveco Motorenforschung Ltd, CH 9320 Arbon, Switzerland

Abstract: With further stringent emission legislation for road vehicle engines, development becomes very involved and the engines will be more complex and more expensive. While strategies for compliance with Euro 4 and Euro 5 have been defined, in the future new technologies will be required to meet reduced emission standard. This paper attempts to present improvements of diesel engines for commercial vehicles aiming at retaining its key advantage of a high engine efficiency. Major progress is expected in the development of combustion and air handling systems, engine management, engine mechanics and exhaust gas after-treatment. Although it is considered that oil-based fuels will be available for another 25 years, a fuel price increase can be expected and for political reasons regional fuel shortages might occur. Therefore, alternative fuels, such as natural gas and renewable fuels, might be an attractive solution. Hybrid power trains will increasingly be employed in vehicles which primarily operate in urban areas.

Keywords: air handling; alternative fuels; heavy duty diesel engines; emission legislation; engine management; exhaust gas after-treatment; fuel injection; in-cylinder processes; mechanical development; novel combustion systems; vehicle powertrain; vehicle emissions; commercial vehicles; hybrid powertrains; alternative fuels.

DOI: 10.1504/IJVD.2006.009662

International Journal of Vehicle Design, 2006 Vol.41 No.1/2/3/4, pp.67 - 82

Published online: 04 May 2006 *

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