DELPHIS DIESEL UNIT PUMP COMMON RAIL SYSTEM

C. Cardon1, P. Bercher2, M. Goy3, O. Tansug4

1: Delphi Automotive, Gillingham, UK 2: Delphi Automotive, Blois, France 3: Delphi Automotive, Bascharage, Luxembourg 4: Delphi Automotive, Izmir, Turkey

Abstract: Emerging market countries specific needs have led Delphi to develop an innovative and costeffective engine management concept that leverages advanced common rail technology: Delphi diesel Unit Pump Common Rail (UPCR) system. Designed for one to four-cylinder engine applications, Delphis UPCR system is ideal for small engine vehicles developed for emerging markets as a lowcost alternative to the high-pressure pump used on common rails and for entry-level vehicles that will be marketed in developed regions. It is also well-suited for other non-automotive diesel engine products such as small agricultural and industrial equipment. Key features of the Delphi Diesel UPCR System include fast solenoid diesel injectors, a common rail, a program-tailored engine control module (ECM), an efficient, low cost fuel filter and a robust unit fuel pump with an inlet metering valve (IMV). This is the first time that an IMV is used in a unit pump system; which translates into better fuel economy. An additional key feature is its compact packaging. The pump of the 1600 bar system weighs up to four kilograms less than a conventional Common Rail High Pressure Pump, resulting in CO 2 emissions reduction. This light-weight system offers manufacturers a cost-effective, robust solution to help them achieve optimal fuel efficiency and meet stringent emissions standards. Finally, Delphi is developing a version capable of higher pressure for its UPCR system which will enable power and emission improvement in order to provide flexibility in engine family range. This pressure upgrade is combined with a system architecture upgrade to bring more CO 2 benefits. The purpose of this paper is to present how Delphi has applied the proven advantages of a common rail strategy to design a system that not only answers to the specific requirements of the emerging markets but will also benefit to developed regions needs and help manufacturers enhance the fuel efficiency of their products and meet stringent emissions standards, cost-effectively.

Keywords: Unit Pump, Common Rail, Fuel Injection Equipment, Diesel, High Pressure, Pump

1. Introduction When people are speaking of technology available in Emerging countries, they are generally thinking of technologies that are behind what is available in socalled developed countries. If we look specifically at the automotive industry, and the engine and fuel injection equipment, the delay usually observed is mainly due to emissions regulations which are behind the European legislations. If we focus on Diesel engines, this delay for emissions regulations makes possible the use of old technologies, like IDI (InDirect Injection) engines, but it could also avoid the need of new technologies, like after treatment. So in summary, Emerging countries technologies are behind because the need is not demonstrated and older technologies remain sufficient. When evolutions are required, the benefit for these countries is to take advantage of what is already available and in production. But on the other hand, the technologies developed for these markets, also can help identifying lower-cost alternative and innovative solutions This has been the case of the Unit Pump developed by Delphi to offer to several customers in India, a full Common Rail system capable of delivering high pressure to meet emissions and performance targets, cost effectively. The objective of this project launched in 2009 was to develop an innovative, cost-effective, robust solution that leverages advanced commo rail technology in a light-weight, compact design enabling relative use of application in small and very small engine programs. .

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2. Unit Pump concept 2.1 Comparison with conventional Fuel lubricated pumps Primary technical requirements of a common rail fuel injection system are: - High pressure capability - High hydraulic efficiency However, based on the legal limitations on CO2 emissions and considering the poor fuel quality in emerging markets, critical technical requirements list can be expanded as: - Minimized weight and size, - Robustness against low fuel quality, - Minimized cost.

2.2 Ultra Low Mass Common Rail System A continuous focus has been placed on mass optimization of DELPHI Common Rail systems. First step has been the introduction of DFP6 family in 2009, leading to a 50% mass reduction in comparison of the previous CR pump family. That was achieved through the use of single plunger pump, aluminum casting and patented internal pump design. Unit Pump is a further step by offering a direct integration of the pump in the engine. Benefits are the removal of the pump aluminum housing and potential use of existing engine shaft.

Figure 1: Common rail system mass reduction on 4 cylinder engines: Standard Euro 3 vs TM Multec Euro 5 vs UPCR

Figure 2: Pump mass divided by 5

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2.3 Robustness against poor fuel quality Worldwide regulations are pushing the emissions down not only in so-called developed Countries, but also in Emerging countries.

the linear movement of the pumping element, and is lubricated by the engine oil. Significant advantages of this kind of pump construction can be listed as: - Minimized weight and envelope, - Minimized number of parts low cost, - Oil lubrication Robustness against poor fuel quality and compatibility with alternative fuels, - Inlet Metering Valve (IMV) to improve system efficiency. The number of parts has been significantly reduced. The main components are: Pumping element (hydraulic head), Inlet Metering Valve (IMV) Inlet and outlet valves Roller element. Inlet Valve Fuel inlet Banjo Outlet valve

Figure 3: worldwide emission regulations 20152020 Countries such as China, India or Russia are expending markets for CR systems. Fuel quality is showing a large variability especially on parameters like lubricity. Using an Oil Lubricated drivetrain will bring significant advantage against poor fuel quality.

Inlet Metering Valve Figure 4 : Fuel lubricity: large portion of the world is showing low lubricity fuels Roller Tappet assembly Figure 5: UPCR gen1 (in production)

3. Unit pump design for low cost and low weight The Unit pump presented in this article is simply composed of a pumping element assembled in a compact pump Hydraulic Head. Roller Tappet assembly is the part of the pump which transfers the rotational movement of the cam shaft to

Pumping element is composed of a hydraulic head and a piston that is precisely matched to the housing. All the other components are assembled on the housing and the pump is formed as an assembly. Hydraulic head is highly stressed during the life time due to the pumping pressure during operation. Structural capacity of the Hydraulic Head is

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confirmed with simulation during design confirmation phase and is validated with accelerated life tests during design validation phase.

Inlet metering valve (IMV) is a proportional valve that is driven by the PWM signal generated by the electronic control unit. The IMV adjusts the fuel quantity that will be delivered to the inlet of the pump. The system provides precise control of the fuel quantity that will be pressurized by the pump and delivered to the high pressure rail in the fuel injection system. This method avoids the pump to pressurize and deliver unnecessary fuel quantity especially at partial load conditions during the engine life cycle. The IMV provides significant amount of reduction in fuel consumption compared to the fuel injection systems without the IMV.

Outlet valve is another one-way valve that allows the pressurized fuel to flow to the rail during compression stroke and prevents its backflow to the pumping chamber during suction (downstroke). The critical functions of this component is to have minimum resistance against flow and a fast closing speed combined with effective sealing to keep the pressurized fuel in the rail. The design features are confirmed with flow simulations and validated with durability tests. Gen1 UPCR was introduced in the Indian market in early 2011. The use of optimized valves developed for the CR DFP family as well as an IMV type architecture lead to achieve high pump performance and system controllability.

Figure 7: Gen 1 UPCR volumetric efficiency

Figure 6: UPCR gen1 system launched in India: innovative architecture with IMV provides fuel economy.

Roller and Tappet Assembly: the main function of this assembly is to transfer the rotational motion of the camshaft to linear motion of the pumping element.

IMV Inlet Valve is a one-way valve that allows the fuel to fill the pumping chamber during expansion stroke (downstroke) and seals the pumping chamber to allow pressure buildup during the compression stroke (upstroke) of the pumping element. The inlet valve is designed to have minimum pressure drop across the flow section during open phase, and complete sealing during close phase. In addition, as the velocity of the fuel flow can reach extreme values, design must ensure that cavitation phenomena is kept on the low pressure side of the sealing area so that the collapse of these cavities do not reduce the fatigue life of the pump. The design is confirmed with flow simulations and validated with durability tests. Hydraulic Head Tappet assembly

Cam

Figure 8: Gen2 UPCR Roller tappet assembly in a cambox

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During this conversion, high forces induced by the pumping pressure are acting on the interface between the tappet roller and the respective camshaft lobe. To be able to withstand such a high level of stresses, the profile of the cam lobe, the tappet roller, and the lubrication of the interface must be designed properly. Another limitation is coming from the high rotational speed of the camshaft that may cause the tappet roller to lose contact with the camshaft lobe. To prevent this, the total mass of the tappet assembly must be minimized and the spring forces must be defined to keep the assembly in contact with camshaft lobe at all operating speeds. As the overall performance is a function of all these variables, the system must be solved by iteration to confirm all features. Accelerated testing and durability tests are used to validate the overall design.

To maximize weight and cost benefits of a UPCR system, the pump can be directly integrated in the engine. This allows to delete any additional housings and use of existing shaft. This can be achieved by a co-development at early stage of the engine design between the OEM and Delphi. The goal is to combine engine design requirements with UPCR assembly requirements to provide both engine and pump robustness. DELPHI has developed cost efficient solutions as well as installation guideline in order to offer innovative solution to OEMs.

4. Engine installation First UPCR generation (Gen1 UPCR) was launched by Delphi in 2011 in India on several engines. For some application, the engine was not initially designed for a direct integration of the UPCR in the cylinder head or the crankshaft. In that case, architectures exist using additional cambox, for example fitted at the end of the camshaft. Other innovative layouts exist for 1:1 Drive ratio. O

Figure 10: Example of Gen1 UPCR direct installation in engine

5. Future developments We have seen that the Gen 1 UPCR has been primarily designed for cost reduction, driven by emerging markets with players having few established engine line up that they could afford the required design changes to integrate it. Still the concepts intrinsic advantage of minimal mass combined to the ever continuous cost pressure makes it worth considering for developed country applications as well. Furthermore, the oil lubricated pump concept brings the added advantage of common layout with gasoline engine. This similarity could be investigated further to detect synergies in car design and manufacturing processes that could bring further overall cost reductions. Figure 9: UPCR installation in a cambox. For those reasons Delphi has quickly decided to

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upgrade the design of the Gen 1 UPCR for 2000 bar and further pressure capability required in developed markets. This upgrade has been done in two directions: a) Learn from current in-production Gen1 UPCR, b) And reuse of current proven 2000 bar Delphi pump technology. The Gen 2 UPCR therefore combines the best of the two technologies to guaranty a secure and fast design to market development. The oil lubrication concept, in addition to the high robustness to aggressive diesel fuel, ensures as well the cooling of the pump. That function was previously covered by the fuel itself, requiring more fuel to be pumped out of the tank than was necessary for the engine. With the UPCR concept, that fuel flow is not required anymore. Therefore, together with the latest generation of Delphi solenoid injector with positive back leak pressure, the low pressure circuit can be further optimized in order to maximize the CO2 benefits by decreasing the low pressure flow required. Compared to a traditional single plunger HP pump Common Rail system, reduction of up to 60% of the CO2 emission of the low pressure circuit can be achieved, thanks to the right design of the return to tank circuit. On the other hand, the oil lubricated HP pump concept introduces a new challenge in the form of the oil/fuel mixing phenomena. This challenge, specific to this layout, has become more severe with the ever increasing emission regulation levels. Delphi is addressing this issue at different design levels, including an optional external backleak that takes advantage of the return to tank line. Further progress can be expected as this technology is further developed.

7. Acknowledgement The authors acknowledge the contribution of their colleagues to this work. This includes teams from Gillingham, Izmir, Blois and Luxembourg.

8. References
[1] Onur Tansug: "ORTAK RAYLI YAKIT ENJEKSYON SSTEMNN BRM POMPA LE BESLENMES", 2012.

9. Glossary
UPCR: Unit Pump Common Rail DFP: Delphi Fuel Pump CR: Common Rail IMV: Inlet Metering Valve IV: Inlet Valve OV: Outlet Valve PWM: Pulse-width Modulation

6. Conclusion The DELPHI Gen1 UPCR 1600 bar has been designed and launched in production as a low cost system for emerging markets. It is a successful product answering emerging markets needs for low cost solution and robust product against aggressive fuels. Based on that success, the DELPHI Gen2 UPCR 2000 bar is an extension for developed markets. It provides a breakthrough answer to the mass and cost issues, introduces innovative low pressure circuit architectures for Low CO2, while capitalizing on the known strengths of the Common Rail systems.

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