Exhaust gas turbochargers from Bosch Mahle Turbo Systems
Frankfurt – Exhaust gas turbochargers are a key technology in automakers' efforts to reduce the fuel consumption of internal-combustion engines and to meet emission standards.
Only a year after the company's founding, Bosch Mahle Turbo Systems now offers two validated turbocharger models for diesel and gasoline engines, both of which have successfully completed initial customer tests. Start of series production is planned for 2011.
For gasoline engines, a turbocharger with fixed turbine geometry and
wastegate has been developed for a power range of 65 to 100 kW, whereas
for diesel applications a turbocharger with variable turbine geometry has been
developed for a power range of 90 to 120 kW. These products feature
technologically advanced components in order to satisfy future demands on
the engine as regards precision of control, emissions behavior, and quality.
Such components include an electric wastegate actuator, highly durable,
precision-milled (not cast) compressor wheels, and especially robust and
stable rotor bearings suitable for start-stop operation and fuel-efficient motor
oils. What is more, by using special coatings, the compressor can be
prepared for the higher wear incurred in low-pressure exhaust-gas
recirculation. Bosch Mahle Turbo Systems has already laid the groundwork in
its current development activities for a rapid extension of its product portfolio.
With the very first of these products, the company has set its sights on two
immensely important and high-volume market segments. The first of these
segments is gasoline engines, for which the strong current trend to
downsizing opens up clear growth potential for turbocharging in the power
range mentioned above. Through downsizing, market-standard gasoline
engines with port-fuel injection ranging in displacement from 1.5 to 2.5 liters
are replaced by highly fuel-efficient engines featuring the same performance
but limiting themselves to a displacement of less than 1.5 liters. Lower fuel
consumption of downsized engines is mainly achieved by a general load shift
to higher load factors resulting in engine operating modes with higher
efficiency. But only turbocharging – in combination with gasoline direct
injection – makes downsizing really acceptable to customers since only
turbocharging can allow the engine to achieve the original performance of the
larger naturally aspirated engine with port-fuel injection.
The second important, high-volume market segment is the diesel engine,
which we can hardly imagine today without turbocharging. Turbocharging is
not only responsible for the diesel's increase in torque and overall
performance, but is also indispensable for its ability to meet emission
standards. Furthermore, downsizing concepts are also and increasingly being
developed for diesel engines.
In these targeted market segments, Bosch Mahle Turbo Systems puts its faith
in outstanding product qualities: spontaneous build-up of boost pressure in
acceleration phases typical for today's driving, resulting from the rotor's low
moment of mass inertia and from the low friction of its bearings. Excellent
transient performance has been achieved together with a robust design.
Thus, high-efficiency turbine and compressor wheels with closed and
contoured back plates as well as twin shaft sealing rings for reduced blow-by
enable the new turbochargers to withstand the severe demands of high-load
engine performance and ensure a long service life. Completely precision-
milled compressor wheels, whose symmetrical, evenly balanced geometry
effectively diminishes vibration and related noise of the compressor are key
for quiet turbocharger operation. The high temperatures generated by
turbocharged engines generally, but especially by the super-turbocharged
engines of the future, also put a strain on the turbocharger itself. However,
the products of Bosch Mahle Turbo Systems have been optimized in this
regard as well.
Start of production from 2011
Over the past few months, considerable investments exceeding ten million
euros have been made. This investment was necessary for the build-up of
Bosch Mahle's engineering site in Stuttgart and its planned manufacturing
sites in Blaichach/Immenstadt (Germany) and in St.Michael (Austria).
Following a groundbreaking ceremony in September 2008, the St. Michael
site already boasts a completely new production facility with roughly 100,000
square feet of usable floor space. Essential plant equipment is already being
installed to allow pre-series production of turbochargers to begin as early as
the beginning of 2010. These products will be manufactured by series
production equipment. Series production is slated to be ramped up from
2011, with an initial annual capacity set at up to 1.5 million turbochargers.
Bosch Mahle Turbo Systems is a joint venture of MAHLE and Robert Bosch
GmbH, with both companies holding 50 percent of the share capital. The
company was set up on June 2, 2008, and currently employs some 130
associates.
Contact for Journalists MAHLE GmbH:
Birgit Albrecht
Pragstraße 26 – 46
70376 Stuttgart
Germany
Phone: +49 711 501-12506
Fax: +49 711 501-13700
birgit.albrecht@mahle.com
