Weichai unveils diesel engine with 53.09% thermal efficiency

Weichai Power said the diesel engine has an intrinsic thermal efficiency of 53.09%, which can improve its economy by approximately 14%. (Photo: Weichai Power)

During the 2024 World Congress on Internal Combustion Engines held last week in Tianjin, China, Weichai Power, a Chinese powertrain supplier, unveiled a diesel engine that it reports has a record-breaking intrinsic thermal efficiency of 53.09%.

Weichai Power has been working on high thermal efficiency engine research since 2015. On September 16, 2020, it introduced a diesel engine with what was at that time a record-breaking body thermal efficiency of 50.23%. The company continued its progress, announcing it had further increased the engine’s thermal efficiency to 51.09% in early 2022. Most recently, on November 20, 2022, the company surpassed its previous achievements, reaching 52.28% thermal efficiency.

Since that time, Weichai Power’s research team worked to further refine combustion, air intake, fuel delivery and friction reduction, successfully advancing high-expansion combustion, mixed-flow pressurization, high-efficiency fuel injection and low-resistance friction-reducing technologies, the company stated. The result was incremental gains that led to breaking the 53% thermal barrier. During the R&D process, the team was granted 176 invention patents and 68 utility model patents.

Weichai Power said this latest achievement has been officially recognized by TÜV SÜD, an international testing organization, and the China Automotive Technology & Research Center, a professional testing body for Chinese internal combustion engines. Both organizations issued product testing reports and certificates to Weichai Power confirming the company had achieved a new world record in diesel engine thermal efficiency.

Weichai Power unveiled its latest achievement at the 2024 World Congress on Internal Combustion Engines in Tianjin, China. (Photo: Weichai Power)

During the World Congress event, Dirk von Wahl, CEO of TÜV SÜD North Asia, extended his congratulations to Weichai via video message, noting the achievement “reflects not only Weichai’s robust scientific research capabilities but also its strong technical prowess in the internal combustion engine industry,” according to the press announcement. The announcement went on to say that “Wahl expressed his belief that this technological milestone will significantly support China’s carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals and green development initiatives, while also contributing to the sustainable growth, energy conservation, and emissions reduction of industries worldwide.”

Tan Xuguang, vice president of the Chinese Society for Internal Combustion Engines, director of the State Key Lab of Engine and Powertrain System, and chairman of Weichai Power, attributed the company’s four consecutive breakthroughs in diesel engine thermal efficiency to the nearly 4,000 days and nights of intellectual dedication by Weichai engineers, the announcement noted. It added that he also acknowledged the crucial role of open collaboration with top global universities and research institutions, as well as the synergy achieved through innovation with the global industrial and supply chains.