Weichai Power releases the world's first diesel engine with a body thermal efficiency of 53.09%

On April 20, 2024, the World Internal Combustion Engine Conference opened in Tianjin. The conference unveiled the latest technological achievement in the industry: the world's first diesel engine with a body thermal efficiency of 53.09%, developed by Weichai Power. This marks another milestone for the Chinese internal combustion engine industry, leading it to the forefront of global technology and propelling China's high-end equipment manufacturing industry towards world-class status.

For a long time, the continuous improvement of diesel engine thermal efficiency has been an international challenge. Since 2015, Weichai Power has established a high-efficiency engine research team composed of hundreds of young PhDs and thousands of engineers. Leveraging the National Key Laboratory of Engine and Powertrain, the team has focused on technical breakthroughs in high-efficiency combustion, low resistance, low loss, and other areas. Without any waste heat recovery devices, they have continuously improved the thermal efficiency of diesel engines. On September 16, 2020, Weichai Power released the world's first diesel engine with a body thermal efficiency of 50.23%. On January 8, 2022, they further increased the thermal efficiency to 51.09%. On November 20, 2022, they once again raised it to 52.28%, marking the third breakthrough and leading the global internal combustion engine industry in technological upgrades.

According to the introduction, the continuous improvement of diesel engine thermal efficiency is an extremely complex system engineering task. Building upon the foundation of a 52% thermal efficiency diesel engine, Weichai Power achieved significant breakthroughs through basic research and original development in four major systems: combustion, air, fuel, and friction. They innovatively developed high-expansion combustion technology, mixed-flow turbocharging technology, high-efficiency fuel injection technology, and low-resistance friction reduction technology. This resulted in another 1% increase in the thermal efficiency of the diesel engine, marking the world's first breakthrough beyond the 53% mark. Throughout the research and development process, they obtained 176 authorized invention patents and 68 utility model patents.

According to current estimates of diesel engine ownership in China, compared to the 45%-46% thermal efficiency level, a diesel engine with 53% thermal efficiency can increase economic efficiency by around 14%. This translates to an annual fuel savings of approximately 31 million tons and a reduction in carbon emissions of around 97 million tons. "Based on calculations for heavy-duty trucks running 250,000 kilometers per year, about 12,000 liters of diesel can be saved annually. With the current diesel market price at 7.8 yuan per liter, this can save the vehicle owner around 98,000 yuan per year," explained a Weichai Power spokesperson.