Milestone Timeline and Technology Highlights of Bosch Diesel Systems

75 Years of Bosch Diesel Systems: Milestone Timeline and Technology Highlights

1921: First experiments with fuel injection using modified Bosch oil pumps.

1922: Start of development of diesel injection equipment.

1923: First prototypes of diesel injection pumps.

1927: Clearance for the world´s first large-scale production of injection pumps and injectors.

1934: 100,000th diesel injection pump produced.

1936: Launch of the world´s first series-production of diesel injection equipment for passenger cars.

1950: 1,000,000th diesel injection pump produced.

1962: Launch of first distributor injection pump.

1986: Launch of the world´s first Electronic Diesel Control (EDC).

1989: Direct injection for passenger cars with the VP34 electronically-controlled distributor injection pump; first installed in Audi 100 TDI.

1993: Start of volume production of the electronically-controlled in-line injection pump with control of injection timing and fuel quantity.

1994: Start of production of the UIS Unit Injector System for commercial vehicles.

1995: Start of volume production of the world´s first Unit Pump System (UPS) for commercial vehicles.

1996: Start of volume production of VP44 high-pressure distributor injection pump (radial piston distributor injection pump).

1997: Common Rail System (CRS) for automobiles launched – a world first.

1998: Delivery of first Unit Injector System (UIS) in the world for passenger cars.

1999: Start of production of Common Rail System (CRS) for commercial vehicles.

2001: Bosch produced over 5 million direct injection systems for diesel-powered passenger cars; in total, the company has produced more than 12 million high-pressure injection systems for automobiles.

Injection pressure: The injection pressure can be as much as 2050 bar. This is equivalent to the force that the weight of a medium-sized family car would exert on an area the size of a finger-nail.

Injection speed: Fuel passes through the injector jets at speeds of nearly 1500 miles per hour – as fast as the top speed of a jet plane.

Injection duration: Fuel is injected into the combustion chamber in less than 1.5 milliseconds (one and a half thousandths of a second) – about as long as a camera flash.

Injection quantity: The smallest quantity of fuel injected is one cubic millimeter – about the same volume as the head of a pin. The largest injection quantity at the moment for automobile diesel engines is around 70 cubic millimeters.

Injection frequency: If the camshaft of a six-cylinder engine is turning at 4500 rpm, the injection system has to control and deliver 225 injection cycles per second.

Engine size: The current size of passenger car diesel engines ranges from a three-cylinder engine with an 800cc cylinder capacity and a power output of 33 kilowatts to a four-liter eight-cylinder engine producing more than 180 kilowatts. Volkswagen will be supplying a five-liter, 10-cylinder engine developing 230 kilowatts.

Fuel consumption: On a demonstration drive, a Volkswagen 1-liter diesel-powered car used only 0.89 liters of fuel in covering 100 kilometers – making it probably the most fuel-efficient car in the world. Bosch’s high-pressure fuel injection system was one of the main factors behind the prototype’s extremely low fuel consumption. Production record-breakers in fuel economy include the Volkswagen Lupo 3L TDI and the Audi A2 3L 1.2 TDI with standard consumption figures of 3 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers. Their high-pressure diesel injection systems are also supplied by Bosch.

The market for diesel engines: In 2001, nearly 36% of newly registered cars in Western Europe had diesel engines. Austria leads the league table of registrations of diesel-powered cars with 66%, followed by Belgium with 63% and Luxemburg with 58%. Germany, with 34.6% in 2001, was in the middle of the league table. By way of comparison: in 1996, diesel-powered cars made up only 15% of the new car registrations in Germany.

Diesel engines in motor sport: In 1998, for the very first time in the history of the legendary 24-hour race at the Nuerburgring, a diesel-powered car was the overall winner – the BMW works team 320d, fitted with modern high-pressure diesel injection technology from Bosch.