2004 Award Winners
Award-winning project: Air-operated valves increase engine performance and environmental friendliness
Project partners: Mahle International GmbH | Steinbeis Transfer Center Mechatronics/Ilmenau
Drivers of mid-range cars occasionally dream of turbochargers. As this often remains just a wish, they might be interested in a new high-tech device under their bonnet. This small, electronically controlled air flow valve offers major advantages: the car can be driven more sportily in city traffic. A cold engine starts more quickly. Fuel consumption is reduced.
In cars to date, a throttle valve has been used to restrict the flow of air into the engine. This wastes a great deal of energy unnecessarily. Scientists at the Steinbeis Transfer Centre for Mechatronics, based in Ilmenau, have therefore developed – in collaboration with the global automotive supplier MAHLE – an optimised, electronically controlled air flow valve with an energy-saving drive system. During partial-load operation, this valve reduces the air supply without the need to close the throttle valve. This saves fuel and thus helps protect the environment. The air control valve is located in the intake manifold between the air collector and the engine’s combustion chamber. It opens and closes up to 200 times per second. The same valve can also be operated in such a way that engine power increases at lower revs. The opening and closing times are adjusted so that a pressure wave builds up in the intake system. The pressure wave forces additional air into the cylinders, increasing engine power.
The distinctive feature of the Steinbeis air-timing valve is its drive mechanism. A spring-mass oscillator stores energy at one moment, which it releases the next. Two small magnets and intelligent electronics set the timing. Together, MAHLE and the Steinbeis Mechatronics Transfer Centre have achieved a unique lead in technical expertise. The ‘Air-Cycle Valve’ project has resulted in three joint patents relating to the electronics and two joint patents relating to the magnetic drive. This collaboration forms the basis for the future production of magnetically actuated air-cycle valves. Over the next few years, MAHLE intends to produce complete systems with intake modules in large-scale series and offer them to its customers.