Delphi’s Revolutionary Stop-Start System
The price of fuel isn’t going to come down and if anything, as supplies decrease, pump prices will keep going up. It is therefore important to reduce fuel consumption in vehicles as quickly as possible and Delphi Automotive Systems, one of the world leaders in automotive components, has come up with just the device to save fuel.
Known as ‘Energen 5′, the device is claimed to improve fuel economy in small vehicles used in urban conditions by more than 5%. The concept of this device is to automatically cut the engine when idling and then restarting it almost instantaneously when the accelerator is pressed. The approach is nothing new and some vehicles already have it but what makes Energen 5 different is that it is claimed to be quieter, lighter, has fewer components and requires almost no additional packaging volume in the engine bay. The compactness has been achieved by combining the starter and alternator in the conventional generator position.
“We have already demonstrated a 5% fuel economy improvement and expect to be able to increase this significantly with further development. The elimination of the starter motor and ring gear also reduces weight, packaging, complexity and cost, while lowering noise levels at start by 3 decibels,” says Dr Jean Botti, director of the customer solutions centre for Delphi Energy & Chassis Systems in Europe.
Energen 5 is suitable for petrol engines up to 1.6 litres and diesels up to 12 litres. Delphi, being a strong promoter of 42V systems for the future, has ensured it is compatible with such electrical systems as well as the present 12V systems. The electrical requirement is 5 kW.
The base system is air-cooled but it is also available with liquid cooling of the stator and electronics. This can provide almost immediate heat to supplement cabin heating and will further reduce emissions by accelerating the rate of engine/catalyst warm-up.
Delphi’s Energen devices are a family of technologies for the generation, distribution and management of electrical energy which can be tightly integrated with conventional internal combustion engines and powertrains. There are also larger sizes available and Delphi has demonstrated fuel economy improvements of up to 15% on a sport-utility vehicle (SUV).
According to a Delphi source, Energen 5 will appear in at least one major European automaker’s vehicle in 2003. A number of other automakers are also evaluating the technology.
