EcoBoost 500: Taking Award-Winning Technology to the Next Level

Authors

Dipl.-Ing. C. Weber, Dipl.-Ing. R. Friedfeld, Dr.-Ing. F. Krämer, Dipl.-Ing. J. Linsel, Dr.-Ing. H. Ruhland, Dr.-Ing. M. Wirth, Ford Werke GmbH, Cologne;
F. Abkenar MSc, Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, USA

Year

2020

Print Info

Fortschritt-Berichte VDI, Reihe 12, Nr. 813

Summary

With the introduction of the 2^nd generation of the 1.0 Liter I3 engine the EcoBoost technology has set a new benchmark in terms of performance and fuel economy. However, in order to meet the next level of requirements and future customer expectations, engine attributes must be further refined, independent of the internal combustion engine will be operated as a “stand-alone”-system or as one element of a hybrid powertrain including the usage of renewable fuels. The stoichiometric operation of the engine in the entire map will be key to this. Therefore, new technology elements like flexible valve timing and adjustable turbine geometry were analyzed for the advanced EcoBoost concept and consequently a specific engine serving as a technology carrier has been developed. It has been based on the series production 1.5 Liter Ecoboost engine. To harvest the full potential of these chosen technologies, the structure of the base engine had to be updated regarding stiffness and peak pressure capability while an optimized cooling concept reduces knock sensitivity. All these development steps are finally supporting the layout of a combustion system which can take the full advantage of a geometric compression and expansion ratio increase depending on the power target of the engine. The long expansion stroke in cooperation with the highly efficient exhaust temperature reduction in the integrated exhaust manifold finally enables the application of a turbocharger with variable turbine geometry.
The highly efficient combination of high compression, priority cooling, valve train variability and variable turbine geometry enables the optimization of the EcoBoost system under full stoichiometric operation.