06/03/2020 | Story

The new series "What does Rheinmetall actually do...?", presents what sustainable contribution Rheinmetall makes as a company to the most moving issues of our time: mobility and security.

"What does Rheinmetall actually do... to ensure compliance with emissions and pollutant reduction?"

Electric mobility is a trend that describes the transformation of our industry and our society. Rheinmetall follows this trend with creativity, experience and an open eye for new opportunities. Just like over the last 100 years, during which Rheinmetall has repeatedly provided impetus for further development. In the first part of the two-part article, you can read about sustainable Rheinmetall products used in hybrid vehicles and petrol engines.

Sustainable product for the hybrid

Compliance with emissions and pollutant reduction is no longer limited to the emissions of vehicles alone, but also to the emissions of their fuel vapours. Rheinmetall offers solutions precisely for this.

Rheinmetall manufactures the Fuel Tank Isolation Valve (FTIV) for hybrid-powered vehicles and is part of the Evaporative Emission Control System (EVAP), which limits evaporative emissions. The FTIV tank shut-off valve interrupts the tank supply when driving electrically. The connection from the tank to the engine is hermetically sealed with the FTIV in the phases in which the combustion engine is not running. The FTIV then controls the flow of the fuel vapours stemming from the fuel tank, which flow in the direction of the activated carbon filter. 

Once the filtered fuel vapours have reached the activated carbon tank, they must be flushed on a regular basis. For this application, Rheinmetall has developed an innovative, compact pump – the Electrical Vapor Pump (EVAP). The EVP is a small pump that actively cleans and flushes the fuel vapour in the carbon tank. It is the first electric pump of its kind to go into series production in 2018 for several customers in NAFTA-countries and China.

The Turbo Bypass Valve (TBV) Gen 6 is the latest generation of the divert-air valve. The TBV Gen 6 is used when the accelerator pedal is not operated because the throttle valve is then closed. The valve regulates the pressure recoil by dissipating the air backwards through the compressor until a stable pressure ratio is restored with positive volume flow. 

In this process, the electric divert-air valve releases a bypass around the compressor wheel. The bypass must be large enough for the pressure in the suction pipe to drop fast enough to keep the turbocharger away from the pumping limit as the speed drops. This allows a better response to be achieved after gearshifts. Furthermore, the TBV drain also prevents damage to the turbocharger. The efficient gearshifts reduce fuel consumption and emissions. Pumping noises from the turbocharger are also avoided.

These solutions from Rheinmetall demonstrate that, even in the combustion engine, there is still a great deal of potential for detailed improvements.