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Fiat Ducato

FIAT Research Centre wins Economist Innovation Award for 'Common Rail' diesel technology

Fiat has been awarded the prestigious Economist Innovation Award for its ground breaking work in developing the Common Rail diesel technology that is now used by every major European car maker and which has revolutionised diesel engines, enabling them to set new standards for economy, performance and low emissions.

The common rail diesel system is available in Australia under the JTD name in the Fiat Ducato van and makes it a market leader in performance, economy and emissions. Common Rail diesel technology developed by Fiat and used under licence is also found in the most advanced diesel engines sold by every major European car maker.

The award, which was presented in San Francisco, recognized the work led by Rinaldo Rinolfi, Executive Vice-President of the FIAT Research Centre, with the Innovation Award in the Energy and Environment category, for the work he has done to develop the Common Rail Diesel Engine Technology.

Work on the Common Rail or unijet system started at the Fiat research centre in the 1980s but it was not until the 1990s that the technical obstacles were overcome. During 1992 and 1993 all preliminary reliability and consistency tests, both on engines and vehicles were satisfactorily passed and at the end of 1993 the Common Rail System (UNIJET) samples were in a well-proven pre-industrialized stage. The first car to use the new system was the Alfa Romeo 156 JTD and this has been followed by a host of models in Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Fiat Commercial Vehicle and Lancia ranges. The technology has also been licensed to other vehicle makers so that they may benefit from the Fiat developed technology.

In the meantime Fiat Research Centre was already developing the second generation of the Common Rail (Multijet). The Multijet system uses electronic injector control to carry out more injections than the current number of two during each engine cycle. In this way, the same amount of diesel is burnt inside the cylinder but in a finer spray to achieve smoother combustion.

The secret of the Multijet system lies in the design of the control unit and injectors designed to deliver a series of very closely spaced injections. Fiat Auto researchers developed this injection process to ensure more accurate control of pressures and temperatures inside the combustion chamber and more efficient use of air taken into the cylinders. The improved product represents a sort of a new breakthrough since it gives higher power densities, lower combustion noise particularly in engine cold operation and meets in advance the very stringent Euro 4 emission standard.

The first engine of this new Common Rail type is 1.9 JTD 16v multiple injection. This engine will have its world premier at the 75th Paris Motor Show fitted to Alfa 156 and 147 models, and in 2003 it will be the turn of the small 1.3 JTD 16v Multijet unit: a product with extremely compact dimensions that enable it to be fitted on small cars of Fiat Group.

© italiancar.com.au 07/10/02