More power, less fuel: Developing the new D16 engine
When stricter emissions legislation required Volvo Penta to upgrade its D16 industrial engine, it also took the opportunity to improve its power output and fuel efficiency. Successfully meeting these objectives came down to developing new diesel engine technology and hours of vigorous testing.
The D16 engine has long been Volvo Penta’s most powerful, robust, and versatile engine, ideal for demanding applications such as mining, agriculture and construction. Now the new Stage V/Tier 4F D16 engine – which began production in 2021 – is even more powerful yet. What’s more, it consumes up to ten percent less in fuel.
“An upgrade that was made, not only to meet tougher and stricter emission legislations but also to go above and beyond our customers’ needs for more power with decreased fuel consumption,” says Lars Erlander, Project Manager, Engineering, Volvo Penta. “We added technology plus an after-treatment system that our previous D16 didn’t have, but we still managed to keep the same platform, enabling customers to easily upgrade. It was a challenging project, but the result was well worth it.”
A diesel engine with higher performance and better fuel efficiency
The upgrade has involved a host of new changes, including the addition of a dual turbo system, and a complete redesign of the fuel system, the cooling system, the water pumps, and the valve cover. However, designing and developing a completely new after-treatment system – to ensure compliance with Stage V/Tier 4 emissions standards – proved the biggest challenge.
The addition of an F2 common rail fuel system with dual turbo and intercooler helps optimize performance in order to improve fuel efficiency, while at the same time increasing power and torque. A new oil and cooling system also reduce parasitic loss.
Hours of tough testing
As with much of Volvo Penta’s product development, vigorous testing – both in laboratories and out in the field with customers – has been a vital part of the process. This includes testing in extreme environments, such as varying climates, altitudes, and operating conditions.
“First, we test the engine’s hardware to make sure it can deliver on the tough legislations and our customer requirements regarding emissions, power output, robustness, and fuel efficiency,” explains Christian Sandholm, Project Manager Verification “When we’ve ensured reliable hardware, a lot more tests and calibrations are done to further improve the engine, which has already been approved by the legislations. After all, there’s no fun in just being good enough, we want to be the best!”
Field tests are essential for ensuring the engine will perform as expected when put into real operations.
“Once an engine comes back from a field test, we disassemble the entire engine, and carefully inspect and measure each part for abnormal wear and to see the overall condition,” explains Christian. “It’s a meticulous process where we look at everything, we even make sure that the smallest screw and bolt still hold the correct torque specifications.”
Customer collaboration vital for real-world testing
To ensure its engines can meet high demands and perform in tough conditions, Volvo Penta conducts extensive field tests with its customers, such as Wobbes in southern Sweden, who use Bruks mobile woodchippers equipped with D16 engines.
“This machine has 200 more horsepower than our previous one,” says Jens Wobbe, owner, and founder of Wobbes. “Despite that, fuel consumption per hour is the same, even though we now produce a lot more wood chips.”
It’s high season for Jens and his colleagues as they feed trees into one end of the woodchipper, and a steady stream of wood chips flies out the other side. In winter, they produce the majority of their wood chips, which are transported to thermal power stations to generate district heating. Few thermal power stations have a buffer, so deliveries must be made "just in time". Uptime and logistics make all the difference. If Wobbe's chipper stops, a lot of houses will go unheated.
“The extended service intervals for Volvo Penta's D16 engine mean a lot for us,” adds Jens. “We cover a large area and are only at home once every season. With the extended service intervals, we don’t have to do any maintenance out in the field. This way, we can run the machine as long as possible during the season and avoid unnecessary production stoppages.”
An engine to be proud of
The end result is an award-winning diesel engine that meets multiple needs and will help customers’ operations become cleaner and more efficient. “We have taken an already good engine that meets the legislations and our customer needs, but we made it even better, and that’s quite an accomplishment,” says Lars Erlander. “I’m extremely proud to be a part of this team, this talented group of people. And proud to be able to deliver such a good product to our customers.”
“An upgrade that was made, not only to meet tougher and stricter emission legislations but also to go above and beyond our customers’ needs for more power with decreased fuel consumption,” says Lars Erlander, Project Manager, Engineering, Volvo Penta. “We added technology plus an after-treatment system that our previous D16 didn’t have, but we still managed to keep the same platform, enabling customers to easily upgrade. It was a challenging project, but the result was well worth it.”
A diesel engine with higher performance and better fuel efficiency
The upgrade has involved a host of new changes, including the addition of a dual turbo system, and a complete redesign of the fuel system, the cooling system, the water pumps, and the valve cover. However, designing and developing a completely new after-treatment system – to ensure compliance with Stage V/Tier 4 emissions standards – proved the biggest challenge.
The addition of an F2 common rail fuel system with dual turbo and intercooler helps optimize performance in order to improve fuel efficiency, while at the same time increasing power and torque. A new oil and cooling system also reduce parasitic loss.
Hours of tough testing
As with much of Volvo Penta’s product development, vigorous testing – both in laboratories and out in the field with customers – has been a vital part of the process. This includes testing in extreme environments, such as varying climates, altitudes, and operating conditions.
“First, we test the engine’s hardware to make sure it can deliver on the tough legislations and our customer requirements regarding emissions, power output, robustness, and fuel efficiency,” explains Christian Sandholm, Project Manager Verification “When we’ve ensured reliable hardware, a lot more tests and calibrations are done to further improve the engine, which has already been approved by the legislations. After all, there’s no fun in just being good enough, we want to be the best!”
Field tests are essential for ensuring the engine will perform as expected when put into real operations.
“Once an engine comes back from a field test, we disassemble the entire engine, and carefully inspect and measure each part for abnormal wear and to see the overall condition,” explains Christian. “It’s a meticulous process where we look at everything, we even make sure that the smallest screw and bolt still hold the correct torque specifications.”
Customer collaboration vital for real-world testing
To ensure its engines can meet high demands and perform in tough conditions, Volvo Penta conducts extensive field tests with its customers, such as Wobbes in southern Sweden, who use Bruks mobile woodchippers equipped with D16 engines.
“This machine has 200 more horsepower than our previous one,” says Jens Wobbe, owner, and founder of Wobbes. “Despite that, fuel consumption per hour is the same, even though we now produce a lot more wood chips.”
It’s high season for Jens and his colleagues as they feed trees into one end of the woodchipper, and a steady stream of wood chips flies out the other side. In winter, they produce the majority of their wood chips, which are transported to thermal power stations to generate district heating. Few thermal power stations have a buffer, so deliveries must be made "just in time". Uptime and logistics make all the difference. If Wobbe's chipper stops, a lot of houses will go unheated.
“The extended service intervals for Volvo Penta's D16 engine mean a lot for us,” adds Jens. “We cover a large area and are only at home once every season. With the extended service intervals, we don’t have to do any maintenance out in the field. This way, we can run the machine as long as possible during the season and avoid unnecessary production stoppages.”
An engine to be proud of
The end result is an award-winning diesel engine that meets multiple needs and will help customers’ operations become cleaner and more efficient. “We have taken an already good engine that meets the legislations and our customer needs, but we made it even better, and that’s quite an accomplishment,” says Lars Erlander. “I’m extremely proud to be a part of this team, this talented group of people. And proud to be able to deliver such a good product to our customers.”
Volvo Penta United Kingdom
A part of Volvo Group