Modern diesel injection systems from Bosch Lower harmful emissions thanks to high pressure

· Common-rail solutions for all classes of commercial vehicle

· Common-rail systems with up to 2200 bar injection pressure in development

· Proven systems with unit injector (UIS) and unit pump (UPS)

Modern commercial vehicles are cleaner and more economical than ever before. Bosch diesel direct-injection systems, optimized for every application, have contributed significantly to this progress. The high injection pressures and the accurately measured quantities of injected fuel they provide permit highly efficient combustion with low levels of harmful emissions and consumption.

More and more modern commercial vehicles with common-rail
In contrast to other injection systems, the common-rail system separates the pressure-generation and injection processes. Each cylinder is supplied with fuel under high pressure from a common feed line (hence “common-rail”). This permits the moment of injection to be controlled very accurately, and the quantity of fuel to be metered very precisely. It is also possible for pre-injection and post-injection to be provided flexibly, and one of the benefits of this is smooth, and therefore comfortable, engine running. The Bosch common-rail system is therefore being fitted to more and more modern commercial vehicles for use both on and off the highway.

The greater the injection pressure, the more finely the injection system atomizes the fuel, thus permitting even more efficient combustion. Bosch launched the third generation common-rail system, which provides 1800 bar of injection pressure, for lightweight and medium-sized commercial vehicles in 2005. For heavy commercial vehicles, the common-rail system supplies 1600 bar injection pressure, and 1800 bar is already planned for next year. Bosch introduced the common-rail injection system for cars in 1997, a world first. The first Bosch common-rail generation for commercial vehicles went into series production in 1999, employing 1400 bar injection pressure. The second generation, with 1600 bar pressure, followed in 2001.

With exhaust limits becoming increasingly strict in all parts of the world, Bosch is continuously developing its injection systems even further. A further development of the third common-rail generation, for instance, employing up to 2200 bar injection pressure, is planned for light commercial vehicles in 2009, and for heavy commercial vehicles one year later.

In addition, Bosch is developing a pressure-converter common-rail system, with 2100 bar injection pressure, for heavy commercial vehicles, which will go into series production at the end of 2006. The special feature of this system is that it uses two solenoid valves for each injector, which allows pre-injection, main injection, and post-injection to be matched accurately to the requirements of every engine operating state, in order to reduce both harmful emissions and consumption even further.

Special common-rail with plug-in pumps
Bosch has developed a common-rail system particularly for off-highway applications, but also for light and medium-sized commercial vehicles, in which the injection pressure is built up by two pumps driven by the engine’s camshaft (plug-in pumps) instead of the more commonly used radial pistol pumps. The advantage for the engine manufacturer is that they can easily and economically apply a modern, electronically controlled common-rail system with 1600 bar injection pressure to engines that were designed for mechanically controlled, camshaft-driven injection pumps. For small diesel engines in construction machines and agricultural vehicles, Bosch has developed a cost-efficient common-rail system that generates up to 1100 bar of injection pressure.

The proven UIS and UPS injection systems
The unit-injector system (UIS) integrates the injection pump and nozzle for each cylinder into a single assembly (the “unit injector”). The pump pistons are driven by the engine’s camshaft, and generate an injection pressure of up to 2200 bar for each cylinder separately. In the unit-pump system (UPS), a high-pressure pump with an integrated solenoid valve, a short injection line, and an injector is assigned to each individual cylinder. The camshaft is again used to drive the fuel pumps. Bosch has also achieved injection pressures of up to 2200 bar with this system.

Bosch has developed the new EDC 17 control unit as a universal “brain” for all diesel-injection systems. Among other things, the Electronic Diesel Control (EDC) controls all the parameters that are significant for economical, low-emission combustion. Because the computing power and functional scope of the control unit can be adapted to a variety of requirements, it can be used very flexibly for all segments in any of the world’s markets.

Bosch has pioneered diesel-injection technology from the very beginning: in 1927 the company was the first in the world to begin series production of diesel-injection pumps and nozzles for trucks, and thus paved the way for fast-running diesels in commercial vehicles, buses, and later even in automobiles. Today, Bosch offers injection systems for a wide spectrum of on-highway and off-highway engines around the world – from small, single-cylinder units for mobile construction machines to large marine diesel engines – and has achieved a market coverage that is almost unrivaled.


The Bosch Group is a leading global manufacturer of automotive and industrial technology, consumer goods, and building technology. In fiscal 2005, some 251,000 associates generated sales of 41.5 billion euros. Set up in Stuttgart in 1886 by Robert Bosch (1861-1942) as “Workshop for Precision Mechanics and Electrical Engineering,” the Bosch Group today comprises a manufacturing, sales, and after-sales service network of more than 280 subsidiaries and more than 12,000 Bosch service centers in over 140 countries.

The special ownership structure of the Bosch Group guarantees its financial independence and entrepreneurial freedom. It makes it possible for the company to undertake significant up-front investments in the safeguarding of its future, as well as to do justice to its social responsibility in a manner reflective of the spirit and will of its founder. A total of 92 % of the share capital of Robert Bosch GmbH is held by the charitable foundation Robert Bosch Stiftung. The entrepreneurial ownership functions are carried out by Robert Bosch Industrietreuhand KG.

Additional information can be accessed at www.bosch.com.

PI5546 - September 2006

Contact Information

Thomas Knoll

Research and Advance Engineering

Bosch Group

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