Turbocharging: Key technology for high-

performance engines
Words: Dr. Johannes Kech | Pictures: MTU

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The performance of an internal combustion engine can be increased by adding turbocharging. A

turbocharger compresses the air so that more oxygen flows into the combustion chamber. In
this way, more fuel is burned and the power output of the engine increases accordingly. The
turbocharger is driven by exhaust gas, which makes turbocharged diesel engines very efficient.
MTU develops this key technology for high-performance engines in-house.

Turbocharger development and production at MTU

Turbocharging is an integral component of the engine design concept. It shapes the characteristics of
the engine more than almost any other system, as it affects its economy, dynamics and emission
characteristics. This is why turbocharging is one of MTU’s key technologies. MTU has a tradition of
maintaining the expertise for developing and producing its turbochargers in-house. The range of MTU
turbochargers extends across engine power ratings from 400 to 10,000 kW. Turbochargers are
purchased for engine designs in which synergy effects with the commercial vehicles sector can be used.

The global market for turbochargers is dominated by car and commercial vehicle applications. By
comparison, the number of turbochargers fitted to industrial engines is negligible. The result is that
turbocharger manufacturers rarely produce specialized designs for industrial engine manufactures.
Where customers’ requirements of the engines are such that they cannot be satisfied by purchased
turbochargers, MTU develops and produces the turbochargers itself.

Taking all engine series into account, MTU produces roughly 50 percent of the turbochargers in-house.
The present range of MTU turbo-chargers encompasses five series — the ZRT 12, ZRT 13, ZRT 35, ZRT
36 and ZRT 57 (see Figure 1), and is based on a concept of using as many common parts as possible.
In the case of the new Series 4000 engine for rail applications with regulated two-stage turbocharging,
for instance, all three turbochargers in the system are identical. This simplifies the logistics in production
and the supply of spare parts to customers.
Due to its in-house development and production of turbochargers, MTU is in a position to meet customer
demands for highly responsive and powerful engines. MTU matches the turbocharging system to the
engine so that it delivers reliable high performance across the entire range of engine specifications, from
sea level to an altitude of 4,000 meters, and from low to extremely high ambient temperatures. As the
MTU turbochargers are configured specifically to meet the engine specifications, they are easily
integrated into the overall engine package. This makes the engines very compact — a decisive
advantage in applications where installation space is at a premium.

In recent years, the operating conditions of some applications have become tougher. The power units
are subjected to a high number of load cycles, which also has an effect on the service life of the
turbochargers. MTU has taken these changes into account in the development of its turbochargers, has
further optimized the time between overhauls (TBO) and brought this in line with the engines. In the case
of the Series 4000 rail engine, for example, turbocharger TBO is as high as 15,000 hours depending on
the number of load cycles per hour. This means short maintenance periods and costs — this also
applies to the turbochargers. In the turbocharger development processes, MTU makes use of the
possibilities offered by efficient calculation and simulation tools.

When a new turbocharger is produced, it has already gone through a whole sequence of analytical
optimization processes in thermodynamics, structural mechanics, durability and containment strength,
for example, by the time it is put on the test bench. Analysis fundamentally involves optimization of the
component by the use of three-dimensional computation procedures for simulating the airflow and the
mechanical structural loads (see Figure 2). In this way, MTU ensures that the turbochargers have the
required characteristics when they finally go into service and retain them throughout their entire service
lives.
Turbochargers are subjected to high thermal loads in operation. Accordingly, seals and bearings are
thermally isolated and, if necessary, water-cooled. To limit the surface temperature, MTU uses a water-
cooled impeller blade on highly turbocharged engines, which simultaneously relieves some of the load
on the intercooler. In marine applications, the turbine is cradled in a water-cooled connecting block (see
Figure 3). The turbochargers thus also satisfy the SOLAS Directive (Safety of Life at Sea) for marine
applications, which stipulates that, for safety reasons, the surface temperature may not exceed 220
degrees Celsius.

Implementation of turbocharging at MTU

As a matter of principle, MTU equips all engines from the various engines series with turbochargers.
Within a design series, the turbocharging is matched to the specific requirements of the particular
application. This means that a power generation engine, which always runs at the same speed, needs a
different turbocharger setup than a vehicle engine. A vehicle engine is driven dynamically — it has to
deliver high performance from idling speed right through to maximum revs — and the turbocharger
characteristics have to be matched to the broad power band. The challenge is that a turbocharger can
be set up either for a wide speed range or a high boost pressure. For engines earmarked for dynamic
applications, therefore, MTU has designed the turbochargers to deliver sufficient boost pressure while
covering as broad a range of engine speeds as possible.

For applications that demand even more dynamic power response, particularly in marine applications,
MTU uses the sequential turbocharging principle. It involves multiple turbochargers being sequentially
linked. One turbocharger produces the boost pressure for low engines speeds, and when the engine is
revving faster or when more power needs to be developed, additional turbochargers are added so that
sufficient air is delivered to the cylinders.

To provide highly responsive engine dynamics, the Series 890 engines, which are designed for high
performance in military vehicles, have variable turbine geometry. With this technology, the exhaust
passes over adjustable wings to the turbine blades so that the turbine spools up quickly at low engine
speeds and subsequently allows high exhaust gas flow rates (see Figure 4).

For the new engine generations to achieve high performance, MTU uses two-stage turbocharging. In the
early 1980s, MTU already equipped the Series 1163 with completely integrated two-stage turbocharging
with intercooling. Up to five sequentially arranged turbocharger groups consisting of high and low-
pressure stages enable the engine to deliver 7,400 kW of power.

New demands on turbocharging due to new emissions legislation

Today, the ongoing development of engines is definitively determined by the continual tightening of
emissions standards. This means that additional systems that prevent the production of diesel
particulates or nitrogen oxides during the combustion process or clean them further downstream such as
the Miller process, exhaust gas recirculation (EGR), selective catalytic reduction (SCR) or a diesel
particulate filter (DPF) have to be integrated into the overall engine design concept. For MTU,
turbocharging is one of the key technologies in these low-emission concepts. This is because it is only
with a compatible turbocharging system that the tendency of these additional systems to negatively
affect engine performance and responsiveness can be prevented. A common feature of all emissions-
reducing technologies is that they diminish the effect of the turbocharging. The Miller process, exhaust
gas recirculation and diesel particulate filter create higher exhaust backpressure; exhaust gas
recirculation increases the air mass that has to be delivered to the cylinder. To put it simply, the
turbocharger has to compress the air at a higher rate, i.e. it must force more air into the combustion
chamber to provide the same amount of oxygen for combustion as before.

As research by MTU has shown, the single-stage turbocharging previously used will no longer be
sufficient for most applications in the future. For engines designed to comply with tough emissions
standards, the specialist for propulsion solutions will opt for regulated two-stage turbocharging (see
Figure 5). This is a system that ensures a constantly high rate of intake air delivery to the engine at all
operating points and even under extreme ambient conditions (intake air temperature, altitude,
backpressure). It involves pre-compression of the intake air by low-pressure turbochargers followed by
further compression in high-pressure turbochargers. Control of the turbocharger system is integrated
into MTU’s electronic engine management system ECU ( Engine Control Unit), which was developed in-
house.

The innovative regulated two-stage turbocharging system is being used for the first time for the new
Series 4000 engine for rail applications. It meets EU Directive 97/68/EC Stage IIIB emission
requirements that have been in place for diesel locomotives in Europe since 2012. In the current engine
series for other mobile applications such as construction and industry, regulated two-stage
turbocharging is implemented respectively definitely planned. For stationary applications such as power
generation, in which the demands on turbocharger dynamic response are not so high, the more
economical single-stage turbocharging will continue to be used.

Intercooling
When the air is compressed by the turbocharger, it heats up. Intercooling further increases the air
density so that greater air mass and thus more oxygen enters the cylinder. The regulated two-stage
turbocharging system works with two intercoolers. The first is located between the low-pressure and the
high-pressure stage, and the second downstream of the high-pressure stage. Intercooling provides more
efficient compression in the following high-pressure stage, which leads to a higher efficiency level of the
turbocharging system. In the case of all MTU engines, the intercoolers are highly integrated into the
engine unit and have a very small space requirement.

Summary
Turbocharging helps MTU engines to achieve low fuel consumption and high performance across a
broad range of operating speeds. In addition to MTU’s other key technologies, it is a major component of
the strategies to comply with the increasingly tougher emission restrictions to come without sacrificing
engine performance or efficiency. The company has a tradition of developing and producing its own
turbochargers for high-performance applications in-house. They are configured specifically to satisfy the
high demands of the engines in terms of economy, performance, dynamic response and service life.
Because of the high level of integration of the MTU turbochargers in the engine package, customers
benefit from a compact engine design with a low space requirement.

Contact
Dr. Johannes Kech
Tel.: +49 7541 90-2153
Email Johannes.kech@mtu-online.de