On the morning of July 8th, the National Science and Technology Awards Conference, the Academician Conference of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the 11th National Congress of the China Association for Science and Technology were held grandly at the Great Hall of the People. Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, President of the People's Republic of China, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, presented awards to the recipients of the highest national science and technology award and delivered important speeches. The high-performance diesel engine key technology and application project, led by Weichai and jointly developed with six units including Tianjin University, Guiyan Catalysis, and Shandong University, relying on national level scientific research platforms such as the National Key Laboratory of Internal Combustion Engine and Power System, has won the second prize of National Science and Technology Progress Award. This project has successfully overcome the three major technological bottlenecks of high reliability, long service life, high thermal efficiency, and ultra-low emissions of diesel engines. It has developed a new generation of high-performance diesel engines with completely independent intellectual property rights, achieving independent and controllable core key technologies of heavy-duty diesel engines, and promoting China's whole vehicle industry to become world-class.

Focusing on industry challenges, three original technologies achieve global leadership

Diesel engines are the dominant driving force in commercial vehicles, engineering machinery, agricultural machinery, ships and other fields, which are related to the development of the national economy and national security, and have an irreplaceable position in the global power industry. However, for a long time, the multidimensional factors of thermal, mechanical, and chemical in diesel engine cylinders have been strongly coupled and mutually constrained, resulting in difficulties in synchronously optimizing the three core performance indicators of reliability, thermal efficiency, and emissions, becoming a technological bottleneck that troubles the global internal combustion engine industry.

In China, over 70% of diesel consumption and over 50% of NOx emissions come from diesel engines. Therefore, breaking through the core technology of high-performance diesel engines has become an urgent strategic need for China to promote energy conservation and carbon reduction, optimize energy structure, and transform and upgrade manufacturing industry.

Reliability is the key to measuring the performance of diesel engines. The maximum temperature inside the diesel engine cylinder can reach 2500 ℃, and the peak pressure can reach 300 bar. In extreme environments, problems such as piston carbon deposition wear, valve seat ring wear, and cylinder liner piston ring wear seriously restrict the reliability and lifespan improvement of diesel engines. In response to industry pain points, Weichai's research team has accurately identified the underlying mechanisms of key component wear, innovatively developed three original technologies: piston ring shore pressure reduction, valve low slip and wear reduction, cylinder liner zone lubrication, and piston double peak line. These technologies have extended the wear life of key friction pairs in the cylinder, making the B10 life of the entire machine the first to exceed 2 million kilometers, leading the world.

Improving the thermal efficiency of diesel engine bodies is a goal pursued by the global industry for a century. The Weichai research team has innovatively opened up a new technology route for optimizing oil and gas mixing, and developed three major technologies: dual main injection combustion, high pass low resistance ventilation, and quasi sequential vortex induced combustion. This has enabled the thermal efficiency of diesel engines to break through 50% and 51% for the first time in the world, and the lowest fuel consumption has been reduced to 165g/(kW · h). Based on this, continuous research and development have increased the thermal efficiency to 53.09%, further expanding the differentiated competitive advantage of China's internal combustion engine industry.

However, the technical characteristics of high thermal efficiency diesel engines, such as high original emissions and low exhaust temperatures, make ultra-low emission control more difficult. The research team has innovatively proposed the theory of "effective ammonia storage", invented a series of key technologies such as low silicon aluminum ratio, cerium copper bimetallic SCR catalyst, efficient dual swirl strong mixing and urea crystallization adaptive control, efficient pore domain reconstruction CDPF catalyst, etc., which have optimized the nitrogen oxide and particle emissions of the product by 51% and 62% respectively compared to international mainstream competitors, achieving ultra-low emissions throughout the entire life cycle, and becoming the first heavy-duty diesel engine product in China to pass the China VI strict emission certification.

From basic theoretical research to technological breakthroughs, the research team has gone through more than ten years and successfully achieved synchronous and collaborative improvement of the three core performance of diesel engines. According to expert appraisal, the core performance indicators of Weichai's new generation of high-performance diesel engines have comprehensively surpassed those of similar international products, and the overall technology has reached the international leading level.

Empowering the innovation system and demonstrating the value of China's power through large-scale applications

As a leader in the domestic power equipment industry, Weichai has always adhered to the path of innovative development, building a four in one scientific and technological innovation system of "independent innovation+open innovation+craftsman innovation+basic research innovation". With high standards of R&D investment, it ensures technological leadership, insists on winning the market with leading technology and technological response speed, and closely follows business development to iterate and upgrade the R&D process, improving product development efficiency and quality.

In recent years, Weichai's engine sector has achieved an average annual R&D investment of over 3 billion yuan, with a leading R&D investment intensity in the industry. Among them, a significant proportion of funds are dedicated to supporting forward-looking technology research projects, tackling and reserving new generation engine technologies in advance, and laying a solid foundation for long-term development.

In the process of tackling this project, Weichai gathered talents covering high reliability, high thermal efficiency, and ultra-low emission post-treatment technology of diesel engines, and formed a full chain talent team from basic theoretical research to core technology research, and then to product application development. They delved into the underlying mechanism research of internal combustion engines and made every effort to carry out original innovation and technological breakthroughs. During the implementation of the project, a total of 78 authorized invention patents were obtained, and 14 national and industry standards were formulated, comprehensively enhancing the global discourse power of China's internal combustion engine industry.

A strong innovation system provides strong support for the implementation and application of achievements. At present, Weichai's new generation high-performance diesel engine has achieved comprehensive industrialization and large-scale promotion, with significant market application results. In the past three years, the cumulative sales volume of the product has reached 923000 units, ranking first in the market share of heavy-duty trucks, large and medium-sized buses, mining trucks, engineering loaders, bulldozers and other fields in China, firmly holding the domestic independent brand market position.

With excellent performance, reliable quality, and green low-carbon advantages, our products have successfully entered the global high-end markets such as Europe, America, and Southeast Asia in bulk. In the past three years, we have exported over 300000 units, accelerating the global layout of Chinese power brands and significantly enhancing the international influence and core competitiveness of Chinese manufacturing.

Large scale applications simultaneously release significant ecological benefits. Through practical operation verification of products launched in the past three years, Weichai's new generation of high-performance diesel engines has achieved outstanding results in fuel saving, carbon reduction, and emission reduction. They save 4.926 million tons of fuel annually, reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 15.517 million tons, and nitrogen oxide emissions by 1.43 million tons, laying a solid equipment support for the implementation of China's "dual carbon" goals.

Winning the National Science and Technology Progress Award this time is a vivid reflection of Weichai's decades of deep cultivation and innovation. For many years, Weichai has been rooted in the field of internal combustion engines, continuously tackling challenges and achieving fruitful innovation results. It has taken the lead in launching the first domestically developed high-power Euro III engine with completely independent intellectual property rights, pioneering the world's first heavy-duty commercial vehicle powertrain, and breaking the global record for diesel engine thermal efficiency four times. With persistent innovation accumulation, Weichai has won 10 national science and technology awards, including 1 first prize, 7 second prizes, 13558 authorized patents, and 5568 authorized invention patents. With leading technologies and hardcore products, it has become a backbone force supporting the transformation and upgrading of China's gas engine industry and high-quality development.

In the face of the new trend of global energy transformation and industrial transformation, Weichai will actively promote the upgrading of internationalization, high-end, clean, and intelligent strategies, based on the requirements of national energy transformation and the construction of a strong manufacturing country strategy, relying on a mature industrialization system and a perfect innovation ecology, continuously outputting independent and controllable core technological achievements, and fully empowering China's high-level scientific and technological self-reliance, the implementation of the "dual carbon" strategy, and the high-quality development of the manufacturing industry.Editor/Cheng Liting