For some time, fuel tank manufacturers have come under increasing pressure from legislation, particularly in the US, to design and build tanks that can withstand higher impacts without leaking In this Interview, Matthew Beecham talked with Gerhard Stiegler, vice president operations, Magna Steyr, about fuel systems.
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just-auto: Generally speaking, what are the factors influencing the design of a fuel tank these days?
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Gerhard Stiegler: The major factors influencing the design of a fuel tank are emissions, safety and volume. A fuel tank must have zero emissions, while also in the event of a crash the passengers should not get hurt and for volume a tank should be as big as possible.
While most OEMs show a preference for plastic fuel tanks, am I right in thinking that some have taken a somewhat conservative approach with their initial PZEV vehicle introductions?
The stringent targets for the emission requirements of PZEV cars have been challenging the OEMs and the supplier industry. Using steel tanks for the initial PZEV introduction was a logical approach in order to reduce the technological risk for the OEMs.
Nevertheless, plastic tanks have reached their market-share saturation for passenger cars at more than 90% in Europe. The North American and Asia markets are following this trend.
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By GlobalDataHow do plastic tanks square in Europe given the end-of-vehicle-life requirements?
The European end-of-life vehicle requirements are providing several recycling categories. Steel as well as plastic tanks at their end of life are covered by one of these categories already.
Besides the low-emission performance of steel tanks, the greater volume is yet another advantage. Looking at a thin steel tank on the one hand and a thick plastic tank on the other, one can easily see that steel tanks offer a greater volume.
Given the legislation in Europe and California, can steel tanks really make a comeback?
The advantage of steel tanks with respect to the legislation in California is more and more challenged by the improving technologies for plastic tanks. Sooner or later the technology needed will be available for plastic as well. Pieces can also be covered by plastic.
Another advantage of steel tanks in terms of higher pressure resistance can be provided to hybrid vehicles. During the electric driving mode of hybrid vehicles, the fuel-powered internal combustion engine has been shut off. This leads to a pressure increase in the fuel system, which requires the good performance of steel tanks.
Furthermore, the large-volume tanks like those for trucks are made of steel or aluminium – and this will not change in the future.
In summary, we believe these new requirements and technologies create new opportunities for steel tanks, which will keep their market niche in addition to the existing mass market for plastic tanks.
In line with these market trends, Magna has strategically decided to develop and supply fuel systems for all applications — in plastic, steel and aluminium technology — to offer the best solution for the specific customer needs.
In terms of specification of other architectural parts of the fuel delivery system, such as gauging, venting and feeding, are there any notable trends happening there in terms of technology advances, use of different materials?
Concerning the specification of the fuel delivery systems, the trend more or less goes towards modularisation due to easy assembly because of low cost and compact modules. In addition, we see a trend towards electronically controlled fuel pumps, which contribute to CO2 emission targets.
I also see advanced technologies in terms of alternative fuel systems such as CNG and H2 where those fuels require different technologies for elements such as valves and controls. In addition, CNG and H2 fuel tanks are going more in the direction of lightweighting, for example through a combination of carbon fibre and glass fibre because of the pressure and low weight.
Diesel engines have historically been relied on for their high efficiency characteristics but are they being challenged by strong emission legislation changes in different regions of the world? And is there an issue of fuel quality?
We see different regional approaches in terms of legislation to improve the emissions of diesel engines. The focus seems to be on exhaust and particle emissions. We have to make a differentiation between fuel quality and fuel contamination.
In order to meet these legal regulations, the main focus of technological development lies to our opinion on the engine and exhaust system, including the SCR system, and not so much on fuel quality.
How does the quality of fuel storage affect the design of injection systems and what are the trends?
In some countries, especially in the emerging markets, the contamination of fuel is a big issue. We see that only to a small extent does it really affect the level of quality that can be sold, but it requires additional measures (i.e. filters, more robust fuel pumps, etc.) to make sure that the contamination does not harm modern engines.
Bio-diesel is already popular in Europe and is reported to be spreading to the North American market. And yet are there still issues concerning the vehicle manufacturers using plastic fuel tanks to store bio-diesel? Can steel do a better job? What do you see as the issues there?
A steel tank is inherently adequate for the use of biodiesel but, with some material improvements, plastic tanks can also be made to fit for these applications. To some extent, aluminium tanks prove to be disadvantageous when using urea as biofuels for the “AdBlue systems” where we have to cover the inner layer of the tank with plastic.
On the other hand, biodiesels bring different challenges and may also generate more NOx. Indeed, the challenges presented by biodiesels are significantly different. Handling and storage is a big issue. Is that correct? In what ways does biodiesel impact on the fuel tank and system?
The handling and storage of biodiesel is definitely an issue compared to classical diesel fuel, especially because of the different chemical behaviour, degradation of biodiesel and different types of biodiesel that are available around the world. As a consequence, there might be a negative impact on the long-term durability of the fuel tank and its plastic components.
Therefore it is necessary to chemically improve the resistance of the types of plastics used and to take some measures at the fuel pumps.
The latest generations of fuel systems have addressed these effects and so we are in the position to provide a complete system which meets the increasing requirements that have been generated due to the use of biodiesels.
As we understand it, BMW is now fitting its incorrect fuelling protection system (IFPS) to all diesel-powered models. Could we expect to see more of this type of mis-fueling technology among other carmakers?
BMW was the first OEM which came on the market with an IFPS. The system itself was developed by Magna. We know that other OEMs in Europe are following with that system because they want to protect their customers from expensive damages caused by mis-fueling. With the increasing use of diesel engines in North America, we see these systems become more and more common.
Capless fuel systems are appearing. Ford has already eliminated the petrol filler cap on certain vehicles. Again, could we expect to see more capless fuel filler technology appearing?
Capless fuel systems should provide comfort and convenience and less cost, but still the technology has not yet reached the level needed. There are only a few OEMs that install capless systems nowadays. There are some open issues like spilling of fuel to be resolved which might cost more than conventional systems but if those issues will be solved, capless fuel systems will conquer the market.
