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Compact EGR valve for gasoline engines to go into series production in the USA

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Pierburg GmbH, international leader in the market for diesel engine EGR systems, has developed a new compact EGR valve for gasoline engines, too. Starting from 2016 it will be built at Pierburg's South Carolina facility for delivery to a notable US OEM.

The series-production contract was in fact placed in the summer of 2014. The newly developed module will enable the company to expand its share of the North American market. The component's comparatively small and compact footprint takes into account the repeated reduction in engine installation space typical on today's engine models.

In answer to the rising cost of fuel and ever tighter regulations regarding CO2 emissions, Pierburg GmbH has for decades now been specializing among other things on exhaust-gas recirculation (EGR) modules. Among the observable trends is that the EGR valves that since the start of the 1980s have chiefly been employed for the reduction of diesel engine emissions, nowadays are increasingly being fitted to gasoline engines given the incremental fuel-saving potential of such valves.

Meanwhile, Pierburg's annual production volume of EGR valves and modules is as high as six million units. A special record was recently reported by the Pierburg facility in Spain's Basque Country which has now delivered over 75 million such valves. Besides the USA and Spain, the company manufactures these valves at its plants in Germany, the Czech Republic, India, and China.

The effect of exhaust-gas recirculation is based on a lowering of combustion temperatures in diesel and gasoline engines. Lower temperatures mean a reduction in nitrogen oxides. On gasoline units, this is accompanied by less fuel consumption because of engine dethrottling under partial load—one reason, in particular, why EGR modules are catching the eye of carmakers nowadays.

About the compact EGR valve

The compact EGR valve is operated by a geared DC motor and has a contactless Hall sensor for detecting valve position. Depending on customer wishes, it may feature electromagnetic protection and integrated water cooling. It is available in standalone, plug-in as well as fully integrated cooler module versions.

Regarding production materials, the tough thermal, mechanical and chemical environment requires the use of highly heat- and corrosion-resistant steels on all EGR modules. Other critical functional criteria include low flow resistance and good controllability of the recirculated waste gases especially of very small amounts. A high-strength actuator allows waste-gas backpressures of up to 5 bar to be resisted

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