Bosch common rail for passenger car/light duty – The first 20 years

For a long time the image of the Diesel engine was seen as a fuel efficient, but noisy and phlegmatic power source for passenger cars. With the introduction of turbo charging this turned around the first time. A second big step was the cultivation of the direct injection combustion technology, as it once again added a significant fuel consumption reduction opportunity compared to the in-direct combustion systems of these days. With the injection of fuel directly into the combustion chamber the control of combustion was shifted away from air motion much more towards the injection itself. As in former times pre- or swirl chamber concepts defined the course of combustion, the shape of the injection rate became the dominant parameter of controlling the combustion process. These new requirements now defined the boundaries for the next generation of injection systems.