- Lighter and more heat resistant
- Solutions for waste heat recovery and dual fuel
- Products help to save weight
When it comes to lines for all media flow types in trucks, truck manufacturers are optimally equipped with solutions from ContiTech for current and future challenges in the industry. Oil and coolant hoses for high-temperature applications are some of the highlights that ContiTech Fluid Technology will present during IAA Commercial Vehicles 2014 in Hanover.
Today's hose lines: lighter and more heat resistant
Weight and thus also fuel savings is still one of the biggest challenges for manufacturers of modern trucks. With the newest generation of oil and coolant hoses for high-temperature applications, aluminum-tube air conditioning hose lines as well as a polyamide tube-hose combination for low pressure applications, ContiTech provides products that help manufacturers master these challenges.
The new generation of lightweight oil and coolant hoses is primarily used in the engine peripherals - for turbocharger cooling and lubrication, engine cooling or exhaust gas recirculation. Previously where steel braided or Teflon hoses where applied, ContiTech now uses very lightweight rubber hoses that have been adapted to the increasing temperatures in the engine environment. The coolant hoses are designed for temperatures up to 190 °C, for a short time even up to 210 °C, while the oil hoses manage with a continuous temperature exposure of up to 230 °C, even up to 250 °C for a short time. In addition, these particularly media-resistant hoses are more flexible than previous hoses, enabling various hose installations through pre-forming, if necessary.
When it comes to air conditioning lines, ContiTech presents the reliable air conditioning hose, which in combination with aluminum tube elbows, provides a weight-saving hose line. The polyamide tube-hose combination developed by ContiTech for low pressure applications in the constantly growing PA product portfolio also follows the trend towards weight and cost savings. ContiTech profits here from the process competence that the Fluid Technology business unit has appropriated in the area of synthetic material production.
Tomorrow's hose lines: waste heat recovery and dual fuel are the topics of tomorrow
A topic for the future, which ContiTech is already paying attention to today is the recovery of exhaust heat, called waste heat recovery. This involves using the exhaust heat to heat an additional medium and feeding the resulting gas into the engine to assist the motor and thereby optimize fuel consumption. ContiTech is already developing hose lines especially for this application.
Dual fuel, the combined injection of gas and diesel fuels, is another topic for the future that ContiTech is currently working on. The newest generation of fuel hoses provides the ideal basis for this and can be developed further in this direction. The new elastomer fuel lines from ContiTech have been adapted to the increasing pressures and temperatures of truck engine compartments as well. They are currently stable up to an operating pressure of 35 bar and temperatures of up to 135 °C and an increase of these parameters is currently being tested at ContiTech.
The emerging trend, primarily in Europe and North America, of also using alternative fuels in trucks is supported by ContiTech with hose tubes for gases like CNG and LNG.