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Fuel Pump With Brushless Motor For High Vibration Applications
Fuel Pump With Brushless Motor For High Vibration Applications
Fuel Pump With Brushless Motor For High Vibration Applications
40
A U T H O RS Boundary Conditions pumps are delivered to a leading interna-
in Commercial Vehicles tional engine manufacturer and to Tier 2
suppliers where they go into fuel delivery
Commercial vehicles are known to put modules. This paper explains the approach
component technologies to the ultimate to pump design and the principle of elec-
test. Rigorous requirements such as one trical operation.
million miles and ten years lifetime will
Frank Münchow reveal each and every downside of a new
Design Challenge
is Director of Technology and technology. Electrification, though a suc-
Innovation at Federal-Mogul’s
Vehicle Safety & Protection
cessful trend in the automotive industry Brushes in a DC motor are always subject
Business Unit in Bad Camberg in general, provides an example. Originally to wear. The durability of sliding contacts
(Germany). the fuel pumps in on-highway or off-high- depends on their design, the material, their
way commercial vehicles were driven off size, and the application’s boundary con-
the engine itself. As electrically operated ditions. Some factors have been identified
pumps are more efficient, brushed direct by Federal-Mogul during intense testing to
current (DC) fuel pumps have replaced accelerate contact erosion:
many of the engine-driven fuel pumps in High vibration levels can cause the car-
order to reduce the direct load on the en bon brush to lose contact with the copper
Richard Harvey
gine and the overall energy consumption. or carbon commutator surface. This mo
is Technical Director at Federal-
Mogul’s Vehicle Safety & Protection However, medium and heavy duty die- mentary separation can cause two arcs:
Business Unit in Logansport, sel engines for on-road or off-road vehi- The first occurs when the contact is lost,
Indiana (USA).
cles tend to produce a high level of vibra- the second when it the contact is re-es
tion. Together with differing qualities of tablished. If the energy content of the arc
diesel fuel (sulfur, dirt, ester origins, lub is sufficient, it will result in local surface
ricity) this can reduce the lifetime of the damage.
fuel pump. The combination of aggressive Aggressive fuel types can actually
fuel and vibration is particularly likely to create two forms of erosion on the motor
cause brush/commutator erosion. This brushes and commutator: One type of
Michael Richards
is Engineering Group Manager at can reduce the pump lifetime from a tra- erosion is mechanical in nature due to
Federal-Mogul’s Vehicle Safety & ditional minimum requirement of 6000 h dirt, contamination or aggressive chemicals
Protection Business Unit in to as little as several hundred hours in such as sulfur that reduces the lubricity
Logansport, Indiana (USA).
certain applications. found naturally in the fuel. The contami-
In other words brushed DC fuel pumps nated fuel or lower lubricity fuel can result
are not automatically lifetime components in accelerated wear of the sliding partners.
on heavy duty diesel engines. Federal- US/NATO JP military fuels are one exam-
Mogul therefore developed the roller vane ple of a lower lubricity fuel. Another form
style fuel pump which is driven by a brush- of erosion is electrical in nature. Aggres-
less DC motor (BLDC), ❶. The new pump sive fuel types with high conductivity can
has well over 10,000 h of lifetime in 100 % further accelerate electrical erosion by am
U.S. biodiesel and a much higher efficiency plifying the intensity of the arc between
than brushed versions. Currently the new the brushes and the commutator.
03I2012 Volume 73 41
Development Ancillary Uni ts
42
The new pump has fuel-lift capability
(priming) and can be packaged into many
orientations, ranging from in-tank, to
in-line, and to filter assembly integration.
However, the BLDC fuel pump can also
be placed on the engine itself where it is
exposed to the highest level of vibration.
The rotor shaft is supported by plain bear
ings made with a phenolic resin which
was specifically developed for this type of
fuel-contact application.
03I2012 Volume 73 43