Exergy Engineering LLC — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: A19-089

Description

This project addresses the development and application of technologies to improve the robustness of diesel engine high-pressure common rail pumps, designed originally to run primarily with DF-2 fuel, against excessive wear, failure, or both due to the use of low lubricity military fuels such as JP-8, F-24 and Jet A, additionally tolerating the full range of fuel properties allowed by the relevant specification standard for each fuel. Military relevant operating conditions include a minimum fuel inlet temperature of 70ºC and a minimum pump outlet pressure of 200 MPa. This proposal will address hardware solutions applied to the high-pressure fuel pump, not additive solutions to the fuel. The critical wear interfaces of pump components as used in diesel engine applications applied to the U.S Army’s Joint Light Tactical Vehicle will be addressed as areas for improvement. Bearing design, dimensional details of the interfaces, surface textures, materials, and coatings will be the primary approaches to improving the robustness. The improvements concepts are intended to allow upgrade of the existing pump design with minimal change to the base design so that it is able to pass or exceed a 400 hour NATO engine test when running with low lubricity aviation turbine fuels.