RENAULT ENERGY F1 - 2014 - Ny F1-motor från Renault

RENAULT REVEALS RACE-INTENT 2014 POWER UNIT:

·  Paris Air Show at Le Bourget: Renault presents its innovative new power unit designed to the new technical regulations to be used in the FIA Formula One World Championship from 2014 onwards.

·  The new generation Power Unit reflects synergies with the pioneering fuel efficient Energy engine range used in Renault road cars.

·  The race-intent Power Unit revealed for the first time demonstrates a radical leap in Formula One powertrain technology, achieving groundbreaking fuel efficiency from its direct injection turbocharged engine allied to cutting edge energy recovery systems and electrification.

In 2014 Formula 1 will enter a new era. After three years of planning and development, the most significant technical change to hit the sport in more than two decades is introduced. Engine regulations form the major part of the coming revolution, with the introduction of a new generation of power units that combine a 1.6 litre V6 turbocharged engine with energy recovery systems that will dramatically increase efficiency by harvesting energy dissipated as heat in the exhaust or brakes.

The maximum power of the new Power Unit will exceed the output of current V8 F1 engines however fuel efficiency will be radically improved. With only 100kg permitted for the race, the new units will use 35% less fuel than their predecessors.

‘From 2014 we will bring engines to the fore and redress the balance in F1. An engine is the heart of a car, from next year it returns to the heart of our sport.’  Alain Prost, Renault ambassador and four-times Formula 1 World Champion.

For several years, Renault has used its racing know-how to develop fuel efficient engines for road cars, notably its Energy range. The objectives are clear: maintain or improve driving pleasure, vitality and acceleration with downsized engines to achieve lower fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions.

Renault has employed these principles in developing the F1 power unit, creating a complete, and genuine, circular development process between road and track.

For these reasons, Renault has named the F1 power unit series Renault Energy F1-2014 ; clearly illustrating that the F1 power unit shares the same DNA as its road-going cousins.

‘From next year, one of greatest challenges in F1 will be to maximize energy efficiency and fuel economy while maintaining the power output and performance expected of F1 cars. Renault has pioneered this technology in its road car engine range with the Energy series. Jean-Michel Jalinier, President of Renault Sport F1

2014: What are the rules?

• 1.6L direct injection Turbo V6.
• Unique pressure charging architecture: single turbine and compressor (plus E-motor allowed).
• 5 Power Units per driver per season in 2014, reducing to 4 in subsequent years. 

Strong focus on improved vehicle fuel efficiency / reduced fuel consumption :

• Fuel quantity for the race limited to 100 kg initially (-35% from now – currently unlimited).
• Fuel mass flow rate limited to 100 kg/hr max - currently unlimited.
• PotentEnergy Recovery Systems (ERS) are allowed.

V6

V6 is shorthand for an internal combustion engine with its cylinders arranged in two banks of 3 cylinders arranged in a ‘V’ configuration over a common crankshaft. The Renault Energy F1-2014 V6 has a displacement of 1.6 litres and will make around 600bhp, or more than 3 times the power of a Clio RS.

Turbocharger

A turbocharger uses an exhaust driven turbine to drive a compressor to increase the density of the intake air consumed by the engine and so make more power for a given displacement.

The residual heat energy contained in the exhaust gases after expansion in the cylinders of the engine is converted to mechanical shaft power by the exhaust turbine. The mechanical power from the turbine is used to drive the compressor, and also the MGU-H (see below).

As the turbocharger speed must vary to match the requirement of the engine, there may be a delay in torque response, often known as turbo-lag. One of the great challenges of the new power unit is to reduce this to near zero to match the instant torque delivery of the current V8 engines.

Wastegate

A wastegate is often used in association with a turbocharger to control the system. It is a control device that allows excess exhaust gas to by-pass the turbine, to match the power produced by the turbine to that needed by the compressor to supply the air required by the engine.

Direct fuel injection

With direct fuel injection (DI), fuel is sprayed directly into the combustion chamber rather than into the inlet tract upstream of the inlet valves. The fuel-air mixture is formed within the cylinder, so great precision is required in metering and directing the fuel from the injector nozzle. This is a key sub-system at the heart of the fuel efficiency and power delivery of the power unit.

MGU

A motor generator unit (MGU) is an electrical machine. When operating as a motor, the MGU converts electrical energy to mechanical energy. When it operates as a generator the MGU converts mechanical energy to electrical. The 2014 Power Unit uses two MGUs; an MGU-H (H for Heat – exhaust energy recovery) and MGU-K (K for Kinetic – kinetic energy recovery during braking).

MGU-K

The MGU-K is connected to the crankshaft of the internal combustion engine and is capable of recovering or providing power (limited to 120 kW or 160bhp by the rules). Under braking, the MGU-K operates as a generator to slow the car (reducing the heat dissipated in the brakes) and so recovers some of the kinetic energy and converts it into electricity. Under acceleration, the MGU-K is powered (from the Energy Store and/or from the MGU-H) and acts as a motor to propel the car.

MGU-H

The MGU-H is connected to the turbocharger. Acting as a generator, it absorbs power from the turbine shaft to recover heat energy from the exhaust gases. The electrical energy can be either directed to the MGU-K or to the battery for storage for later use. The MGU-H is also used to control the speed of the turbocharger to match the air requirement of the engine (eg to slow it down in place of a wastegate or to accelerate it to compensate for turbo-lag.)

ERS

The power unit’s ERS (Energy Recovery System) uses MGU-H and MGU-K plus an Energy Store, plus some power and control electronics. Heat and Kinetic Energy recovered can be consumed immediately if required by the other MGU, or used to charge the Energy Store. The stored energy can be used to propel the car by the MGU-K or to accelerate the turbocharger by the MGU-H. Compared to 2013 KERS, the ERS of the 2014 power unit will have twice the power (120 kW vs 60 kW) and a performance effect 10 times greater.

COME ON FEEL THE NOISE…

Renault today released the first official sound recording of the Energy F1-2014 Power Unit.

A simulated lap of Singapore demonstrates that engine noise will remain an important ingredient of the F1 show with the new generation Power Units.

‘The sound of the engine is the sum of three principal components, exhaust, intake and mechanical noise. On fired engines, exhaust noise dominates, but the other two sources are not trivial and would be loud if the exhaust noise was suppressed and contribute to the perceived sound of the engines in the car.

‘All three sources are still present on the V6. At the outset, there is more energy in each combustion event but there are fewer cylinders turning at lower speed and both intake and exhaust noise are attenuated by the turbo. Overall, the sound pressure level (so the perceived volume) is lower and the nature of the sound reflects the new architecture.

‘The car will still accelerate and decelerate rapidly, with instant gearshifts. The engines remain high revving, ultra high output competition engines. Fundamentally the engine noise will still be loud. It will wake you from sleep, and circuit neighbours will still complain. The engine noise is just a turbocharged noise rather than a normally aspirated noise: you can just hear the turbo when the driver lifts off the throttle and the engine speed drops.

‘I am sure some people will be nostalgic for the sound of engines from previous eras, including the preceding V8, but the sound of the new generation power units is just different. It’s like asking whether you like Motorhead or AC/DC. Ultimately it is a matter of personal taste. Both in concert are still pretty loud.’ Rob White, deputy managing director (technical)

THE TIMELINE OF THE NEW POWER UNIT

Key dates

January 2012:  After seven months of design and build, the first cylinder of the V6 is tested on the single-cylinder dyno in Viry. This extremely accurate dyno enables micro analysis of the combustion event and fuel consumption in one cylinder, facilitating iterative design enhancements that can ultimately be scaled up to all six cylinders without unnecessary time or economic loss.

June 2012:  After six months’ testing on the single cylinder dyno, the first full V6 prototype is tested on the full dyno. Initial tests focused on achieving reliability over short distances before increasing the number of kilometres completed. The first power curve – or the complete range of operating speeds – was achieved at the end of August.

February 2013:  The MGU-H and MGU-K energy recovery systems are assembled and tested on the dynos alongside the V6 internal combustion engine. The technical regulations demand radically advanced and complex design solutions so the design and manufacture stage lasted considerably longer than the design phase for the thermal engine.

June 2013:  First race-intent Power Unit and Energy Recovery System is run on the dyno for the first time. Two years of planning and preparation are reconciled, and the complete unit – more or less in its final stages – enters the final stage of optimization before its eventual track test.

The next steps

Early January 2014:   The Power Units will be installed into the partner teams ready for fire up and launch.

Mid January 2014:  The first 2014 chassis will hit the track.

March 2014:  First 2014 Grand Prix.