DE VELO PMENT DIESEL ENGINES

OM 654 – Launch of a New

Engine Family by Mercedes-Benz

© Daimler

60
The new OM 654 marks the launch of an all-new,
trendsetting engine family for Mercedes-Benz.
This article describes its technical concept and
the innovations on the basis of the first family
derivative. The engine presented constitutes
the future base diesel engine.
AUTHORS
Dr. Torsten Eder
is Director of the “Competence
Center Engines” Passenger Car
Development at the Daimler AG
in Stuttgart (Germany).
Peter Lückert
is Director of Diesel Engines
Powertrain and Injection,
Passenger Car Development at the
Daimler AG in Stuttgart (Germany).
03I2016 Volume 77
ENGINE DESIGN
As part of the design concept for the new
diesel engine family, the requirement
specifications aimed to increase output
and reduce weight and friction, while
primarily delivering a future-proof
low-emissions concept combined with
reduced fuel consumption. For this it
was necessary to develop all new con-
cepts for the systems relating to the
combustion system, exhaust gas recir-
culation and exhaust aftertreatment.
ARCHITECTURE CONCEPT
FOR THE ENGINE FAMILY
The aim of the new Mercedes Powertrain
Architecture (MPA) was to achieve a uni-
form positioning in the vehicle in con-
junction with a close-coupled arrange-
ment of the exhaust system in the cur-
rent and future vehicle model series.
The main dimensions of the basic
engine including bore, stroke and cylin-
der spacing decisively determine the
engine installation length and height,
and therefore the compact design of the
engine as a whole.
The bore of 82 mm and stroke of
92.3 mm was specified with regard to:
– a single-cylinder volume of just
under 500 ccm
– a maximum peak pressure capability
of the aluminum crankcase of 205 bar
– an optimum connecting rod ratio in
terms of combustion and friction.
Since a timing drive system on the front
of the engine is a component in deter-
mining the installation height, the trans-
mission-end position was adopted from
the previous four-cylinder diesel engine.
To position the engine low in the vehi-
cles, the Lanchester balancer shafts are
Dr. Markus Kemmner
mounted to the left and right next to the
is Powertrain Project
Manager Development Diesel crankshaft. Furthermore, the oil pump,
OM 654 at the Daimler AG as on the previous engine, is positioned
in Stuttgart (Germany). next to the crankshaft in order to imple-
ment vehicle-independent fittings.
Thanks to the vertical installation of the
engines as well as the offset of the crank-
shaft assembly, the required installation
space on the right-hand side of the vehicle
for the exhaust system was created.
Heiko Sass The arrangement of the exhaust sys-
is Project Manager Design & tem and the turbocharging on the right-
Mechanics Diesel at the
Daimler AG in Stuttgart hand side of the engine gave rise to the
(Germany). positioning of the gas-cycle components
(air filter, charge-air distributor, water-
cooled intercooler), the high-pressure
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DE VELO PMENT DIESEL ENGINES
pump, the air conditioning compressor
and generator assemblies on the left-
hand side.
An important step toward a high
degree of commonisation of the compo-
nents and the design of uniform inter-
faces to the vehicle, such as vacuum,
water, fuel or air, is the uniform posi-
tioning of the engines in the vehicle
model series: the transmission flange
is thus always located in the same posi-
tion in the vehicle.
The result is a MPA, FIGURE 1, with
– uniform positioning of the compo-
nents in relation to the transmission
flange and the engines in the vehicle
model series
– high degree of commonisation
of the family
– close-coupled configuration
of the exhaust system
– a substantial reduction of the
exhaust system variants and the
vehicle-dependent components
– uniform media interface
to the vehicles.
THE OM 654
The following describes the design
of the first derivate of the new engine
family, the OM 654.
TECHNOLOGIES & INNOVATIONS
The OM 654 was continually developed
with regard to the objectives of weight,
friction and NVH. The requirements
for fuel consumption and emissions asked
for innovations for the thermodynamics
and exhaust aftertreatment, as presented
in FIGURE 2.
FIGURE 2 Major innovations of the OM 654 (© Daimler)
62
FIGURE 1 The Mercedes Powertrain Architecture (© Daimler)
BASIC ENGINE
For the construction of the base engine
Mercedes-Benz uses numerous new
components and processes.
CRANKSHAFT ASSEMBLY
WITH LANCHESTER
Based on the cylinder spacing of 90 mm,
the hollow crankshaft is configured as a
steel forged part with a main bearing
diameter of 55 mm and width of 20 mm.
The associated connecting-rod-bearing
dimensions include a diameter of 52 mm
and a width of 19 mm.
The masses are balanced by means
of two bottom-mounted balancer shafts
supported by roller bearings. The sin-
gle-piece balancer shafts are driven
by a driven wheel shrunk onto web 8
and the preloaded helical-cut spur
gears on each shaft.
ALUMINUM CRANKCASE
WITH TWIN-WIRE-ARC SPRAYING
AND BEARING FRAME
The all-aluminum crankcase with opti-
mised Nanoslide coating is completely
new. It features a deep-skirt design and
is stiffened and enclosed by a crankcase
lower section. The key step during Nano-
slide optimisation was the switch from
high-pressure waterjet technology for
preparing the cylinder wall for coating to
a mechanical roughening process.
STEEL PISTON WITH
STEPPED RECESS
The combination of Nanoslide coating
and steel piston, which is used for the
first time on the six-cylinder diesel engine,
forms the basis for all diesel derivatives
in the new engine family. A forged and
welded steel piston made from 42 CrMo4
is used. For the first time in a passenger
car, the steel piston in the OM 654 is
designed with a stepped recess, FIGURE 3.
“COLD SIDE”
In order to deliver the high specific
power reliably, the entire air ducts
from the intake to the compressor of
the turbocharger have been configured
for optimum pressure loss to ensure
the air mass flow is as high as possible.
The engine control unit is also integrated
into the air filter, FIGURE 4.
Another important key concept area
was the optimum design of the charge air
routing from the compressor on the
exhaust gas turbocharger through to the

cylinder head with regard to a maximum
increase of the density of the charge air.
The integrated water-cooled intercooler,
which reduces the temperature of the
compressed air down to 50 °C at rated
power, plays an important part in this
aspect.
THERMODYNAMICS
With the OM 654 a combustion system
with stepped recess is used for the first
time in a passenger car. In the following
the components as well as the method
are discussed.
COMBUSTION CHAMBER
The aim of the combustion chamber
design was to maximise the share of the
piston recess in the entire compression
volume (also labeled as the k-factor) and
is to minimise the dead space that can-
FIGURE 4 Split into “hot” and “cold” side (© Daimler)
03I2016 Volume 77
FIGURE 3 Aluminum piston
vs. steel piston (© Daimler)
not be reached by the injection jets in
order to achieve maximum air utilisation
with low soot values.
Thus the decision was taken right from
the concept phase to adopt a new com-
bustion system, resulting in the usage of
a piston with stepped recess. Due to the
very narrow squish areas between the
piston and the cylinder head, only rela-
tively small valve pockets are required to
prevent collisions between the piston and
the valves. By shifting the valves in the
direction of the combustion chamber
(piston), it was possible to reduce the
dead space in the cylinder head. Conse-
quently, the corresponding recess volume
was enlarged by approximately 4 %. The
negative influence of deeper valve pock-
ets in the piston on charge movement
inside the combustion chamber (swirl
reduction) proved to be negligible in the
simulation and in the single-cylinder
engine. Also of benefit in this context is
the steel piston used, which results in a
much reduced dead space due to the sig-
nificantly lower top land height in com-
parison with an aluminum piston.
As a result of these measures and
despite the overall valve angle of 10.5°,
at 77 % the share of the recess volume is
only slightly below that for vertically
positioned valves, and a value of 79 %
is theoretically achievable. The disadvan-
tages associated with a vertical arrange-
ment of the valves as regards the inlet-
outlet conditions as well as additional
structural constraints are thus avoided.
COMBUSTION SYSTEM
A completely new combustion system
was developed for the OM 654: The
Mercedes-Benz stepped recess combus-
tion system. The key characteristic is the
piston recess, which was designed as a
stepped recess. The benefits of this new
combustion system are excellent air uti-
lisation and low particulate emissions.
The higher burning rate results in
greater efficiency. Soot accretion in the
engine oil as well as fuel wetting of the
cylinder wall are reduced by the cushion
of fresh gas created by the recess shape.
The modified flow conditions in the
combustion chamber reduce heat losses
through the cylinder wall, homogenise
the temperature distribution at the cylin-
der head, and relieve the highly stressed
valve lands. Overall, this reduces heat
losses through the walls, which also
helps boost efficiency.
INJECTION HYDRAULICS
The tried-and-tested piezo injector CRI3
with an 8-hole nozzle is used as the
injector, which was fine-tuned for the
application in terms of thermodynamics,
flow and hole geometry, and adapted
to the new combustion system. The
maximum system pressure is 2050 bar.
A CP4-single-plunger pump made by
Bosch is used as the high-pressure pump.
TURBOCHARGING
The exhaust system mounted on the right-
hand side of the engine works together
with the integrated Honeywell GTD1449
single-stage exhaust gas turbocharger to
create a harmonious unit, which ensures
minimal pressure and heat losses. The
resulting high thermal load on tempera-
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DE VELO PMENT DIESEL ENGINES
ture-sensitive components is reduced to a
safe level by insulating the major hot-gas
components in the engine and exhaust
system. A water-cooled bearing housing
protects against oil carbonisation.
Compared with the size of turbocharg-
ers commonly used today in this power
and displacement class, up to 70 % bet-
ter boost pressure gradients have been
achieved below 1800 rpm. In conjunction
with the use of low-pressure EGR, it was
thus possible to match the high stand-
ards of the 2-stage predecessor engine
with regard to transient behaviour.
MULTIWAY EXHAUST GAS
RECIRCULATION (MW-EGR)
An aim of the new generation of diesel
engines was to achieve low raw emis-
sions. To this end, a sophisticated multi-
way exhaust gas recirculation system is
necessary alongside a robust combustion
system. This consists of two EGR paths,
FIGURE 5. This combination makes it
possible over a very large performance
map area to achieve future raw emis-
FIGURE 5 EGR system graph and overall EGR rates (© Daimler)
64
sions with settings that deliver optimum
efficiency.
The actively cooled high-pressure EGR
with connection to the exhaust manifold
on the “hot” side and the feed into the
charge air on the “cold” side is optimally
arranged with short paths on the front of
the engine, FIGURE 4. The likewise cooled
low-pressure EGR is located on the rear
of the engine.
The high-pressure EGR path is based
on a “conventional” configuration. The
exhaust gas is extracted from the mani-
fold and routed to the intake pipe through
a switchable cooled poppet valve via
either a bypass or an intercooler.
The low-pressure EGR path takes the
cleaned exhaust gas following SCR and
likewise routes it through a poppet valve
and a cooler and mixes it with the fresh
air upstream of the compressor. To pro-
vide the necessary pressure gradient, a
steplessly adjustable exhaust flap is inte-
grated into the exhaust system.
During the design process for both
EGR paths, particular importance was
attached to producing short components
of minimum volume to ensure a swift
transient response as well as compo-
nents that are optimised in terms of
pressure loss to ensure optimum gas
exchange. The use of an exhaust mani-
fold flap to regulate the high-pressure
EGR during MW-EGR operation, can
be avoided.
Air-path modeling and the control
strategy allow fully variable hybrid oper-
ation of high-pressure and low-pressure
EGR throughout the performance map,
thereby laying the basis for using steady-
state settings optimised for fuel con-
sumption in the transient range as well.
The EGR rates, FIGURE 5, reflect the
potential of the combustion system and
document the reduction of the level of
raw emissions as the basis for the much
lower tailpipe emissions.
FULL-LOAD VALUES
Despite the EGR which is active up to
the full load, new benchmark figures for
single-staged turbocharged engines in
the 2-l class were achieved with the per-
formance figures of 143 kW, FIGURE 6.
EXHAUST SYSTEM / EXHAUST
AFTERTREATMENT (“HOT END”)
The exhaust gas aftertreatment compo-
nents are an integral part of the engine
and are fundamental modules for the
low-emissions concept with a high degree
of commonisation. Both, the dimensions
and the design as well as the functional
layout have been systematically engi-
neered to comply with future emissions
legislation (WLTP and RDE). The “hot
end” consists of a series of individual
modules, which are brought together in
a single modular system, FIGURE 7.
Supported by insulation measures (tem-
perature, noise emission) and enhanced
catalytic converter coatings, the engine
does not require temperature management
during cold-starting and low-load opera-
tion. In addition to the advantages in
terms of emissions, this results in CO2
savings, particularly on short journeys.
The integration of the SCR function
in the particulate filter (sDPF) provides
optimum conditions for efficient NOx
reduction, even at low exhaust tempera-
tures, with benefits for the emissions
performance in low-load spectra.
The SCR catalytic converter is located
behind the sDPF for optimum perfor-
mance at part load as well as at high FIGURE 6 Full-load graph (© Daimler)
load. Unlike the previous engine,
this hot end boasts very large substrate
cross-sections, which reduce exhaust
gas backpressure by around 40 %.

ADBLUE TREATMENT AND NH 3

UNIFORM DISTRIBUTION

One key aim was to increase the effi-

ciency of the AdBlue treatment. Due
to installation space, it was necessary
to realize the treatment of the supplied
AdBlue solution without deposits and,
in addition to the vaporisation, thermo-
lysis, and hydrolysis, to achieve homo-
geneous and uniform distribution over
the comparatively large catalytic con-
verter cross-section. To ensure high
NOx conversion rates across large
areas of the performance map, it is
essential for a system without an NH3 EMISSIONS VALUES while also providing a further substantial
ammonia slip catalyst to have an NH3 increase in performance in the upper load
uniform distribution index of > 98% In conjunction with the highly dynamic range. Thus extremely low emissions are
to enable robust control and monitoring EGR system, the new combustion system achieved across the entire operating range
of the system. with enhanced EGR compatibility with of the engine. Compared with the previ-
To fulfill functional requirements, the close-coupled standardised exhaust ous vehicle, substantial NOx reductions
an innovative AdBlue evaporation and system of the OM 654, the operating are achieved under real driving condi-
mixer concept was developed and pat- range of the SCR system can be extended, tions (RDE), FIGURE 7.
ented for the installation space con-
straints, FIGURE 7.
The concept is based on multiple
evaporator plates arranged in the flow
direction, each of which receive parts
of the spray cone and whose staggered
spatial configuration leads to an initial
homogenisation of the reduction agent.
The arrangement of the plates as well as
the precise positioning of the AdBlue
injector and orientation of the spray
cone, are precisely coordinated with
respect to each other. The arrangement
of the evaporator plates along the
exhaust streamlines reduces the pres-
sure loss in the evaporator unit by more
than 30 % compared with conventional
systems.
Downstream of the evaporator unit,
the exhaust is discharged centrally
into an oval channel and forms a sym-
metrical dual swirl flow. As a result
of the swirl generation, the retention
time for the reduction agent is increased
and at the same time efficient mixing
achieved. In this way, it is possible to
avoid deposits even at high dosing
quantities while at the same time
achieving very high NH3 uniform dis-
tribution (0.97 to 0.99) over the large
cross-section of the sDPF. FIGURE 7 Hot end of the OM 654, AdBlue injection and emissions (© Daimler)

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DE VELO PMENT DIESEL ENGINES
FIGURE 8 Weight and friction reduction (© Daimler)
NOISE LEVEL
Besides numerous design optimisation
measures on the engine block structure,
the connection of the transmission
assembly, the gear drive, the air ducting
and, last but not least, the engine
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mounts made of plastic, it was possible
to achieve new benchmark figures.
ENGINE WEIGHT
The set objectives regarding weight
reduction are achieved with various
measures despite the additional techni-
cal features, FIGURE 8. Compared with
the outgoing OM 651 developing 125 kW,
the weight was reduced by 35.4 kg
despite the power uprating to 143 kW.
FRICTION LOSS
Component and system assessments,
along with mathematical extrapolations,
enabled the friction and power losses to
be assessed early on in the development
batches. Overall, a significant improve-
ment of basic-engine friction was thus
achieved for the OM 654 (strip level 1)
compared with the previous OM 651.
The successful implementation of the
measures is reflected in the competitive
comparison in the FEV scatter band
graph of the friction mean effective pres-
sure of the relevant 4-cylinder series-pro-
duction diesel engines.
In the characteristic map of the rela-
tive friction torque, it is clear that load
dependency is changed substantially for
the OM 654. In particular, the significant
reduction in friction losses toward higher
loads meets both the customer’s require-
ments as well as the future applicable
WLTP test cycle, which is configured for
higher loads compared with the NEDC.
The aforementioned reduction in friction
losses leads overall to a fuel saving of
around 6 % compared to OM 651.
VEHICLE RESULTS
As a result of the advantages of the new
combustion system and the concomitant
ability to use a smaller turbocharger
design, the significant derestriction of
the entire gas routing as well as the fric-
FIGURE 9 Pulling away from traffic lights
and acceleration figures (© Daimler)
FIGURE 10 Fuel consumption figures of the E 220 d (© Daimler)
tion measures, the necessary design con-
ditions were created for agile engine
responsiveness. Thanks to further opti-
mised tuning of torque converter, trans-
mission and due to the engine weight
reduction of 17 %, clear advantages
were achieved when pulling away from
traffic lights with the OM 654, FIGURE 9.
Likewise, the OM 654 powertrain also
represents a highly dynamic drive system
with best-in-class driving performance.
In comparison with its direct predeces-
sor, performance – based on the accelera-
tion time from 0 km/h to 100 km/h – has
improved by over 10 %, which is equiva-
lent to just under 1 s.
FUEL CONSUMPTION
The effectiveness of the used technolo-
gies is confirmed by the illustrated fuel
consumption figures. Thanks to the
robust stepped recess combustion sys-
03I2016 Volume 77
tem, the sophisticated exhaust gas recir- REFERENCES
culation, friction and weight measures [1] Eder, T. et al.: Launch Of The New Engine
Family At Mercedes-Benz. 24 th Aachen Collo-
as well as the close-coupled exhaust quium Automobile and Engine Technology, 2015
aftertreatment, it was possible to achieve [2] Lückert, P. et al: The New Mercedes-Benz
much lower emissions figures coupled 4-Cylinder Diesel Engine OM 654 – The Innovative
with a new fuel consumption benchmark Base Engine Of The New Diesel Generation.
24 th Aachen Colloquium Automobile and Engine
of 102 g CO2/km, FIGURE 10. Technology, 2015
SUMMARY
With the introduction of the new
2-l four-cylinder engine, the OM 654,
as the first member of the new engine
family, Mercedes-Benz is setting new
standards in the areas of fuel consump-
tion, driving performance, comfort, and
emissions in the diesel engine segment.
The first application of this new base
engine will be in the new E-Class, after
which it will be rolled out across other
model series. Additional power and
displacement levels based on the new
engine family are in the pipeline.
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