Diesel Progress North American

ACCESSORY PRODUCTS
Brushless Fuel Pump
Targets On- And Off-Highway
Diesel Engines

As demands for long service life continue to rise for both on- and off-highway vehicles and equipment, some of the most basic components in engines are facing new challenges. A good example is diesel fuel transfer pumps.

Diesel fuel transfer pumps are the mechanism by which fuel is conducted from the fuel tank to the diesel fuel injection system. While they don’t face the same high pressures as the fuel injection pumps, diesel fuel transfer pumps, typically engine mounted, can be subjected to high levels of vibration and shock loading.

For much of the history of diesel engines, fuel transfer pumps were gear driven directly off the engine. In recent years, in an effort to attain greater overall efficiency, electric pumps have been more widely applied. Yet conventional electronic fuel transfer pumps also had their own challenges. The carbon commutator and brushes found in conventional pumps are subject to wear, which can be accelerated by high engine vibration and variations in diesel fuel.

In an effort to address those concerns, Federal-Mogul Corp. has developed an electrical brushless diesel fuel pump for on- and off-highway engines. The new fuel pump, which is suitable for 12 or 24 V applications, is designed to provide significantly improved durability for medium- and heavy-duty on-highway engines as well as those used in construction, stationary, marine and agricultural equipment.

“The benefits of our electrical brushless fuel pump far exceed the attributes of a conventional device, and our customers are taking notice,” said Federal-Mogul President and CEO José Maria Alapont. “We expect the industry’s transition to brushless pump

Federal-Mogul has developed a
new brushless fuel transfer pump
for on- and off-highway diesel
engines. The new pumps incorporate
electronic commutation technology that
eliminates the brush and commutator,
thereby negating vibration-related
wear issues in those components.

motors to accelerate in the coming
years, due to customer demand for
longer-life fuel pumps that improve fuel
economy and reduce emissions.”
Federal-Mogul said its fuel pump
design incorporates electronic com-
mutation technology that eliminates
the brush and commutator, thereby
negating vibration-related wear issues
in those components. Electronic com-
mutation also eliminates contact sepa-
ration and arcing, the company said.

The brushless motor design utilizes electronic controls for high current switching, which increases the reliability of the motor, Federal-Mogul said. The electrically driven design also reduces parasitic loads on the engine when compared to conventional belt- or gear-driven pumps, thereby improving fuel economy and reducing emissions, the company said.

The new fuel pumps also provide improved resistance to degradation brought about by exposure to fuel, Federal-Mogul said. The electrical components are overmolded for greater resistance to fuel exposure and they have endured more than

10,000 hours of lab testing with various fuels, including several 100% biodiesel blends.

Durability field tests indicated the brushless fuel pump can last as much as 20 times longer than a conventional pump, Federal-Mogul said.

A universal design is intended to provide simplified installation in existing fuel pump packages to replace current brush-style motors. Federal-Mogul said it is currently supplying its electrical brushless fuel pump to global diesel engine and diesel fuel filtration manufacturers. The company is also offering its electrical brushless fuel pumps through its aftermarket channels for on-highway diesel truck applications.

The new pumps were developed at the company’s Logansport, Ind., technical center and are produced at its fuel delivery products manufacturing facility in Logansport. dp