High volume production of turbocharger ball bearings comes to Wales

13 April, 2017

Increased power and torque

Compared to traditional joined bearing turbocharger systems, ball bearing guided turbochargers offer numerous benefits that stem from the fundamental change in the friction mechanism present in the system. Multiple rolling elements replace a thin oil film in high shear, significantly reducing friction. This results in a significant improvement in system friction (typically up to 50%) at operating temperature and even greater improvements during the first minute of an engine cold start.

With the more conventional hydrodynamic, oil filled turbocharger systems, the oil is very viscous in cold conditions, particularly during engine start up. The time taken to heat up the oil means that engine emissions will suffer during this period. With ball bearing turbochargers, the air is available to the system immediately on cold start up, resulting in a more energy efficient system with reduced emissions. Overall, this leads to an increase in power, an increase in torque, a reduction in CO2 emissions of 2.5% and an excellent transient response of the engine.

Over the past year or so, Llanelli has invested much time and resources in preparing the new turbocharger bearing production line and in training its workforce.

www.schaeffler.co.uk