Systems supplier Beru has come out with green solutions for the auto industry

Ludwigsburg-based systems supplier Beru has come up with green solutions for the automobile industry. Specialising in ignition technology, diesel cold-start technology, electronics and sensor technology, the supplier has been focusing on environmentally-compatible technologies for some time now. One of these is the cold start technology.

This includes a pressure sensor glow plug, which enables optimum combustion and lower soot-particulate and nitrogen-oxide emissions for diesel engines. The development of this sensor has already won several innovation awards and consists of the extremely robust heating element of the Beru diesel Instant Start System (ISS) and an integrated sensor, which notifies the engine control electronics of any rapid changes in pressure in the combustion chamber. From end of 2007 and early 2008 one of the world's largest automobile manufacturers will start employing this technology as standard equipment in its vehicles.

The ISS is an interesting piece of technology, and even at extremely low temperatures of down to minus 25 degrees Celsius the ISS guarantees a 'spark-ignition engine key-start', stable idling, clean throttle response and a drastic reduction in soot and nitrogen oxide emissions. Automobile manufacturers that are already using ISS as standard equipment in their products are already making a substantial contribution to providing a clean environment.

Yet another development that needs to be mentioned is the Tyre Safety System (TSS) that was awarded the 2007 Allianz Safety prize - the 'Genius'. The TSS monitors tyre pressure during a journey and notifies the driver of any drop in pressure as well as any slow puncture or sudden loss of pressure. Contributing to greater safety on the road while also helping to reduce a vehicle's emissions, the TSS is expected to make a considerable contribution towards green environment. Experts claim that almost every third vehicle is driven with the wrong tyre pressure and if this was corrected it would amount to nearly 200 million litres of fuel saving in Germany alone, and roughly the same as a Co2 emission level of 490,000 tonnes. A tyre inflation pressure that is 0.6 bar less than specified shortens the service life of a tyre by a full 50 per cent.

The latest in the field of TSS is the bus Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) for Canadian firm Nova Bus. The robust and reliable application was designed to solve key durability and performance issues for bus operators in harsh environments. According to James Shingleton, senior application engineer at Beru, "Implementing a TPMS on a 60 foot articulated bus presented a number of unique design challenges and achieving good radio frequency (RF) coverage along the full length of the bus required robust technology and clever component packaging." The harsh operating conditions of the bus were probably the most important consideration as components must be protected from the elements. Nova bus vehicles are used across Canada all year round and operating conditions can become very severe. In winter, incredibly cold temperatures, huge snowfalls and very heavily salted roads create an extremely destructive environment for external components. The fact that the bus TPMS was developed with inputs from testing in all environments on rally cars meant the system withstood the harsh operating environment. While Shingleton adds that the performance of the system, which is proven in some of the harshest motorsports environments, allows it to function reliably, even in these shielded locations, the Nova Bus TPMS consists of four DGA+ antennae mounted on the vehicle (two for the rear axle, one for the middle axle and one for the front axle), eight wheel sensors (four on the rear axle, two on the middle axle and two on the front axle) and the new 24V TPMS Bus ECU.