Last March Swoboda, a German company dedicated to the development of innovative components in the automotive sector, illustrated the project of its electrified turbo renamed as the Cross Charger. It is a solution that incorporates the MGU-H currently in use on Formula 1 power units, based on an electric motor generator coupled with the turbocharger group. Its presence thus opens up the possibility of exploiting the work performed on the turbine by the exhaust gases to regenerate electricity with which to recharge the battery, as well as accelerating the compressor at low rpm to limit the phenomenon of turbo-lag. The automotive industry is no stranger to electrified supercharging, but with the Cross Charger Swoboda takes that architecture to the next level.
The electric motor made by the German company has an electro-mechanical efficiency of 95%. The thrust work on the compressor can increase torque and power of the thermal engine up to 80% at low revs, effectively canceling the response delay caused by turbo-lag and ensuring a prompt increase in boost pressure. Tests carried out on a test vehicle show that sprinting from a standstill between a turbocharged vehicle without and equipped with the Cross Charger is 55% better. The car under analysis has shown that it can reach 55 km / h in 2.5 seconds, while previously it did not exceed 25 km / h in the same amount of time. The increase at low speeds of the effective average pressure in the combustion chamber also guarantees greater efficiency and therefore lower consumption, also finding a better effectiveness of the EGR and a faster heating of the exhaust after-treatment system, reducing emissions. Tests performed on a two-liter diesel engine found un 10% decrease in consumption and 40% in NOx emissions thanks to the electrification of the turbo.
However, the Swoboda Cross Charger presents some innovations compared to the other systems already available on the market. Firstly, the electric motor is the result of a module design, conceived to install the unit on a ready-made vehicle, with the possibility, therefore, of electrifying a pre-existing turbocharger. The coupling is customized according to the type of application, while retaining 90% of the components already present. The Cross Charger can be implemented on petrol, diesel, hybrid, alternative fuel and even hydrogen engines.
Furthermore, in traditional architectures, the electric motor is often coupled to the turbocharger on the side of the turbine bearing, where however temperatures up to 350 ° C can be experienced. All this becomes a source of high thermal stresses and the necessary structural strength can increase the rotational inertia of the assembly by up to 20%. The Swoboda system, on the other hand, is designed with special shapes that allow it installation in front of the compressor, where temperatures are typically contained within 120 ° C, also limiting the mass increase to 5%. This coupling is made possible by the large free space between the rotor and the stator of the electrical unit, inside which the intake air flows directly to the compressor thus also exploited for cooling the engine itself.
The Cross Charger is currently undergoing testing by an automotive group that is evaluating its feasibility for its series production. Christian Goser, Head of Sales and Engineering for Swoboda, summed up his qualities as follows: “Swoboda is making it easier for manufacturers to meet the Euro 7 targets. The Cross Charger should benefit as many vehicles and applications as possible, from undersized Otto engines for plug-in hybrids to large-displacement diesel engines for commercial vehicles. With this in mind, the key development goals were that the system be simple to install and relatively low cost. Swoboda has achieved all this with numerous design and construction innovations that differentiate the Cross Charger from the previous electrified turbos on the market ”.
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