Engine technology

Electronic engine management:

Key technology for intelligent engine control

Author:
Dr. Dietmar von Zwehl
Head of Electronics Department

The brain of a modern engine is the electronic control unit. It monitors and controls all the
key functions of the engine and the exhaust aftertreatment system. The control unit also acts
as the interface to the vehicles automation system. The optimum interplay of the entire drive
system is the key to low pollutant emissions, low fuel consumption and high power output
over the entire service life. MTU develops and manufactures this key technology in-house.
Engine control center
Legislators all over the world are specifying in
creasingly tougher emissions limits for diesel
engines. To comply with the requirements, emis
sions from the drive system are constantly being
reduced. As the engines brain, the engine man
agement system (see Figure 1) controls key sys

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tems such as fuel injection, turbocharging and

exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) that affect en
gine consumption and emission levels as well
as performance. This means that the electronic
engine management system is one of MTUs key
technologies for developing engines that comply
with the increasingly tougher emissions stan

Fig. 1: Rail engine 16V 4000 RX4 with ECU

as nervous system
As brain of the engine the ECU engine ma
nagement system enables the precise inter
action between key engine systems including
the key technologies injection, turbocharging,
exhaust gas recirculation or diesel particulate
filter that affect engine consumption and
emission levels as well as performance.

dards. MTUs own proprietary Engine Control

Unit (ECU) controls engine functions extremely
precisely so that the formation of harmful emis
sions is greatly reduced by internal engine modi
fications to the combustion process. For very
stringent emission limits, MTU combines these
measures with exhaust treatment systems that
also remove emissions from the exhaust gas,
such as the SCR system (Selective Catalytic Re
duction) or the diesel particulate filter (DPF).
Electronics development and production
at MTU
Around 300 staff in development, production
and project planning at MTU work on tailormade electronics solutions for engines and
their automation systems. MTU develops the
hardware and software for its engines in-house
and also carries out production itself. By doing
so, MTU can ensure a long-term product lifespan of up to 30 years for electronic compo-ne
nts. A particular challenge in this respect is the
production lifecycle of bought in components

such as microprocessors, which is generally much

shorter than the production lifecycle of the en
gine control modules. As early as the ECUs
design concept stage, therefore, MTU chooses
processor families that will continue to be able
for a long period. If necessary, to ensure longterm availability, MTU also sets up a second
supplier for electronic components. If compo
nents for control systems of older engines are
no longer available, there is the possibility of
adapting an ECU of the current generation to the
engine concerned. In such cases, however, the
engine management software has to be recon
figured for the drive system and the application.
MTU system modules
MTUs engine controllers are designed as mod
ular systems. That means that new functions
can be quickly and flexibly integrated into the
existing hardware and software platforms. The
modular system also offers advantages for en
gine maintenance, since electronic engine diag
nosis can be carried out quickly and efficiently

for all MTU controller generations using just

one service tool. In the development of engine
management systems, MTU generally pursues
the objective of producing as few hardware and
software versions as possible. Five controllers
in total cover all current MTU engine series
from the classic Series 396, 538, 956 and 1163
engines to the current Series 1600, 2000, 4000
and 8000 engines (see Figure 2). MTU launched
its first electronic engine controller module to
reduce engine fuel consumption and increase
performance back in 1982. This was followed
in the 1990s by the MDEC (MTU Diesel Engine
Control), which controlled diesel engines with
either unit-pump fuel injection or the common
rail system, which was still quite new at the time.
In 2004, there followed the ECU 7 for the Series
2000 and 4000 engines, which is designated
ADEC (Advanced Diesel Engine Control). The
universal controller is suitable for use with all
cylinder configurations from V8 to V20 and for all
drive applications. The ECU 8, a special version
followed in 2008 for the Series 1600 engines.

From development to production, MTU electronic products

come from a single source. The highly sophisticated electronic
components are manufactured in the companys in-house
production section. Each control unit contains several thousand
components.

Controllers for future emissions

To be able to meet the requirements of even
stricter exhaust emissions legislation, MTU ex
panded its modular system in 2011 with the
addition of the ECU 9, which also is designated
ADEC. The new controller is based on the prov
en ECU 8 platform and uses the same processor
family and software architecture. The improve
ments featured in the ECU 9 primarily include
new control functions and additional sensors
and actuators for turbocharging and exhaust
gas recirculation. As a result, the engines
combustion process can be configured for
even lower emissions. However, the additional
sensors and valve actuators increase the re
quirements for more communications with the
engine management system.
To cope with the increasingly complex network
ing of individual engine systems in future, MTU
implemented a design change for the ECU 9.
Unlike the design of previous systems, individual
sections of the control unit, such as the area for
engine function, are now encapsulated. Inter
faces with the applications automation system
have also been separated and standardized.
This means that the engine can be easily inte
grated in the various customer applications via a
standardized J1939 interface. The development
time for the ECU 9 hardware to first-time field use
was just ten months, with the soft-ware for the
new functions requiring only twelve months to
produce and to be integrated into the existing
software structure of the ECU 7. Due to the very
short development times, MTU is able to make
sure that the engine management system is
always state of the art.
Long-term stability of the engine functions
To ensure that MTU engines remain as economical, clean and powerful over their entire
service lives as they are when new, MTU con
sistently incorporates closed-loop control cir
cuits in the engine management system whenever possible. This enables the system to com
pare the readings obtained from the sensors
with the target settings for optimum engine
performance. If any deviation occurs due to
interference, the engine controller constantly
brings the actual readings in line with the re

Fig. 2: Overview of the development stages of the engine management system since 1992
MTU launched its first electronic engine controller module to reduce engine fuel consumption and increase perfor
mance back in 1982. In 1996 it was followed by the MDEC (MTU Diesel Engine Control). In 2004, there followed
the ECU 7 for the Series 2000 and 4000 engines, which is designated ADEC (Advanced Diesel Engine Control).
The ECU 8, a special version, followed in 2008 for the Series 1600 engines. Three years later, MTU launched the
ECU 9, which also is designated ADEC.

quired settings by means of actuators. The

sensors then monitor the effect of the adjust
ments made by the actuator on their readings.
That makes the engines stable in terms of fuel
consumption, emissions and performance over
the entire lifespan, since the engine manage
ment system ensures that compensation is
made for any changes resulting from wear and
tear and environmental conditions. In the case
of state-of-the-art control systems such as
those currently used in cars and commercial
vehicles, for example, signs of aging which
occur in individual engines at a given operating point cannot be compensated for and the
control functions gradually become inaccurate
in the course of the engines service life. The
reason is that the actuators are adjusted with
no feedback from the sensors on the basis of a
predefined data map that has been produced
for the engine during engine trials.

The fuel injectors of the common rail injection

system are the key actuators for metering fuel
delivery. They are therefore required to meet
extremely stringent requirements in terms of
accuracy. To further improve the long-term sta
bility of the fuel injection system, MTU has inte
grated specific mechanisms into the ECU to compensate for injector wear. The system records
how frequently the fuel injection valves are acti
vated when the engine is in operation. The engine
management system then uses this information
to calculate an aging value that is taken into ac
count when controlling valve operation.
Safety-critical applications
For applications which demand the highest stan
dards of availability and reliability, such as emer
gency power generation in nuclear power plants
for example, MTU has developed special prod
ucts based on existing controller families. These

The ECU is an electronic engine control unit that is responsible for

the monitoring and control of all engine functions. MTU has
named the current generation, the ECU 9, ADEC: Advanced
Diesel Engine Control.

Automation solutions
Integration of the engine management system
in the automation structure has been achieved
using standardized MTU interface modules.
This enables drive systems to be integrated
even more easily into the automation system
of a given application. Here, MTU offers a mod-

ular system that enables the engine control

system to be extended by adding applicationspecific automation solutions. For marine appli
cations, on the one hand MTU has developed
standardized automation solutions. Standard
ized automation solutions are likewise available
for marine applications. These include the ultracompact Blue Vision New Generation automa
tion system introduced in 2013. The system
encompass the complete Monitoring Control
System (MCS) and Remote Control System
(RCS) for the automation system of a vessels

Fig. 3: MTU Powerline automation system for locomotives

In the rail sector, MTU has rounded out the engine management system by adding the automation package Powerline
for MTU Series 4000 engines. This consists of the basic components PAU Engine, POM, ADEC (ECU 9) and CaPoS.

entire power train from the propeller to the con

trol stands. On the other hand, with its ship
auto-mation system Callosum, MTU has creat
ed a modern and highly efficient modular sys
tem which can be used for customer-specific
project system solutions for all types of vessels.
For rail applications, MTU supplies automation
solutions for drive systems in railcars as well as
in locomotives. The modular automation system
Powerline which has been newly developed in
conjunction with Series 4000 for locomotives,
integrates all of the functions required for moni
toring and control of the the diesel drive plant
(see Figure 3). The core electronic component
of the new automation system is the Power Au
tomation Unit (PAU Engine) which combines all
of the functions in a compact unit as well as
providing a secure link to the locomotives con
trol systems via the CAN-Open interface.
Summary
As the brain of the engine, the ECU controls
key engine systems that affect the engines
consumption, emissions and performance, such
as fuel injection, turbocharging and exhaust gas
recirculation. Increasingly stringent emission
standards are placing ever greater demands on
the electronic engine manage-ment system. For
particularly strict emission standards, MTU
launched the new ECU 9 in 2011, which further
reduces the production of harmful emissions
inside the engine by providing even more precise
control of the combustion process.

Engine Control Unit (ECU): The ECU is an electronic engine

control unit that is responsible for the monitoring and control
of all engine functions. MTU has named the current generati
on, the ECU 9, ADEC: Advanced Diesel Engine Control.
POM (Power Output Module): Powerline starter system.
PAU Engine (Power Automation Unit Engine): It not only
controls the diesel engine, for example, but also other enginerelated rail vehicle components, such as the cooling system
or the electric fuel pump.

PAU Traction (Power Automation Unit Traction): MTU

offers the PAU Traction automation components specifically
for repowering purposes.
CaPoS (Capacitor Power System): CaPoS is a Powerline
supplement providing a modern starter power supply based
on capacitors instead of batteries.

MTU unveiled its first electronic engine control

ler back in 1982. Since then, the company has
continued to develop and produce the entire
hardware and software in-house. This ensures
that MTU is able to guarantee the long-term
availability of spare parts, even for older en
gines. With the ECU 9, MTU is offering a sepa
rate, standardized automation system interface. In addition, customers can extend the
engine management system by adding applica
tion-specific automation solutions from MTU
for propulsion, on-board power generation and
the complete ship in the marine sector, for
example, as well as for rail applications.

MTU Friedrichshafen GmbH

A Rolls-Royce Power Systems Company
www.mtu-online.com

MTU is a brand of Rolls-Royce Power Systems AG. MTU high-speed

engines and propulsion systems provide power for marine, rail,
power generation, oil and gas, agriculture, mining, construction and
industrial, and defense applications. The portfolio is comprised of
diesel engines with up to 10,000 kilowatts (kW) power output, gas
engines up to 2,150 kW and gas turbines up to 35,320 kW. MTU also
offers customized electronic monitoring and control systems for its
engines and propulsion systems.
3100661

January 2014

Photo credits: Pages 1 to 4, Adam Wist for MTU Friedrichshafen GmbH.

have been certified (TV) and audited (SPIEC

for nuclear applications). Certified and expertapproved solutions are also available for oil and
gas as well as rail applications.