Daewoo Launches K-1 Diesel Engine

Six-cylinder, 12 L diesel targeted at worldwide applications; dedicated new plant has initial capacity of 20,000 engines

A new Daewoo engine plant in Kunsan, Korea, will begin production in September of 2000. It will be dedicated to the machining and assembly of a single engine family, the new Daewoo K1 diesel. This is a six-cylinder, in-line, overhead cam, unit-injected, 12.7 L diesel from the Engine & Materials Division of Daewoo Heavy Industries. It appears to be world class, certainly the best yet from Korean diesel engine builders.

Daewoo's engine group first started producing marine engines back in 1958 and formed license and technical exchanges with MAN and Isuzu going back to 1975. In 1986, the group produced the first diesel completely designed in Korea. This was the "Storm" series engine and Diesel Progress first reported on this engine in 1987 after a visit to the group's design and manufacturing center in Incheon.

During a visit to the Incheon facility early this summer, Diesel Progress was filled in on the new K-1 diesel engine and plans for the new manufacturing and assembly plant in Kunsan. It is an ambitious plan and one that counts heavily upon engine export for its success. The new manufacturing facility at Kunsan will have initial production capacity of 20,000 engines per year, but the target production for the year 2000 is only 15,000 units. Currently the Engine & Materials Division has capacity for 86,600 engines per year at Incheon and these engines, by actual count, have 648 applications.

So the addition of the Kunsan factory in 2000 will be a significant development, augmenting production capacity by more than 30 percent. The new factory is 455,021 sq.ft. on a 145 acre site. The new factory will have four machining lines, one each for the block, bed plate, cylinder head and crankshaft. These lines will be approximately 95 percent automated. There will be two separate assembly lines, a long block and a short block line and these will be approximately 30 percent automated.

Daewoo will be strongly targeting the U.S. and European marine, industrial and generator set markets with the new K-1 diesel. It is not being emission certified for on-highway use at this point, but the basic profile and performance characteristics would suit the application. The K-1 engine does meets Euro-III standards and applicable U.S. EPA and CARB on- and off-road standards.

Four years in development, the K-1 is a very modem diesel engine platform. Enthusiastically benchmarked on Detroit Diesel's series 60 and other similar diesels, the turbocharged and inter-cooled K-1 has a bore and stroke of 134 x 151 mm, per cylinder displacement of 2.13 L and total displacement of 12.77 L. The top power rating is 440 hp at 1800 to 2000 rpm, with peak torque of 1425 lb.ft. at 1100 to 500 rpm. Dry weight is given at 2315 lb.

This is a high power density engine, with initial ratings from 320 to 440 hp, with a 500 hp rating expected by 2001. Basic characteristics include four valves per cylinder with a single overhead cam actuating the valves and electronically controlled unit injectors, centrally located in each cylinder. Peak cylinder pressure is either 1956 psi and 2753 psi is achievable with slight modification. Fuel injection pressure is in the range of 28,900 psi.

The engine is completely controlled by an Electronic Control Unit (ECU) that is fuel cooled and engine mounted. It monitors all engine parameters and signals potential problems before they occur with a complete failure analysis and diagnostics package. The ECU instantly optimizes performance for operating conditions. Fuel economy is given at 190 g/kW.hr, very competitive.

Let's look at some design basics. The new K-1 diesel features a block and bed plate design. The boss of each cylinder bolt is directly connected via a cast-in rib to the boss of each bearing cap. The monoblock cylinder head bolts to the block with a hexagonal bolt pattern. Adjacent cylinder pairs each share two common bolts so there are 26 head bolts in total.

The symmetrical cast iron block structure features a corrugated geometry in the area of the crankshaft side-wall, in addition to horizontal and vertical stiffening ribs. The bed plate is of the same cast iron, also with the corrugated geometry and stiffening ribs. The alloy of the bed plate can be easily upgraded for higher peak cylinder pressure. The bed plate design also aids in reducing vibration, the company said.

Monoblock heads feature a stiff top and bottom deck with ribs over the balcony and ribs between bolt holes. Cooling jets for the injection nozzle area are cast into the block and fuel passages for supplying the unit injectors are machined internal to the heads.