In 1916
Vickers pioneered the use of mechanical common rail systems in
G-class submarine engines. For every 90° of rotation, four plunger pumps allowed a constant injection pressure of , with fuel delivery to individual cylinders being shut off by valves in the injector lines. From 1921 to 1980
Doxford Engines used a common rail system in their
opposed-piston marine engines, where a multicylinder reciprocating fuel pump generated a pressure around , with fuel stored in accumulator bottles. Pressure control was achieved by an adjustable pump discharge stroke and a "spill valve". Camshaft-operated mechanical timing valves were used to supply the spring-loaded Brice/CAV/Lucas injectors, which injected through the side of the cylinder into the chamber formed between the pistons. Early engines had a pair of timing cams, one for ahead running and one for astern. Later engines had two injectors per cylinder, and the final series of constant-pressure turbocharged engines was fitted with four. This system was used for the injection of both diesel and heavy fuel oil (600cSt heated to a temperature near 130 °C). Common rail engines have been used in marine and
locomotive applications for some time. The
Cooper-Bessemer GN-8 (
circa 1942) is an example of a hydraulically operated common rail diesel engine, also known as a modified common rail. The common rail system prototype for automotive engines was developed in the late 1960s by
Robert Huber of Switzerland, and the technology was further developed by Dr. Marco
Ganser at the
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, later of
Ganser-Hydromag AG (est. 1995) in Oberägeri. The first common-rail-Diesel-engine used in a road vehicle was the MN 106-engine by East German
VEB IFA Motorenwerke Nordhausen. It was built into a single
IFA W50 in 1985. Due to a lack of funding, the development was cancelled and mass production was never achieved. The first successful mass production vehicle with common rail, was sold in Japan in 1995. Dr. Shohei Itoh and Masahiko Miyaki of the
Denso Corporation developed the ECD-U2 common rail system, mounted on the
Hino Ranger truck. Denso claims the first commercial high-pressure common rail system in 1995. Modern common rail systems are governed by an
engine control unit, which controls injectors electrically rather than mechanically. Prototyped in the 1990s by
Magneti Marelli, Centro Ricerche Fiat in
Bari, and Elasis, with further development by physicist Mario Ricco
Fiat Group. Unfortunately Fiat were in a poor financial state at this time, so the design was acquired by
Robert Bosch GmbH for refinement and mass production. The first passenger car to use this system was the 1997
Alfa Romeo 156 with a 2.4-L
JTD engine, and later that same year,
Mercedes-Benz introduced it in their
W202 model. In 2001, common rail injection made its way into pickup trucks with the introduction of the 6.6 liter Duramax LB7 V8 used in the Chevrolet Silverado HD and GMC Sierra HD. In 2003 Dodge and Cummins launched common rail engines, and Ford followed in 2008 with the 6.4L Powerstroke. Today almost all non-commercial diesel vehicles use common rail systems. == Applications ==