German luxury car maker, Volkswagen will introduce the production version of the  BlueTDI  in the Jetta at the 29th International Vienna Motor Symposium held at the Hofburg Congress Centre in Vienna, Austria on the 24 -25 April 2008.

The new Jetta BlueTDI will premiere as one of the cleanest and most economic cars of its class in the world, according to Volkswagen.  (View: Jetta photo gallery)NNhttp://www.domain-b.com/PhotoFeature.aspx?id=154&cu=0&sid=1

A next-generation turbo diesel specially designed for the North American market, BlueTDI was introduced in Europe in 2007 with the Volkswagen Tiguan. The common rail engine is based on the high-tech TDI, which is the cleaner version of the already clean TDI engine and satisfies the Euro-5 emission standard that comes into effect in the second-half of 2009.

The Bin 5, Level 2 emission standards that are in force in five states in the US  including California, Massachusetts, Maine, New York and Vermont  are considered to be the strictest emissions standards in the world.

Volkswagen says that despite the variations in fuel quality in the US, the new BlueTDI meets these emissions standards. It plans to introduce the engine in the US with the Jetta this summer.

In the run-up to the Vienna Motor Symposium, Dr Ing Jens Hadler, director of Volkswagen Powertrain Development noted, ''high fuel prices and a dramatic change in environmental consciousness means that diesel is becoming more and more attractive for American drivers every day.''

 ''This is why many customers, especially in California, have been waiting for a super-clean diesel like our BlueTDI. I think this motor will help the diesel get its big break in America because it consumes so little and yet can go such long distances on a single fill-up. And in a country as big as the United States, this is a priceless advantage. On the highway, for example, this engine can reach up to 60 miles per gallon2, which is an improvement of 12 per cent over its predecessor, that had a lower capacity and higher emissions.'' he added.

Volkswagen redesigned the four-cylinder engine to meet the stringent  American Bin 5, Level 2 standards, which stipulate a nitrogen oxide limit of only 0.05 g/mile.

The engineers in Wolfsburg, Germany developed the BlueTDI (2.0 litre engine displacement, 103 kW/140 PS, 320 Nm) to meet this limit and the general reduction of raw emissions by using internal engine modifications, some of which are unique worldwide, and implementing the maintenance-free NOx trap.

The re-development of the internal engine changes include modifications to the design of the injection system of both the American and European TDI as well as the implementation of cylinder pressure sensors. This allows for a completely new type of cylinder pressure-based combustion control, which is both faster and suited to each specific cylinder. Also new on-board is an optimised high-pressure injection pump.

Another unique feature is the combination of a high-pressure exhaust gas recirculation system with
additional low-pressure exhaust gas recirculation. This dual exhaust gas recirculation (dual circuit EGR) is effective in reducing nitrogen oxides in the engine by up to 60 per cent.

The NOx trap outside the engine, is  connected downstream of the oxidation catalytic converter and the particle filter, which reduces nitrogen oxide to an absolute minimum. When implemented together,  nitrogen oxide emissions is reduced by almost 90 per cent.

Protecting the biodiversity has always been strongly integrated in the company's environmental  policies, says the auto maker. Volkswagen was one of the first companies to become a member of the "Business and Biodiversity Initiative" in February, which is a commitment from global industrial companies to meet the targets set out in the Convention on Biological Diversity. Volkswagen say it will  also actively support the 9th UN conservation conference to be held in Bonn in May.

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