(pressebox) (Hannover, 28.11.2013) With its extremely resilient fuel lines for heavy-duty truck engines, ContiTech has a crucial contribution to this engine generation which is both heavy-duty and environmentally-friendly to simultaneously reduce fuel consumption and emissions. This ContiTech therefore enables future emissions standards such as Euro 6 and EPA13 by producing 20,000 high-tech lines per week from Karben.

Conventional fuel lines no longer meet requirements of heavy-duty engines. The next-generation line, specially developed for this purpose by ContiTech, is pressure-resistant to 35 bar and withstands operating temperatures up to 130°C. This was achieved, thanks to a new rubber compound and special re-inforcement. The lines withstood the flame test for four hours - without significant performance loss. A stainless steel mesh is also available for added heat dissipation, thus higher performance still.

The lines of 15 mm ID feature extremely low permeation rates. They are completely copper-free, and prevent fuel foaming resulting from the chemical reaction in biodiesel applications. The technical challenge for ContiTech lay in designing a completely new production process with even higher quality and purity standards, and tighter tolerances.

ContiTech is one of the few suppliers manufacturing such a line for this special application. A specific production area has been created for this and millions of Euro invested in new machinery. "The unusually high quantities for the truck sector mean that we can automate production and thus continue to manufacture competitively in future" explains Head of R&D Christof Kirsch. Half of the lines manufactured in Karben are supplied to plants in Germany, the remainder exported to the US.