Producing Low Washout High Performance Conductive Fuel Lines for Hybrid Cars and Beyond with Rilsan® PA11

Introduction 

 

Arkema’s target is to provide the automotive industry a complete range of new high performance plastic extrusion grades for fluid transfer. This development supports the strategies of major global car makers in the launch of costeffective conductive fuel lines in hybrid vehicles. In this case study, discover how Arkema leverages its expertise in bio-based polymers, and more specifically Rilsan® PA 11, to develop low wash out solutions for manufacturing high performance conductive fuel lines.

The rapid electrification of the automotive industry comes with many technical challenges. One of them is, when Hybrid vehicles run on the Electric “zero emission” mode, fuel remains stagnant within fuel lines for several days or weeks. This increases the extraction of components from the plastic tube. “Low washout” solutions were developed, but these tend to swell more in contact with fuel than traditional fuel Lines. This constitutes a major challenge for conductive fuel lines as tube swelling has a detrimental effect on conductive performance. Carmakers are looking for competitive “low washout” conductive solutions for use in hybrid vehicles, to solve this issue and help accelerate the growth of environmentally virtuous vehicles. This is why Arkema has developed a material platform allowing tier suppliers and car makers to build tailor-made conductive solutions (4 or 5 layers) with a limited number of grades.

 

Case study summary

PARTNER: Leading global automotive car makers & fuel line producers

INDUSTRY: Automotive

APPLICATION: Liquid fuel & fuel vapor lines of plug-in hybrids

PRODUCTION PROCESS: Tube extrusion, smooth or corrugated

MATERIAL: Rilsan® polyamide 11, Rilsan® Tieflex alloys & Rilperm® multilayer constructions