Friday 5 August 2011

Flow rate, running time, fuel theft & more...

The rising cost of diesel means it is a valuable commodity for bulk commercial users across a variety of industries, making it vital to ensure that expensive fuel is used wisely, not wasted or pilfered. So the launch of the new multifunctional Fuel-View digital meter from Bronkhorst UK, which monitors flow rate and fuel consumption, engine operating times, diesel theft volumes and other parameters, should be of considerable interest to owners and operators of commercial vehicle fleets, construction plant, civil and military aircraft tow tractors, leisure boats, diesel-powered factory equipment, standby generators, heating boilers and diesel-fired burners.

Their new Fuel-View series of flow meters, for fuel flows between 1 and 400 litres per hour, offers a compact, lightweight and cost-effective solution for measuring diesel consumption and operating times of road vehicles, agricultural and aircraft tractors, construction plant, marine vessels, generators and all types of mobile and static engines, at competitive prices from stg£200 ex VAT. The design’s unique features for preventing the theft of fuel, protecting against the overstatement of readings and any interference with compressed air, magnetic fields and disconnection, make Fuel-View one of the best multi-purpose instruments available on the market.

The standard configuration is a ‘blind’ instrument, with integrated cable for the remote digital processing of signals. As an option, Fuel-View also comes with an on-board LCD readout, displaying such information as actual flow, total consumption and engine operating time in idling, overload and optimal modes. The instrumentation is either operated with an external power supply or, on LCD models, via an embedded standby battery, which provides autonomous running of the flow meter for up to 2 years.

The Fuel-View series operates on the principle of a rotary piston, which is mounted in a chamber, and the rotating speed is measured by electronic sensors that record magnetic pulses, the number of pulses being proportional to the actual flow rate. This distinctive design allows mainstream fuel flow even if the measuring chamber becomes clogged up, although a filter does protect the chamber from contamination and can be removed and cleaned without dismantling the flow meter itself.

Mounted in a strong, moulded zinc-aluminium alloy case, with full IP54 protection, the Fuel-View can be fitted in any position and withstands both vibration and hydraulic shock. There are a dozen different models with wired outputs, integral LCDs, or combinations of both, for various flow rates and engine power output. The smallest model, DFM-50, has a nominal flow rating of 25 litres per hour, with a minimum of 1 l/hr and a maximum of 50 l/h, for diesel engines up to 80kW (108 hp). The highest rating model, DFM-400, has a nominal flow rate of 200 l/hr (min 30 / max 400 l/hr), for engines over 300 kW (400 hp).

“As a multifunctional system, the Fuel-View has many interesting commercial applications,”
says Bronkhorst UK’s Managing Director, Andrew Mangell. “For engine design and testing, it will give instantaneous and totalised fuel flow rates, engine operating times and data on optimal running and overloads. Leisure boat owners will want to know about fuel consumption and any incidents of diesel theft, for billing purposes, as well as engine statistics for preventative maintenance. Engine overload times, fuel pilfering and possible engine interference statistics are also useful for operators of construction plant, commercial vehicles and aircraft tugs, tractors and pushbacks. While hospitals and factories with standby diesel generators can tell whether the engines are running efficiently, when the next planned service is due and check that fuel isn’t being siphoned off or simply leaking away. Similarly, factory owners can gain valuable data about the carbon footprints of fork lifts and heating plant.”

“These instruments are relatively inexpensive, easy to fit, extremely robust in use and will introduce a high level of management control over diesel fuel inventories,” he adds.

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