Fuel consumption monitoring of agricultural tractors
with DFM fuel counters
Customer:
Task:
Machinery: 
Solution:
Result:Fuel consumption monitoring of agricultural tractors
with DFM fuel counters
Customer: “Mir” agricultural company (Ukraine)
Task: Fuel consumption monitoring
Machinery: MTZ and John Deere tractors for agriculture
Solution: DFM fuel counters (autonomous fuel meters)
Result: 20-30 % decrease in fuel consumption
The Customer
“Mir” agricultural company was established in 2001 on the base of collective farm, which existed for 60 years. Over the years, “Mir” became leading agricultural company in Kirovogradskaya region of Ukraine.
“Mir” specializes in crop (wheat, corn, sunflower, beet, peas) and livestock production, milk and sugar production.
Factors leading to successful work of the company are: fleet renovation and regular maintenance, introduction of modern methods of monitoring engine hours and fuel consumption.
70+ employees
4500+ hectares of arable land
30+ machines
16+ years of successful work
The Machinery
“Mir” mainly uses MTZ-80 and John Deere 8310R tractors.
МТZ-80 tractor with cultivator is reliable and proven agricultural machine. It came off the assembly line in 1974 and is still in operation. Tractor’s engine power is 80 h.p. (4 cylinders, working volume 4.75 L). Fuel consumption quota is 5,5 l/h.
Modern tractor John Deere 8310R has been producing since 2011. It is equipped with 6-cylinder engine (working volume 9 L, engine power 310 h.p.). Fuel consumption quota is 60,2 l/h.
The Task
Previously, all tractors of agricultural company were equipped with machinery telematics system (AVL), which included fuel tank monitoring sensors and GPS vehicle tracking devices of other manufacturer. Telematics data was sent to online tracking software.
However, agricultural machines work on rough terrain and that causes noticeable fluctuations of fuel level in tank. Hence, fuel volume data obtained from fuel probe was not reliable for determining short-run (for a site, per day/week) fuel consumption. Also, that kind of tracking system does not allow detecting and preventing fuel theft from fuel supply and return lines of a tractor.
Management of “Mir” agricultural company decided to implement direct fuel consumption measurement method and equip tractors with fuel flow devices. At the same time, online GPS position tracking was not required, so the management selected DFM fuel counters (autonomous fuel flow meters) as a solution.
The Solution
DFM fuel consumption counters are mounted into fuel supply and return lines of diesel engine and measure real fuel consumption.
Fuel consumption and engine operation hours information is obtained from fuel counter’s LCD display and recorded manually. A person in charge uses a special ledger to check instant fuel consumption and write down values of the Counters: total fuel consumption, total engine hours, engine hours in “Idle”, “Optimal” and “Overload” modes.
DFM also registers tampering and interference attempts, the information can be checked on flowmeter’s display anytime.
Specific model of fuel counter and installation scheme is chosen depending on fuel consumption volume and specifications of tractor’s fuel supply system. DFM 100B single-chamber fuel counters were mounted on MTZ-80 tractors, DFM 250B single-chamber counters – on John Deere 8310R tractors. Flow meter installation doesn’t prevent fuel flow through the supply line. Autonomous fuel flow meter is power-supplied from embedded battery and there is no need in connection to tractor’s electric system.
Autonomous fuel flow meter DFM 100B
Autonomous fuel flow meter DFM 250B
Artyom Pepelyavev, Technoton
“Agricultural company’s primary requirement was accurate fuel volume monitoring in harsh environment. Quite often, our customers request solution with minimum additional operational cost if it comes to machinery, which is operated within essenced area.
Technoton suggested to install autonomous DFM fuel flow meters. It allows to implement effective fuel monitoring system without installation of vehicle tracking device and paying subscription fee for telematics service. These models of fuel flow meters are in great demand among agricultural machinery fleets.”
Vladimir Gavrush,
director of “Mir” agricultural company
“Technoton fuel flow meters are reliable and accurate devices. We receive data on real fuel consumption after the flow meters were installed on МТZ and John Deere tractors. Now we can optimize fuel costs and as result – increase our profitability.
Technoton products are modern high-tech equipment, affordable and reliable.
We are planning to install DFM fuel flow meters on other tractors and machines in our company fleet.”
