Fuel consumption monitoring: DFM flowmeter vs fuel level sensor

Fuel consumption monitoring of vehicle fleets and stationary machinery provides economic benefits from several sources at the same time:

• Reduced downtime and increased performance of the machinery
• Higher fuel economy and lower fuel expenses
• Fuel theft prevention
• Invoicing customers for fuel consumed by the machinery during work
• Increasing machinery lifetime and reducing maintenance and repair costs

The desired outcome is directly linked to selecting right way of fuel consumption monitoring:

• Fuel consumption calculation based on fuel tank data supposes using data from fuel level sensor installed in the tank.
• Direct fuel consumption measurement in fuel line of engine uses reliable information on fuel flow rate inside fuel system acquired from DFM fuel flow meter.

Comparison of two methods of fuel consumption measurement

	Fuel level sensor			DFM fuel flow meter
	Indirect way based on calculations of changing fuel level in fuel tank			Direct measurement of fuel consumption in fuel lines of engine
	Not able to detect fuel theft from return fuel lines of an engine, monitors fuel tank only			Allows to get accurate fuel consumption data and prevent any type of fuel theft or misuse
	Provides tank fill-up and fuel draining data			Does not provide fuel tank data
	Does not provide engine operation hours			Gives detailed engine operation hours data
	No information on engine and fuel system health			Helps to carry out remote engine diagnostics based on fuel rates and avoid extra repair costs
	Inaccurate data in case of using in rough terrain: construction, agriculture, railway, watercrafts.			Can be used for any diesel machinery type, no matter what operation conditions are.

As you see from the table, direct fuel consumption measurement in fuel lines of an engine is the most accurate method of fuel consumption measurement.

Additionally, unlike fuel level sensor, DFM fuel flow meter is able to:

Monitor 40+ fuel consumption and engine operation time parameters: instant fuel rate, total fuel consumption, fuel used in “Idle”, “Optimal”, “Overload” engine working modes, total engine working time and split by individual modes etc. Correctly measure fuel consumption for short machinery operation intervals Ensure high accuracy of data regardless of fuel tank shape or operation conditions.

Project examples, where DFM fuel flow meter was used for fuel consumption monitoring:

Fuel consumption monitoring of oil rig maintenance machines: fuel economy is 40%, machinery downtime reduced by 30%.

Small marine vessels in the European Union: fuel economy is 58%, fuel theft eliminated