Oval Wheel Flow Meters Model DON may be used for fuel consumption measurement in diesel engines using the dual flow inputs and the 'A-B' setting. A pair of DON flowmeters is used with a single electronic model ZOK-Z3 to give a net reading of fuel consumption. In this off-shore application, a fuel consumption measurement system has been effectively implemented on trawler diesel engines; similarly also suitable for small ships. Here we used a pair of stainless steel flowmeters (DON-215 for flows up to 550 l/h per flowmeter) and one ZOK-Z3 per engine. As choking of the flowmeter or strainer in a main line may result in higher differential pressure resulting in diminishing fuel supply to the engine, an alternative is to use a pressure relief valve in the bypass line. Higher inlet pressure opens the pressure relief valve and ensures a constant supply to the diesel engine.
In selective cases, the choice of "pulsating flow” option may be recommendable.
With this installation, the fishermen are now in a position to monitor the actual real time fuel consumption and adapt the ship speed to optimize it.
In general, the return of investment is implemented within a month