Development of Fuel Flow Sensors and Engine Fuel Monitoring Systems for Marine Engines

Demand for accurate fuel flow rate meters for use in offshore boating has been increasing in recent years. This is primarily due to the need to find engine status readily on long ocean cruise and also prevent fuel consumption from increasing due to unforeseen engine troubles.

This makes it essential to develop a fuel flow sensor capable of covering a wide dynamic range of conditions ranging from trolling to wide open throttle speeds. Such a sensor would have to be inexpensive to produce, highly reliable and also include instrumentation that could deliver accurate measurements while compensating for the characteristic deviation occurring in sensors.

This paper therefore deals with vane and gear type marine engine fuel flow sensors and compares them for evaluation factors of; (1) accuracy (2) pressure loss (3) dynamic range, and (4) pulsation countermeasures. While working on further improvements in the characteristics of both types, development was performed into a system for large size 2-stroke outboard motors combining a vane type sensor with a digital meter having a characteristics compensating function.