Fuel Flow Meter

Fuel Flow Meters

Fuel flow meters are an essential part of any engine used in transportation, although they are often essential in stationary pumps as well. Capable of metering diesel fuel, gasoline, kerosene, mineral spirits, stoddard solvent and heptane, fuel flow meters measure the rate of fuel flow into an engine, consequently calculating the engine's current rate of fuel consumption and the remaining amount of fuel left in the tank. Modern fuel flow meters are computerized, sending data on fuel rate, RPM and the amount of fuel left in a tank to a display screen. Some more complicated transportation devices, such as cars, airplanes and spaceships, use the information collected by the fuel flow meter to communicate information to other parts of the machine (e.g. RPM is communicated to a car's automatic transmission to trigger shifting into a higher or lower gear).

Marine vessels and boats often display fuel flow meter screens on the dashboard so the captain can keep track of how much fuel is being used and is remaining. Fuel flow meters are also used in stationary pumping fuel dispensers, passenger cars, heavy trucks, ship engines and aerospace applications. Up until recently fuel flow meters used mechanical measurement tools such as turbine or positive displacement (PD); today, most fuel flow meters use ultrasonic sensors to communicate flow rate data to computerized receptors.

Fuel Flow Meter Image Provided by KOBOLD Instruments Inc.