Technologies - Diesel flow meters

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Diesel flow meters

evaluated

In contrast to electric stock, in diesel stock no complicated debiting is necessary since the energy source is on-board. Nevertheless, a diesel flow meter indicating the actual fuel consumption in real time can provide relevant information for energy efficient driving styles and for energy efficiency projects in general.

Technology field: Energy measurement and documentation



General information

	Description
		Principle and purpose Whereas in electric traction on-board energy measurements are a prerequisite for exact energy billing, in diesel traction such a problem does not arise for obvious reasons. However, the introduction of fuel flow meters in diesel stock could make the actual fuel consumption visible for drivers in real time. This information will draw the attention to the load dependence of energy efficiency and facilitate an energy efficient driving style. Besides raising general awareness of diesel consumption, diesel meters help to verify LCC guarantees given by manufacturers and provide relevant information to evaluate energy efficiency measures. Diesel stock is usually not equipped with diesel flow meters but such measuring devices exist and an integration into existing stock should not meet any major hurdles. Technical details Diesel flow meters measure the fuel flow in the ducts from the fuel tank to the engine. Since the diesel flow at a particular moment is of limited interest, there is usually an additional tool processing the measured data to provide aggregated consumption profiles (at a 15 min or other rate).

General criteria

	Status of development: (no data)
		(no details available)

	Time horizon for broad application: 2 - 5 years
		(no details available)

	Expected technological development: basically exploited
		(no details available)

	Motivation:
		Provide real-time information on fuel consumption

	Benefits (other than environmental): medium
		LCC guarantees The validity of LCC guarantees given by manufacturers can be confirmed or disproven more effectively by means of diesel flow meters than by means of a fuel gauge (giving the content of the tank).

	Barriers: low
		(no details available)

	Success factors:
		(no details available)

	Applicability for railway segments: medium
	Type of traction: diesel
	Type of transportation: passenger - main lines, passenger - high speed, passenger - regional lines, passenger - suburban lines, freight
		All diesel vehicles can be equipped with flow meters. For on-board energy measurement in electric stock, see energy meters.

	Grade of diffusion into railway markets:
	Diffusion into relevant segment of fleet: 0 %
	Share of newly purchased stock: 0 %
		(no details available)

	Market potential (railways): medium
		(no details available)

	Example:
		(no details available)

Environmental criteria

	Impacts on energy efficiency:
	Energy efficiency potential for single vehicle: not applicable
	Energy efficiency potential throughout fleet: (no data)
		Diesel flow meters can improve the energy awareness of drivers and improve the monitoring of both energy saving measures and LCC guarantees.

	Other environmental impacts: neutral
		(no details available)

Economic criteria

	Vehicle - fix costs: low
		(no details available)

	Vehicle - running costs: (no data)
		Energy consumption Energy saving effects are to be expected but are rather indirect and will be difficult to attribute to the existence of diesel flow meters.

	Infrastructure - fix costs: none
		(no details available)

	Infrastructure - running costs: unchanged
		(no details available)

	Scale effects: low
		(no details available)

	Amortisation: (no data)
		(no details available)

Application outside railway sector (this technology is railway specific)

Overall rating

	Overall potential: interesting
	Time horizon: short-term
		Diesel flow meters provide real time information on the fuel consumption in diesel traction. Compared to energy meters for electric traction, benefits are limited. However, an improved monitoring of fuel economy of diesel stock as well as a raised energy awareness of drivers justify the introduction of diesel metering equipment. Despite low investment costs, no implementation experience is reported.