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Fuel Consumption of Engine Pumpsets

Arthur L. Fajardo1, Romulo E. Eusebio2, Darwin C. Aranguren3, and Delfin C. Suministrado4

 

ABSTRACT

 

The fuel consumption of a given engine pumpset is an important economic indicator of the viability of an irrigation system because it constitutes a large part of the operating cost.  It is also very important to know the actual fuel consumption to determine if operation is cost effective. This paper present an analysis of the fuel consumption of   different engine pumpsets based on the AMTEC pumpset test data.

Important findings were obtained  from AMTEC data (1991 to 2010) on 150 engine pumpsets.  These are the  following:  a) Most of the self-priming pumps were matched with air-cooled engines (both gasoline and diesel) through direct coupling transmission; b) Almost all non-self-priming pumps were matched with water-cooled diesel engines through belt and pulley transmission system; c) All water-cooled diesel engine pumpsets were matched through belt and pulley transmission systems; d) No gasoline engines were matched with non-self-priming pumps through direct coupling transmission system; and e) No gasoline engine pumpsets were matched through belt and pulley transmission system.

The average diesel fuel consumption of the 69 diesel engine driven pumpsets was 1.9 li/h. On the one hand, the average gasoline fuel consumption of the 81 gasoline engine driven pumpset was 1.3 li/h.  Values of fuel consumption obtained at the field and other laboratory tests was relatively lower (about 50% lower) compared than those obtained through performance testing.

 

Keywords: water pumping, engine pumpset, fuel consumption

          1  Assistant Professor, Agricultural Machinery Division (AMD), Institute of Agricultural Engineering, College of Engineering and Agro-Industrial Technology (CEAT), University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB);  2Engineer III, 3Engineer IV, Agricultural Machinery Testing and Evaluation Center (AMTEC), CEAT, UPLB;  and 4Professor, AMD, IAE, CEAT, UPLB 4031 College, Laguna, Philippines.