On this article we will share with you easy way to calculate your boat and/or ship engine fuel consumption, after obtained total miles to travel.
As they use to say, “knowing how much fuel your engines burn gives you a great idea of the range of your boat.” Before sailing out a boat, it’s important to check your boat distance capacity base on the fuel tank capacity as well.
By doing so, it will be clear if you might need additional fuel or less fuel to have your boat draft more stable.
Easy way to estimate boat fuel consumption
Generally, engines burn fuel base on it capacity (horse power – HP or kilowatt- KW). Base on that firstly you need to find out your engine power output from the nameplate or tag on the engine body.
To obtain the engine consumption per it capacity the formula is;
GPH = (SFC x HP) / FSW
GPH – gallons per hour
SFC – specific fuel consumption
FSW – Fuel Specific Weight
Learn more about Fuel or Bunker calculation in weight
Now, let say your engine constant consumption is as follows (as indicated on the engine nameplate);
FSW: 6.0 lb. per gal
SFC: 0.60 lb. per HP
Then to calculate how much 400-HP boat engine will consume in an hour will be ;
GPH = (0.60 x 400)/ 6.0 = 240/6.0 = 40 gal per hour
The above example we assume that the engine is making 100% of it HP. If you are to running on a particular speed or load, in such case, you can change the 400-HP to the actual load you plan to run.
Also, need to confirm, the type of fuel your engine is using, to understand it Weight or specific gravity.
For Example;
Diesel engine FSW is about 7.0-8.6 Ib and Gasoline engine FSW is about 6.0 -7.0Ib.
Easy way to estimate ship fuel consumption by total miles
Having known your engine consumption is 1.166mt per hour of diesel. If ship is to cover 1275 miles and the ships speed is 11.1 knots. Then to know total consumption for the total traveling miles.
The formula to calculate tha is as follows;
Hours = Total miles ÷ speed
H = 1275 ÷ 11.1 = 114.86 hrs
So, now you have obtained the total hours it will take you to cover 1275 miles with the speed of 11.1 miles, let’s calculate the total consumption engine will take to reach your destination;
Total consumption = engine consumption per hour x total hours
TC = 1.166 x 114.86 = 133.926 metric tons (mt).
So, in 4.8 days sailing, of this ship or boat, the total consumption base on same load HP or KW, she will reach her destination with 133.926 metric tons of fuel.
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