Fuel Pump: Working Principle Simplified

Get to know your fuel pump and its internal nitty-gritty

Introduction
We have been talking about various components of a marine engine right from the bedplate to
the piston, connecting rod and so forth. In this article we will learn about one very important
component which is necessary for engine operation. As you know the engine requires fuel to run,
and the same needs to be supplied under pressure. This is necessary to ensure smooth running
and efficient operation of the engine. The component which fulfills this purpose is known as the
fuel pump.

The purpose of the fuel pump is to convey the fuel reaching from its fuel tank into the individual
cylinders, under the requisite high pressure in order to ensure good atomisation and good
combustion. Troubleshooting fuel pump problems is an important part of a marine engineer's job
and it is easier to carry out the same once the working of the same is understood in a proper
manner. In the subsequent sections we will take a detailed look at how it works

Fuel Pump
Fuel pumps come in various shapes and sizes and of various types. But if you understand the
working principle of at least one of the pumps, others should follow suit. In this article I will
explain the working of a typical valve controlled fuel pump. You will be in a better position to
understand the text below if you correlate it with the a
djacent diagram.

The pump plunger is moved upwards by the two piece cam through the roller and the guide
plunger. A spring forces the guide plunger with the roller down on to the cam, while a second
spring presses the pump plunger on to the guide plunger, returning the latter.The suction valve is
controlled by spring loaded pins. Pins, which is of adjustable length, obtains motion from the
guide plunger through the lever with unequal arms, which rests on the eccentric of the regulating
shaft.

When the roller lies on the base circle of the cam, the pump plunger is in its bottom position and
the suction valve is closed. As the roller runs up on the cam the guide plunger, pump plunger and
the control pins move upwards. As the suction valve is closed, the fuel is forced through the
automatic discharge, non return valve and discharge pipe into the fuel valve, from where it is
injected into the cylinder. As the plunger stroke increases, the control pins also move
downwards, finally lifting the suction valve from its seat. Discharge ceases at this moment and
injection into the cylinder is terminated. The plunger now conveys the fuel back into the suction
space. On the downward motion of the plunger the space which becomes free gets filled with
fuel through the suction valve, this fuel flowing into the pump under pressure (either static
pressure or pressure from the fuel transfer pump)

The distance travelled by the pump plunger from the moment discharge commences until the end
of discharge with the lifting of the suction valve is called the effective delivery stroke.

Rotation of the regulating shaft alters the height of the fulcrum of the liner with unequal arms,
resulting in the suction valve opening earlier or later. This in turn causes all the pumps to deliver
greater or lesser quantity. the engine load which corresponds to discharge quantity can be read
off from the load indicator. At a particular setting of the load indicator all the pumps of an engine
are adjusted to exactly the same effective delivery stroke by means of adjustable control pins

Please note....I am currently in the process of drawing the diagrams on tigercad...so will be
uploading images soon..