A deck winch drive engine fuel system on board your uninspected fishing industry vessel is prone to becoming air bound, and you suspect a fuel system piping leak. Assuming that the diesel fuel tank is beneath the engine, that the fuel booster pump is engine driven, and that the fuel injection pump is a high-pressure multi-plunger pump, where in the system would the leak most likely exist?
• Suction vs. discharge side of a pump in liquid fuel systems • Effect of tank location (below the engine) on static head and likelihood of air entry or fuel leakage • Behavior of high-pressure vs. low-pressure fuel lines when they develop leaks
• Think about which part of the system is most likely to pull air in rather than push fuel out when a small leak develops. • Ask yourself: on which side of the booster pump (suction or discharge) would a leak be more likely to cause the system to become air bound instead of just dripping fuel? • Consider whether a leak in the high‑pressure injection lines would act the same way as a leak in the low‑pressure suction piping in terms of air entering the system.
• Identify which lines operate at low pressure and under suction/vacuum versus those under positive pressure. • Verify where the fuel static head from a tank located beneath the engine will help keep lines flooded and where it will not. • Consider which section, if leaking, would be more likely to show visible fuel leakage versus mostly air being drawn in with little external evidence.
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