Originally Posted by brillopad:
“Fuel pooling.
My simple understanding is that fuel is metered and there is a maximum allowed flow which limits maximum power.
At times of low power demand you take more fuel than you need through the meter and store the surplus in a 'pool' - when you want 'push to pass' power you take the maximum fuel through the meter and add the stored fuel from the pool which is not metered.”
I seem to recall making that point when FFMs were first introduced; an obvious "workaround" was always going to be the possibility of fitting some kind of accumulator (possibly in the form of something as apparently innocent as an unnecessarily long length of pipework) down-stream of the FFM which could stockpile fuel during low-usage periods and discharge it when required.
Funny thing is, the FIA
could verify whether such a system is in use simply by looking at the logged data from the fuel-injectors but, of course, they've already declared
that source of data to be unacceptable when RBR tried to use it to defend their actions when the FFM didn't tally with what RBR claimed their engine was using back in Oz 2014.
Nice own-goal there, FIA.
You can easily verify the overall amount of fuel used via a simple check of the tank but it seems, to me, that the only completely reliable method of policing fuel flow-rate was only ever going to be via monitoring of the actual injectors and then, if required, testing the capacity of the injectors.
If they want a "simple" monitoring method then an FFM is the way to go but a simple method of doing things is always likely to be a halfassed method of doing things in F1.
*EDIT*
Meant to say, I'm not sure how the FIAs plans to set a
minimum limit for fuel flow will help.
I mean, if you
are using some dodgy system to stockpile fuel in low-usage periods, it seems like you're
less likely to be accused of "under-using" fuel than a team who
isn't using such a system and is simply running the engine as efficiently as possible.
Beyond that, I've got no idea how F1 EFI systems work but I thought one of the fundamental principles of EFI was that you attempt to keep the pressure constant within the rails to ensure maximum accuracy of injectors and, as a result, you are, basically, always just pumping a heap of fuel through the system with unused fuel being returned to the tank?
That being the case, even if a "minimum limit" was set, all teams would have to do would be to ensure that their system never pumped
less than the minimum amount through the FFM and then they tweak the return-leg of the system to allow any accumulator to be filled with the remainder going back to the tank.
Personally, I'd say what the FIA
should have required was that a calibrated orifice plate gets fitted into the common fuel injection rail, as close to the engine as possible, in conjunction with a suitable pressure-relief valve which vents back to the tank.
That way, rather than simply
monitoring fuel flow, you can physically limit it.