Energy efficiency in agricultural tractors considering the engine and the transmission

Abstract

A general trend for a good use of energy encourages the use of machines with a better fuel economy. Energy losses in agricultural tractors take place mainly in the engine and secondarily in the transmission. In this research work some indexes which represent the relationship between fuel consumption and available energy in the tractors are developed, so that a classification depending on their fuel efficiency could be established. These indexes are obtained from official tests performed at test stations which follow the OECD codes. They take into account the efficiency of the engine and also of the transmission. As a final step, a method is proposed to classify agricultural tractors according to the index ckt that best represents their energy efficiency.