How much fuel can a passenger jet burn?

Question

Is it true that a passenger jet like the 747 burns around a gallon of fuel a second?
Would a 737 burn less fuel than a 747 each second it is cruising?

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

Yes about 1 gallon a second.

Howards initial figures are correct 63000 gal, 8000miles equates to about 8 gallons per mile. but the rest is wrong.

8gal/mile x 600miles/hour = 48gallons/hour divide that by 60, 80gallons per minute, divide that by 60 = 1.3gallons per sec.

This is with max weight . With less weight and shorter flights, they will need less fuel and the plane will get better fuel economy. So 1 gallon a second is accurate.

BTW a 747 APU burns about 2 gallons per minute.

Using Wiki figures 514mph, 3500mile range, and 6875gallon capacity uses about 1/4 of a gallon per sec. It's much smaller, less aerodynamic resistance, less weight and 2 engines,

Asker's Rating:

Asker's Comment:

thanks for this answer, i thought it was about that.

Answer 2

Fuel consumption depends on a lot of factors and you can't simply divide fuel capacity by advertised range as some have done to get fuel consumption.

The figures I found by searching online were around 6000 pounds per hour at cruise. Jet fuel weighs 6.84 pounds per gallon, so at 6000 pph it's burning 877 gallons per hour, which is only about 1/4 gallon per second. I've seen other numbers as high as 10,000 pph and I can't find a definitive source.

From what I've found, a 737 burns about half as much, but I didn't compare cruise speed, payload, or range so I can't say what you're giving up to get that efficiency.

Answer 3

A fully loaded 747 carries a maximum of 63,705 U.S. gal which is sufficient for an almost 8,000 nm mile range. That equals 8 gallons per mile or about 1 gallon every 8 seconds
737 carries 8,000 gallons to go about 3,000 nm. A little less than 3 gallons per mile. 1 gallon every 20 seconds.

Answer 4

i dont know how much a second but can only do 1 gallon per metre it travles

Answer 5

enough to make your car run for 40 years