Fuel contamination in Vegas

[waveflyer]

Apparently affecting all airlines

- lots of cancellations, each flight required to carry as much fuel in as possible, and any flight that can't carry enough in is in a planned fuel stop op outbound. Working around it as much as possible, but just another feather in a weird winter (now almost spring)

I know there are several accidents due to fuel contamination, and I know fuel sources are issues in charters and offline diverts- but really- I'm a line pilot- fuel is pretty squared away. A hub like Vegas though? With almost every airline having a presence there? Ive never seen this in my career- how common is this on the international side? And what usually is the contamination?

Last time this has been a pressing issue for me I was sumping piper tanks, concerned mostly about water

Educate a man if you have the tale to tell

 

[BILL LUMBERG]

Water is usually a reason but there are also tests for flash point and microbial activities like surfactants and sulfides which can sometimes cling to a pipelines wall. A terminal contamination is usually caused by a pipeline transport mishap such as transporting in a mixed use environment like marine terminals.

Jet fuels should be imported/exported via white oil lines reserved for middle distillates such as kerosene and gas oil. With multi-product pipelines, jet fuels are prone to higher contamination due to commingling of batches, free water and particulate matter.

Airport terminals should have dedicated lines for just jet fuel but depending on routing, some lines just have to be mixed.

I slept well at the Holiday Inn Express last night.

 

[waveflyer]

Wow bill-
That's some education man
Curious what happened- but man, would rather get back to normal ops for a month or so

 

[BILL LUMBERG]

No probs...

Delta owns a refinery now and that was all on our last recurrent cd...

:laugh:

They have to A) reverse the contaminated fuel back to an alternate storage facility for additional refinement (if that's able to be done) and/or make the fuel safe for release to the environment. B) scrub the storage tanks C) scrub the pipeline and all pig scrubber filters clean.

Takes time but not measured in weeks or months. More like days depending on the facility.

 

[FlyinGuy]

Bill,
Is that refinery thing working out yet?

 

[Pogue Mahone]

No probs...

Delta owns a refinery now and that was all on our last recurrent cd...

:laugh:

They have to A) reverse the contaminated fuel back to an alternate storage facility for additional refinement (if that's able to be done) and/or make the fuel safe for release to the environment. B) scrub the storage tanks C) scrub the pipeline and all pig scrubber filters clean.

Takes time but not measured in weeks or months. More like days depending on the facility.

I wonder if they they gave props to Anup Sera and Mott MacDonald in Dubai, U.A.E, the copyright holder in the source document from December 2009 volume of the Pipeline and Gas Journal

Sera, A., MacDonald, M. (2009). Jetfuel Pipelines and Storage Requirements, Special Operation, Maintenance Considerations. Pipeline & Gas Journal, 236(12). http://www.pipelineandgasjournal.com/jet-fuel-pipelines-and-storage-require-special-operation-maintenance-considerations

You should send that off to the schoolhouse so the interns don't get themselves in trouble with the boss for swipin' someone else's rocket surgery.

 

[BILL LUMBERG]

Really? You think that was on a recurrent CD? Seriously?

Good summary that page or maybe they should have credited it from the Chemical engineering book I had from back in the day sitting on my shelf circa 1975 which said most of the same.

 

[BILL LUMBERG]

Bill,
Is that refinery thing working out yet?

Who knows...

The profitability equation is buried next to the Coke recipe in Atown.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

:erm:

Really? You think that was on a recurrent CD? Seriously?

Yes...I really, truly, seriously think that it was on a recurrent CD.

:erm:

 

[Metrojet]

Apparently affecting all airlines

- lots of cancellations, each flight required to carry as much fuel in as possible, and any flight that can't carry enough in is in a planned fuel stop op outbound. Working around it as much as possible, but just another feather in a weird winter (now almost spring)

I know there are several accidents due to fuel contamination, and I know fuel sources are issues in charters and offline diverts- but really- I'm a line pilot- fuel is pretty squared away. A hub like Vegas though? With almost every airline having a presence there? Ive never seen this in my career- how common is this on the international side? And what usually is the contamination?

Last time this has been a pressing issue for me I was sumping piper tanks, concerned mostly about water

Educate a man if you have the tale to tell

Google Cathay Flight CX870
You don't want contaminated fuel for sure