Jet fuel storage

Maintain schedule of frequent removal of water bottoms from the jet fuel storage system. 

Operation FULL-UP, the objective of which was to destroy confidence in fuel supplied by the Soviet Bloc by indicating it is contaminated. The operation was to be accomplished by introducing a known biological agent into jet fuel storage facilities. This agent flourishes in jet fuel and grows until it consumes all the space inside the tank [136]. 

Of great importance when refining products such as jet fuels is emulsification of small quantities of water into the product. The water may enter the system because of storage tanks that breathe humid atmospheres or carry water bottoms, or by contamination or careless handling. Water that does get into the jet fuel storage system often is difficult to remove with settlers or coalescers when surfactants are present in the system. 

There is finally another type of jet fuel somewhat heavier and less volatile than TRO, which allows safe storage on aircraft carriers. This is the TR5 or JP5. Among these products, TRO or Jet Al have the most widespread acceptance because they are used for almost all the world s civil aviation fleet. The information that follows will concern essentially TRO, and very rarely TR4. 

The properties linked to storage and distribution do not directly affect the performance of engines and burners, but they are important in avoiding upstream incidents that could sometimes be very serious. We will examine in turn the problems specific to gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel and heavy fuel. 

For jet fuels, the elimination of free water using filters and coalescers by purging during storage, and the limit of 5 ppm dissolved water are sufficient to avoid incidents potentially attributable to water contamination formation of micro-crystals of ice at low temperature, increased risk of corrosion, growth of micro-organisms. 

The majority of refineries operated by petroleum companies in different parts of the world to make local products, such as gasoline and burner fuels, also produce jet fuels. Even a small refinery with simple equipment can make suitable jet fuel if it has access to the right cmde. However, the principal supply of both civil and military jet fuels is produced in large refineries. Many are located near major cities and airports and are frequentiy connected by pipeline directiy to the airport. Modem airports have extensive storage and handling faciUties operated by local authorities, petroleum companies or consortia, or the airlines themselves. 

In November 1990 a fire occurred at a flammable liquid tank farm supporting Denver s Stapleton international airport. Eight of the farm s twelve storage tanks contained jet fuel, totaling almost 4.2 million gallons. The fire burned for 55 hours, destroying seven tanks. 

OptiSorb Encapsulate is a homopolymer powder that is designed to absorb petroleum and other hydrocarbon-based materials. According to the vendor, OptiSorb Encapsulate can be used on hydrocarbons such as kerosene, gasoline, diesel fuel, crude oil, transformer oil, jet fuel, and other chemicals such as benzene and xylene. Aqualogy BioRemedics states that OptiSorb Encapsulate can be used to clean up hydrocarbon spills on waterways and on land. Other uses of OptiSorb Encapsulate include use in industrial factories, storage facilities, and refineries. 

To meet military supply and demand it often becomes necessary to maintain large supplies of jet fuels at various locations thruout the world. This fuel must be stable so it can be available for immediate use. While fuel can be kept relatively new in some areas by means of stock rotation, this may not be possible in others. This brings up the problem of stability in standing storage... 

The crude oil delivery system starts with relatively small-diameter gathering lines from individual producing wells to a main-line pump station, from where it is pumped through a larger transmission trunkline to a refinery or other destination. At the refinery, the cmde oil is separated into gasoline, jet fuel, kerosene, distillate fuel oil, etc, and the refined products are transported by products pipelines to markets, storage, shipping terminals, etc. In modem lines, all inputs and outputs are metered, monitored, and remotely controlled by supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) computer systems. 

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