Fuel at Heathrow

[vancouv]

Having just read an article which said it took 90 minutes to fill up a 747 for a trans-atlantic flight, it got me thinking - blimey, that's a lot of fuel!

I then wondered how Heathrow (and Gatwick as well for that matter) actually supplies its fuel for the large number of planes it deals with. I know it comes from underground tanks somehow, but does anyone know:

1) Exactly where are these tanks - are they under the airport itself, or are they off-airport somewhere and it is supplied by pipes?

2) How are the tanks supplied? If they're done by tanker there must be a constant convoy of them.

I would be interested in any info people have.

[knobbygb]

Firstly, this is probably better off in the questions forum where the guys who fly in there will see it.

The tanks are not underground (well, some aren't at least). You can see tanks belonging to the major oil companies to the west of LHR (near where the new termial 5 will be) - looks like a mini oil refinery. The fuel is piped under the apron to the a/c stands.

Not sure how it gets to the airport - MUST be by pipeline but I can understand the details/location being kept a bit secret for obvious reasons.

It always intriuged me - with storage tanks belonging to so many oil companies, how does a particular carrier select who they wish to buy fuel from, or is it all pooled?

[stiknruda]

The fuel at LHR used to by run by a consortium of oil companies who each used a common pipeline to supply the storage tanks at the west side of the airport.

There are underground pipes running the length and breadth of the country but obviously the LHR pipe just receives Jet A-1. Pipelines can be used for differing products!

The consortium was managed in turn by the oil companies.

Fuel to the aprons is delivered undergound to hydrants. Most bays at LHR have 2 hydrants and a hydrant dispenser vehicle connects to the hydrant then to the aeroplane. The fuel in the hydrant is pressurised so the vehicle has several functions - it filters the fuel, meters it and depressurises it.

Most airlines split their fuel contracts, eg: oil co1 gets 25%, oil co2 gets 50%, oil co3 gets 25%. Smaller airlines with fewer services may just elect to go with a single company.

Obviuosly the oil companies still need tankers (bowsers) for when an aeroplane is parked away from a hydrant or when they are required to de-fuel. De-fuelling was a real nightmare because of
potential contamination by cladisporom resinae (sp?) - a bug that thrives in Jet fuel! Quality control and contamination issues take up a lot of the refueller's time.

Each flight is contracted to a fuel company and the dispenser vehicle should generally be ready at the strand when the in-bound flight arrives.

I worked at LHR for an oil company for a year before going on other things...

Oh - last point I do recall fuelling an Air NZ 747-300 with over 117,000 litres. I used two dispensers one under each wing.

Hope that helps,

Stik

[AlanM]

We get pipeline inspections fairly regularly in the LCTR - running from the South and West towards Southampton and the South Coast me thinks, to the fuel farm on the west of the aerodrome. Normally a JetRanger flying at 500'agl or below.

There are a few lines that run out to the North and West as well.

[Ludwig]

Stik wow loads of info. Is the pipeline anything to do with the pluto line? I have a pluto line dump and facility near my house!

[Mariner9]

Further to Stik's excellent reply, I can reveal a little more of the origin of the Jet.

Gatwick, Heathrow, and Manchester are all connected to the UKOP (UK Oil Pipeline) system. This pumps Jet & other products produced from Esso Fawley, Texaco Pembroke, Total/Fina/Elf Milford Haven, Shell Stanlow,Lindsey & Conoco Immingham, Phillips Billingham, and BP Grangemouth refineries.

However the UK also imports a lot of Jet A-1 into BP's terminals at Isle of Grain & Hamble, Atlantic Power at Immingham, and Serco Avonmouth Terminals. These terminals also connect into UKOP.

There are also numerous smaller Jet storage terminals around the country, supplied by sea or rail. These generally supply regional airports by road tanker.

I spend about 30% of my time in work investigating seabourne contaminations of jet fuel- you'd be surprised what goes on out there!

[lunkenheimer]

PLUTO was the PipeLine Under The Ocean laid for/during the Normandy invasion to provide fuel to the Allied armies. I don't know if there is still a pipeline in operation under that name, but the wartime one was a temporary expedient and is not in operation.

[spekesoftly]

Further reading for any 'PLUTOcrats' (http://www.combinedops.com/pluto.htm) ;)

[Notso Fantastic]

JUST A REMINDER THESE DAYS OF SUICIDE BOMBERS, THIS IS A SECURITY ISSUE SO NO PRECISE DETAILS PLEASE!

Vancouv- it doesn't take that long to fill up for a transatlantic. for a B747-400 on a 7 hour flight, fuel required probably 70-80,000 kgs (about half capacity) and time to top up less than 60,000 kgs or so 25-30 minutes? Even full tanks 55 minutes or so.

[amanoffewwords]

I doubt very much that terrorists use PPrune to plan their actions...but I digress...speaking of airline fuel the BBC news online has a piece about how to run Jet A1 in your car....not! (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3048515.stm)

[Notso Fantastic]

I'd differ onthat! The 19 mass murderers were fairly well aviation trained 'western' people. Our two recent Israel suiciders bombers were well educated British raised, one of whom worked at Heathrow. To publicise the full details of fuel supplies at Heathrow on somebody's whimsical query on an open forum like this does not seem awfully sensible to me!

[amanoffewwords]

Still doesn't prove they used pprune as a reference (in fact the 9-11 terrorists trained in the US as far as I recall). Anyway, the fuel facilities at Heathrow aren't exactly covert are they? (I mean the holding tanks, gasometer style things). Doesn't take a genius to work out how it gets from the tanks to the aircraft. The current arrangements at LHR are probably safer than having a mega fleet ferrying stuff around all day long - like I seem to recall seeing at LIN no so long ago.

[A120]

Notso Fantastic makes a good point.

Terrorist attacks are well planned and we will probably never know whether pprune is ever used as a reference.

I thought the information given was sufficiently detailed without giving away any secrets.

It’s most unlikely that a terrorist has every logged onto this site, but how do we know?

[Point Seven]

AlanM

Alright matey. The first line you talk of is probably the correct one. The rest are mainly the gas pipelines in the ground. When any pipeline is laid, there are luminous aerial markers on poles laid down the route. These are annotated onto Ordnance survey maps so that when viewed from above, any leakage or fault will manifest itself as maybe bald patches of ground, or crop retardation.

Just for interest, the gas mains i used to work on were 42 inches and at a pressure of 100bar. Imagine the pressure in the Heathrow main!!

[AlanM]

Point Seven

You are a clever ******. I will go and have a look at the NSF for the task again. If I can be bothered that is.

Thinking about - I can't be bothered.

Mail me old boy.......

[Point Seven]

AlanM

Check your personal messages.

P7:ok: