PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - BA038 (B777) Thread
View Single Post
Old 14th Aug 2009, 20:03
  #2561 (permalink)  
Swedish Steve
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Stockholm Sweden
Age: 74
Posts: 569
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
We are barking up the wrong tree here.
The water in aircraft fuel tanks is not introduced by refuelling. It is normal when refuelling to take a sample from the bowser/dispenser. The apparatus to do this is built into the truck. This sample is then tested for density and water. This is normal, and done all the time by refuellers. A small sample of the supplied fuel is drawn through a Shell water detector capsule by a syringe. In all my years refuelling aircraft, I have never seen any water detected.

The water in fuel tanks comes from the air in the tank. If the empty tank is full of humid air, the water will settle into the fuel on refuelling. Some aircraft have complicated systems to remove this water. The best I have seen was on the Tristar. A system of jet pumps and small bore pipes sucked up all the water from the bottom corners of the tanks and sent it into the engine feed system. I spent many happy hours cleaning these jet pumps as they became clogged, usually with bits of sealant from the tanks. Even the B777 has a much simpler system of water scavenge to accomplish this. Obviously on this occasion it didn't work.
Also the tanks are sumped by technicians about every day by draining liquid from the bottom sumps of the tanks. This is difficult in the winter as the water will freeze, but is done when practical. I have done this many times, and rarely seen more than a few cc's of water in the drain bottle.
Swedish Steve is offline