Antarctic pollution ?

[Liobian]

I've just viewed some YouTube video of C130s operating from the Antarctic bases. One showed pax boarding whilst the a/c sat with engines running, spewing vast amounts of condensation/contrail which blew around. Given that we should be preserving these lands, just how much Jet A1 could there be in that exhaust and would it settle out on the surface ?

[Intruder]

Modern jet engines are VERY efficient and run with significant excess air available. There is VERY little, if any, unburned fuel in the exhaust. The condensation is water, so maybe they add back to the ice pack...

[vapilot2004]

I read somewhere that is is too cold in Antarctica to shut them down for long.

[tartare]

Previous poster is correct.
At Amundsden-Scott polar station C130s do not power down in case engines cannot be restarted due to cold.
Believe it may be the same at Willys and Pegasus fields.

[DA-10mm]

good luck with a restart after shutdown.
there's a tree somewhere looking for your affection...

[catiamonkey]

It's a real concern for scientific experiments. Overall, the fuel burned at the station is insignificant compared to the rest of the world. Perhaps the bigger problem is the diesel generators that provide power for the base, those run 24/7.

There is a clean air sector for this reason, where science that relies on clean air is conducted. It's upwind from the station and aircraft overflights are prohibited. There's a similar dark sector too for light and radio, where astronomical experiments are conducted.

[D O Guerrero]

All you're seeing there is water - the engines will generally be throwing out the same amount of water wherever they are.
Contrary to public opinion, you can't normally see CO2 (it boils at -57degC). Reminds me of the picture published in the Telegraph not so long ago that showed a 747 in the cruise with 4 "trails of smoke and soot" coming from the engines as they put it.

[Liobian]

Thank you, folks, for all the positive replies. :ok:

[glhcarl]

I've just viewed some YouTube video of C130s operating from the Antarctic bases. One showed pax boarding whilst the a/c sat with engines running, spewing vast amounts of condensation/contrail which blew around. Given that we should be preserving these lands, just how much Jet A1 could there be in that exhaust and would it settle out on the surface ?

If they turned the engines off they my not be able to get them started again. I have a friend that was a Navy medic, they took an ambulance to Antartica. The ambulance did not have its engine turned off from the time it was unloaded from the C-141 until it was reloaded six months later. Is cold down there and thing have a tendency too freeze solid quickly.