Ensuring the Quality of Aviation Fuel; New JIG Guidance on Microbial Contamination

At ECHA we are lucky enough to provide our specialist expertise and products across a wide diversity of industries for a wide variety of applications.

Microbial contamination and corrosion can cause operational and safety problems in the commercial and military aviation sector, aerospace, offshore oil and gas production, shipping operations, manufacturing, engineering to name a few.  It is interesting to reflect on how these different sectors approach the issue of microbial growth, how they assess the implications for the safety of their operations and how they implement measures to mitigate the risks.  The aviation industry is a case in point.

For over 15 years ECHA has been at the heart of a technical programme to highlight awareness and develop best practice for control of microbial growth in aircraft fuel tanks, led by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and involving major aircraft manufacturers, fuel suppliers and the world’s leading airlines.

Those of us who fly regularly can take comfort in the knowledge that there is no let-up in the drive to ensure we remain winners of the “bug war” inside aircraft fuel tanks.  Microbial contamination remains on agenda at all IATA Technical Fuel Group meetings including at next week’s Aviation Fuel Forum in Hanoi, Vietnam.  It is often stated that there are no lay-bys in the sky.  If things go wrong the consequences may be catastrophic.  It is not surprising then that the aviation industry takes fuel quality and safety very seriously indeed.

Consider that aviation fuel is the single operating component of a flight operation which has no redundancy.  If a pilot becomes incapacitated, there is a co-pilot to take over.  If an engine fails, the aircraft can still fly on remaining engines.  But if there is something wrong with the fuel?  There is no back up.

As more and more airports come into operation in increasingly diverse locations, it is critical that universal standards are adopted to ensure facilities handling and supplying fuel to aircraft are well operated and maintained.  This includes controlling the opportunities for microbial growth.  When freshly refined, aviation fuel is virtually sterile but as it passes through the supply chain, opportunities for microbial contamination and growth arise, particularly where facilities are prone to accumulation of dirt and water.  If left unchecked, the impact on fuel quality and aircraft operations can be critical.

Best handling practice is essential and ECHA is proud to have co-authored the recent Joint Inspection Group (JIG) Technical Information Document on Microbial Monitoring Strategies.  JIG Guidelines (JIG 1, 2 and 4) are endorsed by IATA and they are adopted by the majority of the world’s fuel suppliers and airports as standard.

The JIG Technical Information Document provides an excellent overview of the factors which lead to microbial growth in aviation fuel and supplements Energy Institute/JIG Standard 1530, “Quality assurance requirements for the manufacture, storage, and distribution of aviation fuels to airports”.  Most importantly it describes a risk based approach to condition monitoring for microbial contamination.

Needless to say ECHA’s MicrobMonitor2 test, a world leading standard (IP613/ASTM D7978) for microbial testing of fuel, is a recommend method for simple and reliable monitoring on-site, at terminals, pipeline operations, airports storage facilities and into-plane fuelling operations, and is backed up by an unrivalled expertise; leading the way in setting best industry practice so we can all fly safely.

For more information on JIG Technical Information Document see JIG Bulletin 83 at www.jigonline.com. For further technical guidance on this topic, you can download ECHA’s Technical Guidance Document EP119 here.