Aircraft fuel contamination has long been a serious issue, with safety repercussions that reach across the aviation industry, including airports, operators, flight crews and passengers.
In 2023, the FAA issued AC 20-105C, which examined several root causes of engine power-loss incidents, including fuel contamination, improper fueling and maintenance oversights. Also, NBAA has published several resources to assist in the fight against contaminated fuel and fuel-related incidents.
“These incidents occur against the backdrop of contaminated or off-spec fuel as a result of water-laden fuel, microbial growth, cross-contamination from DEF (Diesel Exhaust Fluid) and SAP (Super Absorbent Polymer) from refuelers to aging filter separators,” said Ed English, vice president and technical director at NBAA member Fuel Quality Services.
The risk of water contamination increases when aviation maintenance technicians (AMTs) and flight crews deviate from preflight checklists and manufacturer schedules for sumping the fuel tanks before flight and taking fuel samples on a regular basis. Whether operators use their own fuel farms or FBOs, experts strongly recommend ensuring there are check-and-balance procedures to preclude fuel contamination.
“Today there are rigorous standards for how fuel is produced and handled, but there has never been a way to verify its quality at the point it enters the aircraft.”
Britton “Britt" Coulson President and COO, Coulson Aviation
Verifying Fuel Quality During Fueling
Coulson Aviation, a global company with operations in Australia, Canada, South America and the U.S., is developing a solution that could help turn the tide against dirty fuel.
“Today there are rigorous standards for how fuel is produced and handled, but there has never been a way to verify its quality at the point it enters the aircraft. SafeFuel closes that final safety gap,” said Coulson President and COO Britton “Britt” Coulson.
SafeFuel, a patented onboard fuel quality assurance and protection system, is designed to continuously monitor and analyze fuel quality during refueling, using multiple sensors that detect water, particulate and chemical anomalies in real time. If degradation is detected, the system immediately alerts the crew and automatically stops fueling operations before the compromised fuel ever reaches the aircraft’s fuel tanks.
Preventing Contamination at Inception
Contaminated or degraded fuel is a major contributor to fuel nozzle coking, probe fouling and premature component wear in turbine engines.
By preventing contaminated and poor-quality fuel from entering the aircraft at inception, and continuously recording fuel quality data over time, SafeFuel helps operators protect engine health and reduce unscheduled maintenance events.
Over time, the data can reveal patterns in fuel quality exposure that enable operators to anticipate maintenance needs before performance degradation becomes an operational issue.
When SafeFuel detects a fuel quality issue, it automatically halts fueling and alerts the crew immediately, allowing the problem to be addressed before the aircraft departs, Coulson said. This preventative step is beneficial as opposed to discovering contamination after an engine anomaly or maintenance inspection. This action prevents a ripple effect of failures that can ground an aircraft, trigger expensive inspections or require part replacement.
“Fuel is the single point of failure shared by every aircraft, regardless of make or model,” Coulson said. “After experiencing a fuel-related engine flameout during a long-range oceanic flight, it became clear to us that aviation had no way to verify the fuel entering the aircraft. SafeFuel was built to change that.”
Review NBAA resources on fuel contamination at nbaa.org/contamination.
International Business Aviation Council Ltd.