december2021january2022 - 35

PRODUCT PROFILE
Detecting and Mitigating Fuel Leaks
with Technology
Small, portable and quick, the Atmos Portable Tightness Monitor verifies the
integrity of airport hydrant systems in as little as 15 minutes.
By Walker Jaroch
W
ith lengthy and complex airport hydrant
systems, detecting fuel leaks and other
instabilities might seem like a daunting
dilemma. On top of that, an airport that
never sleeps doesn't necessarily have the ability to shut
down their fuel lines for inspection when planes are taking
off nearly every hour.
Dean Golba, head of aviation at Atmos International,
says a better way to approach the issue is by thinking in
terms of mitigation rather than prevention.
" We can't prevent leaks, and trying to prevent leaks is
pretty much impossible, but mitigating the effects of leaks
is the key, " Golba says. " Mitigation through regular testing
is one way of doing things. The United States Environmental
Protection Agency (US EPA) highlights this in the
sense that they change the minimum detectable leak sizes
based on how regularly you test. So, if you test annually,
it's going to be a certain size of leak that you must detect. If
you test biannually, then the size of leak slightly increases
and it allows you for a little bit more leeway. "
Founded in 1995, Atmos has been developing leak detection
technologies for use wherever pipelines are found.
" Oil, gas, chemical, water, aviation and mining industries,
anything that has a pipeline involved we can work
with it. We can detect leaks, simulate pipelines and apply
various technologies, " Golba says, adding that Atmos
technologies have been applied to more than 1,500 pipelines
globally in 60 different countries.
Challenges with Leak Detection
on Airport Hydrant Systems
Airport hydrant systems are unique among the other pipeline
systems that Atmos works with. Golba says that, for
example, a cross country pipeline leak detection system
works on the basic principle that what goes into the pipeline
must come out of the pipeline and this is always metered,
be it with a various number of inlets and outlets. Hydrant
systems, however, have many pit valves/refueling points,
and it would be very expensive to meter each and every one
of those pit valves in order to apply a flow balance-based
leak detection system.
" What's going in isn't typically measured by custody
transfer flow meters. How much fuel is then pumped into
an aircraft is metered, however this is done locally on a
hydrant dispenser or fuel cart, for the purpose of the aircraft
and is not useful in any way in terms of providing
leak detection. Those numbers are never really challenged
against each other in a way that could provide highly accurate
leak detection, " Golba says.
What that means is that commonly used technologies
across other industries can't be applied to aviation, resulting
in much more specific test-oriented products being
developed for use at airports.
Tightness Monitoring
Development by Atmos
" Over the years we've developed an advanced system that
specifically tests aviation hydrant systems by monitoring
the pressure under various conditions. And the way we
do that is to shut the hydrant system in. So, we lock the
pressure into the pipeline, and test over a period of time.
This was originally a 45-minute period, but we have now
been able to reduce that down to only 15 minutes, " Golba
DECEMBER 2021/JANUARY 2022 AviationPros.com 35
All photos courtesy of Atmos International
http://www.AviationPros.com
december2021january2022

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