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- Oct 14, 2017
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Having spent a good portion of my life moving fuel with airplanes these isnt much that surprises me anymore. However, I came across a situation the other day that caught me by surprise and I figured I would take a moment to pass it along.
Our supply barge had been delayed by a couple weeks and I needed to haul a couple thousand gallons of AvGas to tie us over until the barge arrives. I didnt need enough to break out the big iron, so I decided to simply fill the trusty Beech with drums and spend the day enjoying the aroma of high-octane gas.
I have an ample supply of drums on hand for just this purpose stored inside (unheated) to prevent contamination. Now, all these drums have been used multiple times for both Jet and Av, so when Av is the cargo of the day all the drums need to be visually inspected to confirm that any remaining product from the previous load was Av and not Jet. Depending on how good the dude was at pumping them out there may be a quart or two of product remaining. And some of the drums felt a little heavier than I would normally expect
To my surprise when I looked inside with a flashlight I found a quart or so of Av and a gallon or so of water! Not all the drums had water contamination, the ones that had residual Jet didnt have a drop of water, nor did the drums that were completely empty, just the ones that had residual Av. And not just one, it was every one, and along with the water was of course a good dose of rust. Now remember these werent drums sitting outside in the rain, they were stored inside a tightly closed storage unit.
More than once while standing on top a tanker unloading a load of gasoline I have seen drops of water running down the inside of the tanker and wondered why you only see this with gas and not diesel products, but this is the first time I have seen a large amount of water contamination in containers stored inside a building This time when I was done I took a moment to dump every last drop of Av from the drums before returning them to the storage unit.
Takes some of the mystery out of where the water drops in your sump come from and why keeping your tanks full is a good idea even when parked inside.
Jeff
Our supply barge had been delayed by a couple weeks and I needed to haul a couple thousand gallons of AvGas to tie us over until the barge arrives. I didnt need enough to break out the big iron, so I decided to simply fill the trusty Beech with drums and spend the day enjoying the aroma of high-octane gas.
I have an ample supply of drums on hand for just this purpose stored inside (unheated) to prevent contamination. Now, all these drums have been used multiple times for both Jet and Av, so when Av is the cargo of the day all the drums need to be visually inspected to confirm that any remaining product from the previous load was Av and not Jet. Depending on how good the dude was at pumping them out there may be a quart or two of product remaining. And some of the drums felt a little heavier than I would normally expect
To my surprise when I looked inside with a flashlight I found a quart or so of Av and a gallon or so of water! Not all the drums had water contamination, the ones that had residual Jet didnt have a drop of water, nor did the drums that were completely empty, just the ones that had residual Av. And not just one, it was every one, and along with the water was of course a good dose of rust. Now remember these werent drums sitting outside in the rain, they were stored inside a tightly closed storage unit.
More than once while standing on top a tanker unloading a load of gasoline I have seen drops of water running down the inside of the tanker and wondered why you only see this with gas and not diesel products, but this is the first time I have seen a large amount of water contamination in containers stored inside a building This time when I was done I took a moment to dump every last drop of Av from the drums before returning them to the storage unit.
Takes some of the mystery out of where the water drops in your sump come from and why keeping your tanks full is a good idea even when parked inside.
Jeff
