Inerting system

An inerting system is a device that attempts to increase the safety of a fuel tank, ball mill, or other sealed or closed-in tank that contains highly flammable material, by pumping nitrogen, steam, carbon dioxide, or some other inert gas or vapor into its air space in order to displace oxygen. The effect of these systems is either to eliminate the oxygen completely, or to reduce it to a negligible level. Without sufficient oxygen in the tank, the fuel cannot ignite, and explosions cannot occur.

Use in military aircraft

The first large-scale use of inerting systems for military aircraft fuel tanks was by the USSR in WWII. Mass produced LA-5 and LA-7 fighter aircraft by the Lavochkin design group incorporated an ingenious device to flood the main body fuel tank, mounted dangerously in front of the cockpit, with a huge volume of exhaust gas channeled through a plenum chamber, inerting it in combat. This device was hailed by pilots such as the Lavochkin ace, Kozhedub, and seems to have worked well. A more extensive system was used on the famous and numerous Petlyakov PE-2 attack bomber, a twin-engined aircraft, which utilized CO₂, again from the engine exhaust gases, that vented the tanks as fuel was consumed, eliminating the explosive atmosphere. Inerting systems have been used in US military aircraft starting with a 1950 version of the United States' B-47 bomber jet, which sublimated dry ice to produce gaseous carbon dioxide and pump it into the fuel tanks whenever the fuel pumps were active or whenever in-flight refueling was in process. It was developed by Charles Kimmel, an engineer who spent nearly 50 years in the aerospace industry. This system was implemented largely over concern over static electricity discharges during in-flight refueling, and over fires that might start during aerial combat.

During the Vietnam War, it became painfully apparent that fuel tank inerting ought to be a requirement for military jets, as thousands of aircraft were lost due to enemy ground fire; analysis indicated that fuel system fire and explosion was the major cause of aircraft loss from enemy gun and artillery fire.ref|f16halonfoot

Military inerting systems have used nitrogen gas (on experimental versions of the F-86 and F-100), liquid nitrogen (on the C-5A and XB-70), and halon gas (on the F-16 and F-117). The inerting system on the F-22 Raptor pumps the air used to pressurize the fuel tank through a filter which extracts oxygen from the air. In addition to the active inerting system that displaces oxygen, the fuel tanks of some aircraft, like the F-15, are filled with a special foam that adds weight but reduces flammability. The goal is to reduce oxygen content of the air in the tank to below 9%, down from the normal atmospheric oxygen content of 21%.

Inerting systems for most military aircraft are activated with a switch or button. Standard operating procedure is to activate the inerting system only when flying in a combat zone, as most inerting systems only have enough inert gas for about 30 minutes of use. In addition, the inerting systems of some aircraft use halon gas, which is an ozone depletion agent, so use is discouraged unless actually in combat.

Use in commercial aircraft

Kimmel first pitched an inerting system to passenger airlines in the early 1960s. His proposed system for passenger aircraft would have used nitrogen. However, the Federal Aviation Administration refused to consider Kimmel's system after the airlines complained it was impractical. Indeed, early versions of Kimmel's system weighed 2,000 pounds--which would have probably made an aircraft too heavy to fly with passengers on it. However, the FAA did almost no research into making fuel tanks inert for 40 years, even in the face of several catastrophic fuel tank explosions. Instead, the FAA focused on keeping ignition sources out of the fuel tanks.

The FAA did not even consider lightweight inerting systems for commercial jets until the 1996 crash of TWA Flight 800. The crash was blamed on an explosion in the center wing fuel tank of the Boeing 747 used in the flight. This tank is normally used only on very long flights, and only a small amount of fuel was in the tank at the time. A small amount of fuel in a tank is more dangerous than a large amount, since fuel has a higher specific heat capacity, and is slower to heat up than an air mixture. Investigators concluded there was an electrical fault inside the fuel tank which caused a spark, which set off an explosion. This may have been exacerbated by high temperatures caused by the aircraft's air conditioning unit. The National Transportation Safety Board's final report on the crash was highly critical of the FAA and aviation industry's emphasis on eliminating ignition sources from the outside, while ignoring the flammable vapors inside the fuel tanks. If there had been no oxygen in the tank, the NTSB argued, the crash may not have occurred.

After the Flight 800 crash, a 2001 report by an FAA committee stated that U.S. airlines would have to spend US$35 billion to retrofit their existing aircraft fleets with inerting systems that might prevent future such explosions. However, another FAA group created a comparatively inexpensive, simplified nitrogen-based inerting system prototype that did not require an air compressor, and weighed from 100 to 250 pounds (45 to 113 kg), utilizing air from the engines to displace some oxygen with nitrogen, and costing from US$140,000 to US$225,000, depending on fuel tank capacity. Boeing commenced testing a derivative system of their own, performing successful test flights in 2003 with several 747 aircraft.

The new, simplified inerting system was originally suggested to the FAA through public comment. It uses a hollow fiber membrane material that separates nitrogen-enriched air from oxygen. [Airlines Ordered ro Cut Fuel Tank Explosion Risk, Wall Street Journal, July 17, 2008, p.B5] This technology had already been in use for generating oxygen-enriched air for medical purposes.

Unlike the inerting systems on military aircraft, this inerting system would run continuously to reduce fuel vapor flammability whenever the aircraft's engines are running; and its goal is to reduce oxygen content within the fuel tank to 12%, lower than normal atmospheric oxygen content of 21%, but higher than that of inerted military aircraft fuel tanks, which is a target of 9% oxygen. This is accomplished by ventilating the fuel vapor out of the tank and into the atmosphere.

After what it said was seven years of investigation, the FAA proposed a rule in November 2005, in response to an NTSB recommendation, which would require airlines to "reduce the flammability levels of fuel tank vapors on the ground and in the air". This was a shift from the previous 40 years of policy in which the FAA focused only on reducing possible sources of ignition of fuel tank vapors.

In response to the pending FAA rule, new technologies have been developed to provide fuel tank inerting. This includes a closed loop, environmentally friendly system called GOBIGGS created by Phyre Technologies. It is a catalytically based system that converts the fuel vapor and oxygen to inert gas and water. The system can reduce the oxygen level down to well below 1.0%. Additionally, by reducing the fuel vapor as well, the system adds extra protection from fuel tank explosions.

Although the airlines could technically comply with this rule in a number of ways, the rule was aimed at getting the new inerting systems installed on large aircraft. The proposed rule would affect all future large fixed-wing aircraft designs, and require a retrofit of more than 3,200 Airbus and Boeing aircraft with center wing fuel tanks, over nine years. The FAA had initially planned to also order installation on cargo aircraft, but this was removed from the order by the Bush administration. Additionally, regional jets and smaller commuter planes would not be subject to the rule, because the FAA does not consider them at high risk for a fuel-tank explosion. [Airlines Ordered ro Cut Fuel Tank Explosion Risk, Wall Street Journal, July 17, 2008, p.B5]

The FAA estimated the cost of the program at US$808 million over the next 49 years, including US$313 million to retrofit the existing fleet. It compared this cost to an estimated US$1.2 billion "cost to society" from a large airliner exploding in mid-air. The proposed rule comes at a time when nearly half of the U.S. airlines' capacity is on carriers that are in bankruptcy.ref|CNNbankruptcyfoot

The order affects aircraft whose air conditioning units have a possibility of heating up the center wing fuel tank. Some Airbus A320 and Boeing 747 aircraft are slated for "early action". Regarding new aircraft designs, the Airbus A380 does not have a center wing fuel tank and is therefore exempt, and the Boeing 787 has a fuel tank safety system that already complies with the proposed rule.ref|Reuters2005foot

The FAA has stated that there have been four fuel tank explosions in the previous 16 years -- two on the ground, and two in the air -- and that based on this statistic and on the FAA's estimate that one such explosion would happen every 60 million hours of flight time, about 9 such explosions will probably occur in the next 50 years. The inerting systems will probably prevent 8 of those 9 probable explosions, the FAA said.

Before the inerting system rule was proposed, Boeing stated that it would install its own inerting system on airliners it manufactures beginning in 2005. Airbus had argued that its planes' electrical wiring made the inerting system an unnecessary expense.ref_label|WSJ2005foot|2|b

As of July 7, 2008 the rule is still pending. July 17, 2008 will mark the 12th anniversary of TWA 800 without a requirement for fuel tank inerting.

ee also

*Dilution (equation)
*Flight 800

References

# cite web | title=The F-16 Halon Tank Inerting System | url=http://pdf.aiaa.org/preview/1981/PV1981_1638.pdf|accessmonthday=November 17 |accessyear=2005
# cite web | title=US proposes fuel safety rule for commercial planes | url=http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=governmentFilingsNews&storyID=URI:urn:newsml:reuters.com:20051114:MTFH44489_2005-11-14_23-19-12_N14432707:1 | accessmonthday=November 16 |accessyear=2005
# cite web | title=Delta and Northwest airlines both file for bankruptcy | url=http://money.cnn.com/2005/09/14/news/fortune500/bankruptcy_airlines/ | accessmonthday=November 17 | accessyear=2005
#"FAA to Order Long-Delayed Fixes To Cut Airliner Fuel-Tank Danger", "Wall Street Journal", November 15, 2005, page D5
#cite web | title=FAA Proposes Rule to Reduce Fuel Tank Explosion Risk (FAA press release)| url=http://www.faa.gov/news/press_releases/news_story.cfm?newsId=5785 | accessdaymonth=18 January |accessyear=2007
#cite web | title=FAA proposed flammability rule (PDF file) | url=http://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/rulemaking/historical_documents/2005/oct_dec/media/flammability_rule.pdf | accessmonthday=November 18 | accessyear=2005