UNIVERSITY OF SALENTO SCHOOL OF INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING

DEPT. OF ENGINEERING FOR INNOVATION Lecce-Brindisi (Italy)

MASTER OF SCIENCE IN AEROSPACE ENGINEERING

PROPULSION AND COMBUSTION
FUEL SYSTEM FUNCTIONS
Chap. 4 AIRCRAFT FUEL SYSTEMS

LECTURE NOTES AVAILABLE ON

http://www.ingegneriaindustriale.unisalento.it/scheda_docente/-/people/antonio.ficarella/materiale

Prof. Eng. Antonio Ficarella

University of Salento - antonio.ficarella@unisalento.it
REVIEW R00

DATE 2012/02/01
FILE propAFuelSfuelfunctionsR01.odp
RESPONSIBLE Antonio Ficarella
antonio.ficarella@unisalento.it
DISTRIBUTION LIST
REPLACE
MODIFICATIONS
REPLACED BY 1/42
UNIVERSITY OF SALENTO DEPT. OF ENGINEERING FOR INNOVATION Lecce-Brindisi (Italy) 2/42

FUEL SYSTEM FUNCTIONS

fuel transfer, engine feed, fuel measurement, fuel management, fuel

jettison
 UNIVERSITY OF SALENTO DEPT. OF ENGINEERING FOR INNOVATION Lecce-Brindisi (Italy) 3/42

REFUELING AND DEFUELING

airport based ground refueling system Hydrant

refueling prior to almost every flight
time to refuel critical
backup gravity refueling
PRESSURE REFUELING
quick aircraft turn-around time
accurate load that matches upcoming flight extra weight of
unneeded fuel
protection against overboard spillage
protection against over-pressurizing
compatible through-out the world
compliance with CG limits residual fuel from previous flight
 UNIVERSITY OF SALENTO DEPT. OF ENGINEERING FOR INNOVATION Lecce-Brindisi (Italy) 4/42

ground fueling station

D-I nozzle
 UNIVERSITY OF SALENTO DEPT. OF ENGINEERING FOR INNOVATION Lecce-Brindisi (Italy) 5/42

SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE CONSIDERATIONS

fuel entry points high level sensors

balance tube
 UNIVERSITY OF SALENTO DEPT. OF ENGINEERING FOR INNOVATION Lecce-Brindisi (Italy) 6/42

refuel completely passive in flight

refuel system combined with in-flight fuel transfer system
 UNIVERSITY OF SALENTO DEPT. OF ENGINEERING FOR INNOVATION Lecce-Brindisi (Italy) 7/42

FAILURE MODES
shut-off valve
special venting configurations to prevent over-pressurization
pre-check
shutoff flow prior to reaching the selected fuel quantity
REFUELING SYSTEM DESIGN
refuel/defuel requirements
derived from top level aircraft configuration and operational
requirements
use of electrical or fluid-mechanical equipement
 UNIVERSITY OF SALENTO DEPT. OF ENGINEERING FOR INNOVATION Lecce-Brindisi (Italy) 8/42

DEFUELING

maintenance
over-fueling in error
following an accident
refuel/defuel point to allow access (wheel-up landing)
pressure or suction defuel
defuel flow shutoff
 UNIVERSITY OF SALENTO DEPT. OF ENGINEERING FOR INNOVATION Lecce-Brindisi (Italy) 9/42

ENGINE AND APU FEED

APU
electrical power when aircraft on the ground
additional electrical power in flight (engine-driven generator
inoperative)
air conditioning on the ground
air turbine starter
APU start
fuel pump
FEED TANK AND ENGINE LOCATION
each engine has its dedicated feed tank
aircraft with rear-mounted engines
long feed lines
large variations in fuel pressure during aircraft pitch
fuel pressure at engine interface above the vapor pressure
UNIVERSITY OF SALENTO DEPT. OF ENGINEERING FOR INNOVATION Lecce-Brindisi (Italy) 10/42

FEED PUMPING SYSTEMS

boost pumps
motor driven pumps
ejector pumps (jet pumps)
UNIVERSITY OF SALENTO DEPT. OF ENGINEERING FOR INNOVATION Lecce-Brindisi (Italy) 11/42

high volume flow, low pressure, high reliability

mounted on the lower boundary of the feed tank - easy removal without
drain the tank
spar-mounted pumps performance penalties
ability to operate with air or vapor at inlet or no inlet fuel head
rotor failure condition motor winding over-temperature
UNIVERSITY OF SALENTO DEPT. OF ENGINEERING FOR INNOVATION Lecce-Brindisi (Italy) 12/42

fresh kerosene can contain 14% of air by volume at sea-level

aircraft climb air bubbles-out
operating condition approaching fuel vapor pressure
UNIVERSITY OF SALENTO DEPT. OF ENGINEERING FOR INNOVATION Lecce-Brindisi (Italy) 13/42

ejector pumps smaller aircraft

no moving parts
high-pressure motive flow source from the engine separate motor-
driven pump for starting
dedicated pump on engine gearbox
outlet on fuel metering
low efficiency (30%)
UNIVERSITY OF SALENTO DEPT. OF ENGINEERING FOR INNOVATION Lecce-Brindisi (Italy) 14/42
UNIVERSITY OF SALENTO DEPT. OF ENGINEERING FOR INNOVATION Lecce-Brindisi (Italy) 15/42

FEED TANK SCAVENGING

scavenge pumps to suck up fuel from remote corners
scavenge ejectors
water contamination can be significant time between flight
insufficient for water to settle out
scavenge pump: break down water into small droplets the water can
be pumped to engine
water droplets become frozen fuel filters blockage
NEGATIVE G CONSIDERATIONS
fuel will migrate toward the upper surface
pump capable of separating-out air at inlet
collector cell kept full and slight pressurized
UNIVERSITY OF SALENTO DEPT. OF ENGINEERING FOR INNOVATION Lecce-Brindisi (Italy) 16/42

CROSS-FEED
cross-feed valve
water collection ice formation
UNIVERSITY OF SALENTO DEPT. OF ENGINEERING FOR INNOVATION Lecce-Brindisi (Italy) 17/42

INTEGRATED FEED SYSTEM SOLUTIONS

 UNIVERSITY OF SALENTO DEPT. OF ENGINEERING FOR INNOVATION Lecce-Brindisi (Italy) 18/42

FEED SYSTEM DESIGN

critical function
HOT FUEL OPERATION
hot fuel climb
fuel type fuel vapor pressure
DESIGN REQUIREMENTS
keep fuel velocity below 10 ft/s
feed lines smooth
thermal relief excessive pressure if all valves closed trapping fuel
air release valve to separate air from fuel failure
UNIVERSITY OF SALENTO DEPT. OF ENGINEERING FOR INNOVATION Lecce-Brindisi (Italy) 19/42

FUEL TRANSFER

fuel consumed from various tanks with predetermined schedule (fuel burn
sequence)
CG
wing load
tank quantities
control
crew
automated management
FUEL BURN SCHEDULING
twin engine with two tanks
cross-feed in event of an engine failure + lateral balance
UNIVERSITY OF SALENTO DEPT. OF ENGINEERING FOR INNOVATION Lecce-Brindisi (Italy) 20/42

TRANSFER SYSTEM ARCHITECTURAL

various failure mode
two commonly used architecture
override transfer system
center tank transfer pump that produce higher feed line pressure
energy consumption penalty
quantity sequenced transfer system
transfer when feed tank quantity below predetermined value
(90%)
more wear and tear
UNIVERSITY OF SALENTO DEPT. OF ENGINEERING FOR INNOVATION Lecce-Brindisi (Italy) 21/42

aircraft with variable frequency power

pump over-sized to meet requirements at the lowest frequency
excess high-pressure flow capacity for ejector pumps
WING LOAD ALLEVIATION
aluminum wing structure - stress cycling
outboard wing tank kept full reducing bending
fuel inboard on the ground
carbon fiber composite wing structure
protection from electro-magnetic phenomena
thermal management
fuel heat sink
 UNIVERSITY OF SALENTO DEPT. OF ENGINEERING FOR INNOVATION Lecce-Brindisi (Italy) 22/42

SYSTEM DESIGN REQUIREMENTS

motor-operated valve
solenoid-operated valve
accommodation of failures
fuel will not be trapped
redundancy of function
back-up gravity transfer
valves fail to a preferred position
 UNIVERSITY OF SALENTO DEPT. OF ENGINEERING FOR INNOVATION Lecce-Brindisi (Italy) 23/42

FUEL JETTISON

Maximum Take-Off Weight (MTOW)

Maximum Landing Weight (MLW)
emergency situation after take-off need for a soon-as-possible landing
(30-45 min)
UNIVERSITY OF SALENTO DEPT. OF ENGINEERING FOR INNOVATION Lecce-Brindisi (Italy) 24/42

minimize weight, cost, maintainability

utilize existing equipment
system integrity that must be maintained during jettison
JETTISON SYSTEM EXAMPLE
allow jettison to proceed while engine feed supported
crew workload kept to a minimum to focus to the initial emergency
 UNIVERSITY OF SALENTO DEPT. OF ENGINEERING FOR INNOVATION Lecce-Brindisi (Italy) 25/42

inadvertent jettison can occur only with a probability equivalent to

catastrophic failure (10-9 per flight hour)
failure of jettison shut-off at the required fuel quantity (locate jettison
pumps some distance above tank bottom)
vented fuel cannot cause secondary problems
rear mounted engines
lateral balance
 UNIVERSITY OF SALENTO DEPT. OF ENGINEERING FOR INNOVATION Lecce-Brindisi (Italy) 26/42

FUEL QUANTITY GAUGING

measure the fuel content in all tanks

information to both the flight deck and the refuel panel
mass quantity stored energy
variation in fuel properties
stratification (warm fuel on cold residual fuel)
variation in fuel surface due to maneuvers
tank distortion
unusable un-gaugeable fuel
integrity reasons volumetric information independent of the primary
system
high level sensing overfilling
capacitance sensor
pair of concentric tubes permittivity difference
 UNIVERSITY OF SALENTO DEPT. OF ENGINEERING FOR INNOVATION Lecce-Brindisi (Italy) 27/42

probe compensation for variation in fuel permittivity

densitometers volume information into mass
temperature sensors
Fuel Properties Measurement Units (FPMU)
numbers and mounting locations of probes
back-up system
dissimilar technology to offset common mode failure
fuel on-board reconciled by fuel consume by engines
sensing system intrinsically safe discharge of electrical energy
UNIVERSITY OF SALENTO DEPT. OF ENGINEERING FOR INNOVATION Lecce-Brindisi (Italy) 28/42

ARCHITECTURAL CONSIDERATIONS

availability integrity accuracy

DUAL CHANNEL GAUGING ARCHITECTURE
UNIVERSITY OF SALENTO DEPT. OF ENGINEERING FOR INNOVATION Lecce-Brindisi (Italy) 29/42

data concentrators sensor wiring

gauging computers the other act as a standby
manual or automatic changeover
BRICK WALL
faults associated to one tank cannot propagate
DUAL-DUAL CHANNEL
LROPS Long Range OPerationS catastrophic erroneous indications
compare processors outputs
single processor 10-5 per our
dual channel 10-7 per our
dual channel with dissimilar hardware and software 10 -9 per our
synchronized microprocessors
UNIVERSITY OF SALENTO DEPT. OF ENGINEERING FOR INNOVATION Lecce-Brindisi (Italy) 30/42
UNIVERSITY OF SALENTO DEPT. OF ENGINEERING FOR INNOVATION Lecce-Brindisi (Italy) 31/42
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FUEL LOAD PLANNING

critical on long-range
weather/wind forecasting
5% margin for inaccuracy
additional fuel to allow diversion to alternate airfield
additional fuel to allow 30 min flying after reaching the alternate airfield
UNIVERSITY OF SALENTO DEPT. OF ENGINEERING FOR INNOVATION Lecce-Brindisi (Italy) 33/42

LEAK DETECTION

accuracy of total fuel on board

fuel flow-meters on each engine
flow-meter inaccuracy
gauging inaccuracy
UNIVERSITY OF SALENTO DEPT. OF ENGINEERING FOR INNOVATION Lecce-Brindisi (Italy) 34/42

FUEL MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL

interface with overall aircraft

automatic to minimize crew workload
 UNIVERSITY OF SALENTO DEPT. OF ENGINEERING FOR INNOVATION Lecce-Brindisi (Italy) 35/42

FMS flight management system overall flight plan

FWC flight warning computer
DMC display management computer MFDs multifunction dysplays
OHP overhead fuel panel fuel quantity information switches to select
pumps/valves in event of failure
INS inertial navigation system
ENG1 ENG2 engine master switches
WOW weight-on-wheel - advices aircraft is on ground
electrical power management
loss of electrical power
auxiliary back-up DC pump
 UNIVERSITY OF SALENTO DEPT. OF ENGINEERING FOR INNOVATION Lecce-Brindisi (Italy) 36/42

REFUEL DISTRIBUTION

trim tank well aft of CG

lateral balance
 UNIVERSITY OF SALENTO DEPT. OF ENGINEERING FOR INNOVATION Lecce-Brindisi (Italy) 37/42

AUTO-REFUEL ACCURACY

refueling pressure can vary significantly

valve closure rate fuel overshoot
latency in gauging information
error between the nominal and the achieved upload
pre-determined limit auto-fuel abort manual refuel
management software shut-off anticipation
UNIVERSITY OF SALENTO DEPT. OF ENGINEERING FOR INNOVATION Lecce-Brindisi (Italy) 38/42

IN-FLIGHT FUEL MANAGEMENT

BOEING - crew is responsible for correcting lateral imbalance

AIRBUS active control of CG
CONTROL OF FUEL BURNING SEQUENCING
 UNIVERSITY OF SALENTO DEPT. OF ENGINEERING FOR INNOVATION Lecce-Brindisi (Italy) 39/42

ACTIVE LONGITUDINAL CG CONTROL

to minimize trim drag

CG control
significant in
terms of both
acquisition and
operational cost
trim tank
longitudinal stabilizer
UNIVERSITY OF SALENTO DEPT. OF ENGINEERING FOR INNOVATION Lecce-Brindisi (Italy) 40/42

FLIGHT DECK DISPLAYS

triplex redundancy - three

separate display computers
FOB fuel on board
 UNIVERSITY OF SALENTO DEPT. OF ENGINEERING FOR INNOVATION Lecce-Brindisi (Italy) 41/42

ANCILLARY SYSTEMS

thermal sink
hydraulic system
unsafe oil fuel temperatures
engine oil lubrication
UNIVERSITY OF SALENTO DEPT. OF ENGINEERING FOR INNOVATION Lecce-Brindisi (Italy) 42/42

spill fuel temperatures can become high

fuel may be recirculated into the tank
problems with the gauging
maintain tank fuel temperature above the freeze point