Photo By 94th Airlift Wing | Defense Logistics Agency Energy Europe & Africa Quality Division Chief Lanny Collums...... read more read more
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MONROVIA, Liberia - Fuel capacity at the Monrovia medical unit supporting the effort to contain the Ebola virus in West Africa was increased Oct. 31 with help from Defense Logistics Agency Energy assistance.
The 55-gallon drums used at the site in Monrovia, Liberia, were replaced with a 5,000-gallon direct-feed system to eliminate the need to refill generators multiple times a day and increase overall fuel storage capacity to support Operation United Assistance, the Defense Department operation supporting the U.S. Agency for International Development-led effort.
“By hooking up this 5,000-gallon tank, we basically extended the refuel cycle of this mobile medical unit to roughly 20 days of supply of fuel. You go from having to resupply every three or four days to 20,” said Army Maj. Stefan Bandas, director of DLA Energy Europe & Africa’s Customer Operations Center.
“If the rains come and trucks can’t get through, previously, the medical facility might have run out of fuel with so few days of supply on hand. This new storage system allows the facility to have a delivery cycle of more than 20 days, building in enough flexibility to handle many different contingencies,” Bandas said.
DLA Energy Europe & Africa Operations Officer Navy Lt. Dale Lessner and Quality Division Chief Lanny Collums were on site to get the new system in place.
“When we got on the ground, the MMU was a high-priority mission,” Lessner said. “The first thing we asked was what kind of storage they had, and they didn’t have any.”
The 55-gallon drums were put in place to serve the immediate needs of the medical unit, and a local vendor was contracted to supply fuel for the drums, Lessner said.
“We set up a pretty unique contract for retail service,” he said. “We had a commercial truck going around to a bunch of different sites, not just the MMU, and filling up small units from small 55-gallon drums to 500-gallon tanks.”
The DLA Energy team found local vendors who fabricated tanks and worked with engineers in the Army to determine the right size for the 5,000-gallon storage tank. Lessner and Collums collaborated with the local workforce to share information related to fueling the medical units, such as tips for assuring the quality of fuel and the importance of keeping fittings tight to prevent spills.
| Date Taken: | 11.13.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 11.13.2014 10:43 |
| Story ID: | 147713 |
| Location: | MONROVIA, LR |
| Web Views: | 112 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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