Photo By Master Sgt. Alexandre Montes | Staff Sgt. David Ramirez, 379th Expeditionary Logistic Readiness fuels laboratory,...... read more read more
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AL UDEID AIR BASE, Qatar - In order for a KC-135 to ‘fuel the fight’ against ISIL, they need fuel, right? Without the 379th Expeditionary Logistic Readiness fuels laboratory, aircrews, maintainers, firefighters, security forces and support agencies here are just pedestrians.
Aircraft, vehicles and equipment deployed to Al Udeid consume approximately eight million gallons of fuel each week. That massive amount of gas moving around keeps the Airmen deployed to the 379th ELRS fuels lab constantly moving in a 24 hour operation.
“The base fuels lab mainly focuses on pipeline receipt for about 20 hours a day,” said Staff Sgt. David Ramirez, 379th ELRS fuels technician. “We test the fuel for particles, flash points, its ‘fizzle’ and ‘C.U.’, which keeps conductivity and static down.”
The lab also keeps a regular schedule every 30 days to test specific filters in each pump house and to test the fleet of fuel trucks which deliver fuel to the flightline. Their job also impacts the petroleum used for everyday vehicles and generators on the installation.
“Without fuel, you can’t go anywhere. Our airmen work hard out on the flightline. They start their day on the flight line and get relieved on the flightline,” said Ramirez.
Ramirez tests for water, particles, off-colors and solid levels that could affect the performance of jet petroleum 8, unleaded fuels or diesel. He also mentioned that without proper clean fuel, the mission would be adversely impacted and operations would be far less efficient.
There is a very painstaking amount of detail that goes into just one sample. One sampling method seems simple to the naked eye, but is actually far more complex; pull a fuel sample then bake a small filter, weigh it, and stack the filters as fuel is poured through them. Next, the filters will be inspected, baked again, weighed then monitored for contamination. If one sample is deemed unsatisfactory, the flow of fuel is stopped until a solution has remedied the origin.
“If it a sample doesn’t pass, you run another sample to make sure it was not a fluke. If it fails again, then we stop the fuel and find out why it is contaminated and where it is coming from,” said Ramirez.
When the sun sets and the moon lights up the desert sand, operations do not stop. A fuels laboratory technician is a 24-7 job that keeps Al Udeid at the top of its ‘game’ to fuel the flights.
| Date Taken: | 08.19.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 08.21.2015 09:19 |
| Story ID: | 173849 |
| Location: | AL UDEID AIR BASE, QA |
| Web Views: | 70 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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