Supporting commercial and military airports operating fuel hydrant systems

Airports across the world operate hydrant systems to speed up the refuelling process and maximize uptime for the aircraft fleet. Atmos has developed a new technology to support commercial and military airports operating fuel hydrant systems.

Figure 1: The current process for pit valve integrity checks is labor intensive

The challenge

Failure of an aviation fuel hydrant pit valve can have significant operational and safety implications for both commercial and military airports, potentially impacting aircraft refuelling and incurring substantial financial costs.

It’s recommended in A4A’s specifications and the industry standards set by the Joint Inspection Group (JIG) and the Energy Institute (EI) that hydrant operators perform monthly integrity checks on  fuel hydrant pit valves to determine if they have a “hot valve”.

However, the manual process for pit valve integrity checks is intrusive, labor intensive, costly, requires heavy equipment and increases the risk of jet fuel leaking into the pit box (see Figure 1). Considering there can be up to 1,000 pit valves to inspect monthly in some airports, manual checks can be time consuming and disruptive to operations too.

Introducing Atmos Pit Sentry

Revolutionizing pit valve integrity testing with digital precision

Figure 2: Atmos Pit Sentry with UV cover (left) and attached to a fuel hydrant’s pit valve (right)

Atmos Pit Sentry (see Figure 2) is a new technology which digitizes the pit valve integrity testing process while saving time and streamlining operations.

Designed in collaboration with Cla-Val, Atmos Pit Sentry introduces a safe and cost efficient way to digitize pit valve integrity checks. By attaching directly to EI 1584 qualified Cla-Val pit valves, Atmos Pit Sentry provides automated monitoring and replaces the need to perform manual monthly pit valve integrity tests to determine if there is a “hot valve”. This saves operators’ time, streamlines airport operations and supports with industry compliant and sustainable airport operations.

Ongoing support from Atmos Pit Sentry’s subscription service ensures airport operations remain safe and efficient all year round, with automatic updates to ensure continuous software improvement.

Working with the understanding that hydrant operators across the world subscribe to standards set by the Joint Inspection Group (JIG) and Energy Institute (EI), Atmos Pit Sentry supports international aviation standards including EI 1560 and requirements from JIG2 to stay aligned with the needs of the industry.

The benefits

Atmos Pit Sentry provides the following outcomes to aviation fuel hydrant operations:

• A safe and cost efficient technology for digitizing pit valve integrity tests, improving safety and reducing manual monthly testing requirements
• Support minimizing sustainability and environmental obligations
• A collaborative innovation from Atmos and Cla-Val that delivers a smart pit valve testing solution that enhances hydrant system safety and reliability
• Subscription service for continuous monitoring, ongoing support, firmware updates and data insights through a cloud based platform
• Access to an aviation team with over 25 years’ experience supplying tightness monitoring systems for jet fuel pipelines and airport hydrant systems
• Access to industry professionals who are members of the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) Strategic Partnerships Program, meaning that we constantly stay up to date with the needs of the industry and continue to develop solutions in line with the market's needs

Discover Atmos Pit Sentry: https://www.atmosi.com/en/hardware/aviation/atmos-pit-sentry/?utm_source=PR&utm_medium=External_link&utm_campaign=Atmos+announces+the+launch+of+Atmos+Pit+Sentry&utm_id=2024&utm_content=Press+release