After more than 13 years of planning, the new Sangster Airport Fuel Facility is now operational. The commissioning process started before the end of last year and the depot has been operational from the 17th February 2003.
The fuel depot is a joint investment by ExxonMobil Aviation, Texaco and JARS (a Jamaican company in which AirBP and local Petrojam are partners). It consists of three vertical above ground 300,000 US gallon steel tanks for Jet A-1 and one above ground 25,000 US gallon horizontal tank for Avgas. These storage tanks should provide sufficient capacity for the next 20 years of demand growth, double that of the last facility. The site layout has also been designed with space for two additional storage tanks should demand increase significantly above forecast. The safety of the site is ensured by a complete fire fighting system, including both electric and diesel powered pumps connected to a 250,000 US gallon firewater tank.
The terminal will primarily be fed by road tanker, and the facility includes two offloading positions with individual filtration equipment for bridger receipts, and one refueler loading position for the on-airport vehicles. However, the main method of fuel delivery on the airport will be via the hydrant system. For this purpose, the facility includes three 800 gallon per minute pumps and three filter/separators, all connected to the newly constructed hydrant system that is owned by the Airports Authority of Jamaica, AAJ.
ExxonMobil Aviation was responsible for the complete design and construction project and will also be the first operator of the Joint Fuel Depot. Project Management expertise came from the Area Operation Managers within the Central America and Caribbean regions, drawing on the wealth of experience and best practice from the global ExxonMobil Aviation organization.
As well as meeting both the demanding schedule and budget, the team was able to successfully complete this project of over 95,000 man-hours of work with no lost-time injuries or safety incidents. A main contributor towards reaching this milestone was the ExxonMobil Aviation behavior-based loss prevention safety system Alerta! The system was successfully implemented during construction, including even the difficult task of teaching it to some of local construction staff who cannot read or write.
An interesting design feature integrated into the facilities is the exclusive use of fixed horizontal filters, both micronic and filter/separators, instead of the more common vertical vessels. The horizontal vessels have the advantage of providing easier and safer access for filter inspections and maintenance, and not having to build inspection platforms also keeps the cost down.
The last phase of the project was to commission the Fuel Depot and Hydrant System. This involved flushing the pipelines, soak testing tanks and hydrant system, pressure testing the hydrant system, control valve calibration and verification, and the final certification process.
ExxonMobil Aviation is delighted to have completed the project and to operate this efficient new facility ensuring the highest levels of safety and product quality on behalf of all airline customers and suppliers using Sangster Airport.
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