Have our Airlines been Running on Kerosene as Aviation Fuel? Find out now!

Have our Airlines been Running on Kerosene as Aviation Fuel? Find out now!

Oh! It seems kerosene is not after all meant for only cooking as aeronautical engineers and pilots today effectively explained the on-going allegation that kerosene was being sold to airlines as aviation fuel, known as Jet A1 by oil marketers which are used to operate planes.

In fact, reports alleged that it might have contaminated some aircraft and might be one of the factors that led to the breakdown of Dana Air Flight 922 which crashed on June 3, 2012, killing 153 people on board.

But an aeronautical engineer told expert journalist yesterday that the allegation was unfounded because the difference between kerosene and Jet A1 is very minute and that the jet engine of an aircraft is built in such a way that kerosene could be used to power its engine for 10 per cent of its life span before an overhaul.

In order words, an aircraft jet engine that has a life span of 3,000 hours could be powered for 300 hours with kerosene and the engine would function effectively, noting that there is difference between using kerosene and contaminated fuel, which could be injurious to aircraft engines.

“Jet A1 is highly refined kerosene with very low sulphur, and the difference between kerosene and Jet A1 is that kerosene may have high level of sulphur as residue at the bottom of a stove tank, but that sulphur is reduced to the minimum in jet A1. Aircraft jet engine can also run on kerosene, so a pilot could use kerosene if it is difficult to get Jet A1. We used to call it bush flight when you operate in a remote place where you may not be able to get aviation fuel,” the engineer explained.

He also dismissed the allegation, saying since Nigeria has depended on imported fuel, it is not possible to import kerosene because modern refineries do not refine kerosene anymore; what they refine and sell as kerosene is Jet A1, “which is easily used for domestic cooking and there is nothing wrong doing so.

“Caution can only be raised at this time when the local refineries will start operating. Because these refineries are very old and still refine kerosene. The warning could be relevant when you say that kerosene should not be used as Jet A1. So what the federal government has been importing for years now is Jet A1; nowhere else in the world that kerosene is refined. So Jet A1 can be described as highly refined kerosene. Every jet engine allows you to use kerosene to run it 10 per cent of its life span before overhauling,” the engineer also said.

A pilot, who also owns an airline, stated that fuel product is subjected to a lot of checks before it is allowed into the tank of an aircraft.

“Every aircraft has test kit which is used to check the quality of fuel before it is put in the aircraft tank. Besides, the marketer who brought the fuel must sign it off, the engineer must ensure that the fuel is of standard quality and the pilot approves and supervises the fuelling of the aircraft. So if there is allegation that fuel is contaminated because of the storage facility or the dirty tanker that brought it to the airport, one can understand but it should be known that there is thin difference between kerosene and aviation fuel, and also, refineries in various countries of the world no more refine kerosene,” the pilot said.