Defense Logistics Agency Energy has partnered with the Air Force to expand its use of commercial-grade jet fuel for military aircraft in an effort to save millions of dollars in fuel costs.
As the largest consumer of jet fuel among the military services, the Air Force spent $7.2 billion on 2.7 billion gallons of fuel in 2010, according to the Air Force Petroleum Agency.
“The move away from military specification fuel, known as JP8, to commercial fuel, known as Jet A in the continental U.S., is going to provide huge dollar savings,” said Air Force Petroleum Agency Commander Air Force Col. Tom Redford. “The conversion is part of the Department of Defense’s efforts to maximize the use of commercial fuels. We can achieve significant price reductions because the fuel production ratio is dependent on demand.”
DoD’s fuel consumption varies from year to year in response to changes in mission and the tempo of operations. Most of DLA Energy’s bulk fuel purchases are for JP8 and ranged from 60 to 74 million barrels annually over the past decade, which is the equivalent of 165,000 to 200,000 barrels per day. The Air Force and the Army represent the primary consumers of JP8. The Navy consumes JP5, which is another type of aviation fuel that is less flammable allowing for safe storage on ships, according to the DLA Energy’s 2010 Fact Book.
By moving toward greater use of commercial fuels, DoD can take advantage of more competition and less handling costs, which mean a reduced price for jet fuel, Air Force Petroleum Agency Jet A Program Manager Air Force Master Sgt. Greg Carrow said. In addition, by implementing a more efficient and effective global supply support network for storage and distribution, DoD should see even greater savings, Carrow said.
“The Jet A conversion is about taking advantage of supply chain efficiencies and combining it with operational flexibility to create greater energy savings and security,” Carrow said. “It also compliments the DoD’s strategic alliance with the airlines by using alternative fuel and commercial Jet A blends.”
Increased Jet A fuel usage will allow more use of commercial pipelines, thus making it easier to resupply DLA bulk fuel terminals, which will reduce transportation and inventory storage costs, Richard Jaekel, DLA Energy Jet A program manager said.
Baseline studies performed by DLA and the Air Force Research Laboratory showed use of Jet A in transport aircraft depended not on technical considerations, but on logistics, cost and policy considerations.
“Although aircraft are cleared to fly on Jet A,” Redford explained “we must make sure nothing hampers the operational missions flown by the Air Force, Army or Navy since we share supply chains.
"One of the research projects dealt with the fuel freezing point differences between JP8 and Jet A. Testing B52s, B1s, F-15s and the KC-135, the Air Force Research Laboratory determined there would be little operational impact with the conversion to Jet A based on the 7 degree difference in the specification fuel freezing points. The fuel freezing point of JP8 is minus 47 degrees Celsius maximum, while Jet A fuel freezing point is minus 40 degrees Celsius maximum,” Redford said.
Jet A is the commercial fuel within the United States, while the commercial fuel in most locations outside the continental U.S. is Jet A1, which has the same specification fuel freezing point as JP8.
In order to meet military requirements, DLA ensures three additives: an anti-static additive, a fuel system icing inhibitor and a corrosion inhibitor/lubricity improver are added to the commercial Jet fuel, Jaekel added.
“This involves injecting the additives somewhere along the supply chain, which starts at the refinery and ends when the fuel is issued to an aircraft or other end user,” Jaekel said.
In November 2009, the Air Force began a pilot demonstration at four Air Force locations. Since then, it has expanded, and now a total of nine locations are issuing Jet A with additives. Over a two year period, more than 255 million gallons of Jet A have been purchased from Air Force locations, and another 234 million gallons was purchased from commercial airports. This means nearly half a billion gallons of Jet A have been purchased over a two year period without any known operational or maintenance impacts. In addition, two Air Force locations operating on commercial airports have been using Jet A with additives since 1995, again without impact.
In 2012, the Air Force plans to expand the use of commercial aviation fuel to an additional 14 bases within the continental U.S.
A complete cost benefit analysis has recently been completed. As a result, the Air Force Petroleum Agency plans to initiate a decision package to Air Force senior leaders early next year recommending conversion of its remaining locations in CONUS to Jet A. Long-term, the plan is to expand conversion to commercial specification product worldwide, Redford said.