IOC does its groundwork for Devanahalli airport

IOC does its groundwork for Devanahalli airport

Staff Reporter

Underground pipeline to airport commissioned

The pipeline has a capacity to pump over

1.56 lakh litres of ATF an hour

IOSL handles more than 160 refuellings of

ATF each day

BANGALORE: You will not see oil tankers making multiple trips transporting aviation turbine fuel (ATF) from Devanagonthi to the Bengaluru International Airport anymore. Because the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (IOCL) has taken the supply underground.

On Tuesday, the IOCL commissioned a 36-km-long ATF underground pipeline that runs from its bulk storage terminal at Devanagonthi to the BIA at Devanahalli. The aviation fuel hub is operated by Indian Oil Skytanking Ltd., (IOSL), a joint venture of Indian Oil, Indian Oiltanking and Skytanking Gmbh Germany, at BIA.

The underground pipeline costing Rs. 33 crore passes through several villages and taluks including Hoskote, Yelahanka and Devanahalli. The pipeline has a capacity to pump over 1.56 lakh litres of ATF an hour, which can be further scaled up to over 2.2 lakh litres in the second phase.

The pipeline crosses over 18 major roads, four water courses and five highways en route and has been designed and executed conforming to global standards. The entire pipeline system is also protected with dual fusion bonded epoxy coating to protect it from external corrosion.

This pipeline will replace over 30 tank trucks which currently make more than 80 up and down trips from Devanagonthi, thus drastically reducing movement of a large tank truck fleet with consequent reduction in traffic congestion. This will also reduce the resultant air pollution and cost of transportation.

The flow of ATF is monitored using state-of-the-art Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system with proviso for built-in failsafe processes and leak detection mechanism. This will ensure safety and security including shutting down the pipeline system automatically if leakage is detected or pre-defined tolerance limit is exceeded.

G.C. Daga, Chairman, IOSL and Director (Marketing), IOCL inaugurated the pipeline in the presence of R. Sareen, Director, IOSL; Executive Director (Aviation), IOCL, B. Ashok, and other senior officials.

Speaking on the occasion Mr. Daga said that the pipeline would ensure supply of uninterrupted and pollutant-free ATF to BIA meeting strict international quality standards. Even during bad weather, transportation snags and other disruptions, transfer of the product by pipeline will go on without any interruption, Mr. Daga said.

IOSL presently handles more than 160 refuellings each day, meeting the ATF requirements of both international and domestic airline carriers that touch down BIA.