Aviation Study Tour Blog

Our busy day at Shell Aviation in Chester began with presentations:

1. Overview - discussed the organisation as a whole. History of Shell, Sections and divisions (Aviation, Commercial, Sulphur, Lubricants). Where each division concentrates on a particular area of business (development, sales, support) and strategic plans were also briefly discussed, along with a short introduction to future alternative fuel options.
2. Synthetic fuels. A hot topic for us aviation enthusiasts! The group was briefly informed on a number of options for alternative fuels, each with their own pros and cons. Using vegetable based alternatives (ethanol) as a alternative for fuel to use in Aviation is not strongly favoured by Shell (due mainly to the fact that more CO2 would be produced from this method than using other means for developing fuels) Currently, the majority of the world uses what's called Jet A-1 (other similar variances also used) fuel which has a high octane rating and certain characteristics making it suitable for jet aircraft and engines. Shell expressed that they were concentrating strongly on developing a synthetic based alternate fuel that could act as a "drop in" replacement for the current traditional coal based fuel (this would also save airliners money by not having to make extensive modifications to aircraft of jet engines).     
3. Fames (fat acid methyl esters). This was a brief presentation on the technology used to extract certain ingredients from plant materials for use to develop fuel.

The group was also fortunate to be taken on a visit the Shell laboratories where the group was split into 3 teams and taken on three separate exercises demonstrating the importance in keeping fuel clean and the difficulties imposed by this. One exercise demonstrated the possibility of 'bugs' and live material which can grow in fuels and the risks this posse to aircraft. The second demonstration showed the filtration process of fuel which is transported from the refinery to the aircraft, with a live demonstration on how water is captured and removed by the fuel filters. The last exercise showed us how fuel is tested during stages for quality and completeness.

Shell was also considerate in offering us a cafeteria based lunch!  The day ended with a short opportunity to ask questions.  The group thank Shell for their efforts and taking the time to prepare the tour for our group.

Kane