MacDill ahead of the curve on jet engine washing

  • Published
  • By Nick Stubbs
  • 6th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  Hoping to save fuel and reduce maintenance, Air Mobility Command is experimenting with washing down KC-135 engines, but the practice is old hat at MacDill Air Force Base.

The engine washing goes along with air frame wash downs needed to combat the salt residue that builds up due to MacDill being situated in the middle of a saltwater bay, said Staff Sgt. Steve Salido, a jet engine mechanic with the 6th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron. The same procedures are followed at Kadena Air Base, Japan, and Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, both of which are located near the ocean.

Salido has been working with subcontractors, who are testing the new engine washing systems, and a crew from the company was at MacDill last month to try it out. That the new device rinses engines with fresh water may not be new for the 6th AMW mechanics, its water recovery feature is.

"Right now (with the current rinsing process) the water just goes through and comes out on the ground, and we can only do it in designated areas because of the waste water," said Salido. "The system they are testing recovers the water and reuses it."

Salido said the current system at MacDill is a power washer, and regulations require it be used at least every 90 days to clean salt residue from the engines.

As for whether the process saves fuel, Salido says a cleaner engine runs cooler, and the cooler an engine runs, the less fuel it burns.

Engine washing at MacDill is a maintenance function, so no data has been collected to determine the potential fuel savings, Salido said, but added that those numbers might be reveled by the testing going on in AMC now.

"It would be interesting to see what the saving might be," he said.

Salido said the subcontracting crew is trying to schedule another round of testing at MacDill to gather more data. According to a Sept. 7 story published by Air Mobility Command Public Affairs, the subcontractors have washed more than 340 jet engines in the testing program, which is being run by Air Force Materiel Command.

According to that story, so far, engine performance test data is positive, said Maj. Adam Langborgh, the AFMC water-wash program manager.

"As more air flows through a clean engine, it operates at reduced temperatures, which means less wear and tear on the engine. Less wear and tear on the engine equals less maintenance," he said.

The article goes on to call early test results on KC-135 engines "positive." A June 2012 test report will help leaders analyze the value of an eventual Air Force-wide program, Langborgh said.