Boeing Aviation Fueling Facility

Hatch Mott MacDonald is currently part of a Design/Build team to provide engineering and design services for a fuel storage and aircraft hydrant fueling piping system for the new 342,000 sqft production facility at the Charleston International Airport to be used for fabrication and final assembly for Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner aircraft.

Work includes the performance of field surveys to confirm field conditions, verification of the total and spare capacity of the existing airport fueling system, analyzing and modeling the increase in fuel demands, layout of alternative hydrant system routings, analyzing feasibility of truck fueling off of new hydrant system, and integrated provisions for fuel flushing, circulation, and leak detection. 

The new Dreamliner assembly plant will be designed to achieve LEED Silver certification.

The project includes the following design elements:

• The design includes three 35,000-gallon aboveground fuel storage tanks, an Operations, Controls and Laboratory Building, truck loading/offloading stations, refueler vehicle parking, double-walled underground piping, hydrant fuel supply piping in a looped configuration, fuel hydrants, cathodic protection, and emergency fuel shut-off systems
• Inclusion of a laboratory into the fuel farm control building
• Inclusion of a bathroom into the fuel farm Operations/Control Building
• Design of emergency shower/eyewash station system for areas within the fuel operations environment
• Design of a compressed air system supporting the fuel operations facility and the two aircraft fueling positions
• Design of an off-loading station for seal-vac vehicles including, but not limited to, 30 gpm pumps, fuel separator and clay filter
• 480V electrical service in a ground service pit adjacent to each new fuel hydrant pit
• Provisions for receiving alternative fuels (JP-5, biofuels, etc.) and fuel systems designs to accommodate flushing of piping and equipment after use of alternative fuels at fuel truck offloading/loading stations and fuel storage tanks
• Modification of the existing equipment (hydrant fueling pumps, filter separators, control valves, metering, controls, etc.) to accommodate Boeing’s aircraft flushing and fueling flowrate requirements
• Modify/re-design existing hydrant fueling system to accommodate revised aircraft parking positions
• Design of cathodic protection system to protect underground hydrant fueling piping