by Mike Rose
On occasion you may be asked to assist in refueling after a flight. In 18 years I have never turned my refueling completely over to another person, however, the refueling process is much easier if you have a second person to assist. There are several basic things to remember when refueling.
1. Balloons are fueled with liquid propane. The liquid is extremely cold and can cause instant frostbite. Furthermore, propane vapor is highly explosive. It can be ignited by sources such as a striker or the static electricity from man made fibers.
2. Do not wear clothing made from man made fibers such as nylon or dacron. These fabrics can cause static electricity when rubbed together and propane vapor can be ignited by these small electrical charges.
3. Wear gloves when refueling. This will save your hands from the extreme cold of the liquid propane.
4. Remember that propane is heavier than air, both as a liquid and a vapor. It will pool in low places like the bed of a pick-up truck or a trailer. You must lower the tailgate and if you have an enclosed trailer all of the doors must be open.
5. I recommend that you have a fire extinguisher available during the refueling process, just in case. I have seen various types of fire extinguishers demonstrated at safety seminars and some are better than others. My recommendation, if they are still available, would be an extinguisher charged with Halon. I once saw a small hand held Halon extinguisher put out a double burner with both blast valves at full open.
6. Under no circumstances should you refuel when the chase vehicle is still running. Turn off the engine and remove the key from the ignition. At many balloon races it is a rule to remove the keys to eliminate the possibility of someone driving off while the hoses are still attached.
7. Only the person handling the refueling and the person chosen to assist should be in the immediate vicinity. The less people nearby the less chance you have of something going wrong.
8. Remove the strikers. and anything else you use to light the burner, from the basket. This will eliminate accidental activation of your striker, which can be deadly if it occurs at the wrong time.
9. Do not stand in the basket while refueling. It might be easier to reach the fittings, but if something goes wrong it takes extra time to get out of the basket.
At this time I'd like to relate two short stories about the last two recommendations. Many years ago a well-known young lady was standing in her basket during refueling. She had a striker in her hand and in the middle of refueling she activated the striker. She was extremely lucky. The resulting explosion blew her right through the wooden uprights and she suffered only a fractured arm. I asked her WHY, and her response was, "I just wanted to see what would happen." The second incident involved a young man, the son of a balloon pilot, who was refueling in the dark an hour or two before sunrise. He wanted to check on the refueling progress but could not see the gauge on the tank in the dark. Standing outside the basket and holding a lighter as high as his arm would reach, he flicked his Bic to see the gauge. The explosion threw him 15-20 feet away and he was merely singed. If he had been in the basket he probably wouldn't be here today.
I refuel from a 500-gallon tank which I keep on the edge of a pasture on private land in the country. In Texas propane regulations relating to dispensing and tank inspection are performed by the Texas State Railroad Commission. The tank is inspected at least once a year. If the inspector finds anything lacking, the tank is "red tagged" and cannot be used until brought up to code. This could mean cutting high grass around the tank or having the tank properly posted with signs stating "PROPANE" and "NO SMOKING". The transfer hose must be in good condition and not split or bulging.
Most bulk supply tanks have a hose with an "Acme" fitting at the end of the hose. When I first started ballooning I had two refueling adapters. One was a fitting that screwed into the Acme on one end and had a standard POL fitting on the other end. The second adapter accepted the POL fitting one end and fit the main fuel hose of the balloon burner on the other end. I did not like the extra connections involved so I had a special fitting made that eliminated the POL connection in the middle. It has an Acme fitting on one end and a fitting that fits my main burner hose on the other end. These adapters can be made up by any Propane dealer and they save a lot time by not having to deal with the POL in the middle.
We always remove everyone from our vehicle when we get to the propane refueling area. Only one crew person and myself are with the vehicle during the actual refueling. I prefer to have everyone else at least 30-40 yards away during the refueling process. It is highly recommended that both persons handling the refueling wear gloves, however, remember that even with gloves you can be burned by the cold propane liquid. Liquid propane will cause instant frostbite to bare skin. It is also possible to get a burn or frostbite if the liquid gets on or inside your gloves. If the propane leak is large enough the gloves will freeze to our hand causing injury. If you are helping with the refueling you should be made aware of these possibilities and all possible care should be taken to avoid leaks.
Once I have all the fittings attached I charge the system by opening the valve on the balloon tank with the least amount of fuel. This insures that I am working with the least amount of fuel pressure when I test the fittings. Once I determine that the fittings are secure I then open the main valve on the bulk supply tank to begin the actual transfer of liquid propane. Each tank on my balloon holds 10 gallons of liquid. The tanks, however, have a larger capacity, which allows for expansion of the liquid within the tank. Propane expands as it gets warm and if you do not have room for this expansion the tank could burst from internal pressure. The tanks have a small dip tube that extends down into the tank. The bottom of this tube extends down inside the tank to the maximum acceptable liquid level within the tank. This tube is attached to what we call the "spit valve." You open the main tank valve to allow the liquid to transfer from your bulk supply tank and you open the spit valve to release pressure within the balloon tank that results in the flow of liquid to flow into the balloon tank. The liquid enters the tank through the main valve and settles to the bottom of the tank. As the tank fills and the level of the liquid rises it reaches the spit valve tube. At this point the liquid enters the tube and comes out as white vapor. When this white vapor begins to come out of the spit valve the tank has reached it's maximum allowable capacity and refueling is finished. The main valve is shut off first and then the spit valve is closed.
I have seen pilots and crews who overfilled a tank by allowing the liquid to keep coming out of the spit valve and thus add more fuel to the tank than recommended. This is very dangerous and if I was crewing for a pilot that did this on a regular basis I'd find someone else to crew for.
The main valve and the spit valve are closed and the refueling is complete. If I have used more than one tank during a flight I refuel them one at a time repeating the above process for each tank I have used. Should something go wrong during the refueling process I don't want to have more than one tank valve to deal with.
You are now refueled and ready for your next flight. Next month we'll talk about emergency procedures. As always, please forward comments or suggestions for future topics to me at P. O. Box 1362, Allen, Texas 75013 or balloon@flash.net.