Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division (NSWCCD) began a six-month test of two new ASTM International D3240 certified jet fuel-free water detection systems aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71), Aug. 4.
ASTM International is an independent organization that sets international standards for product quality and safety. One of the two new systems under test will eventually replace the current jet and diesel testing method used on all surface ships.
The two new direct reading systems, one using mechanical technology and the other electric, will replace the free water detector standard cards – a test method in place for the last half century. Free water detector standard cards are printed with fluorescent ink using standard printing technology developed during the country’s colonial period.
According to Diane Mattingly, fuels in-service engineering agent (ISEA) with Naval Fluids Branch at NSWCCD in Philadelphia, the original printing plates used to make the cards have worn over time and cannot be reproduced.
The first device undergoing testing removes the use of the free water detector standard card. The operator first calibrates the device according to the manufacturer’s directions. Fuel is then filtered through a chemically treated pad, and the pad is placed into the unit’s pad holder tray. The operator presses the test button and simultaneously moves the adjusting lever until the observation meter reads “0.” The number below the adjusting lever is the amount of free water in the fuel.
In addition to removing the free water detector standard card, the second device also eliminates the adjusting lever. The second device is calibrated according to the manufacturer’s directions, and it uses the same sample pad and fuel sampling techniques as the other test methods. The operator inserts a fuel treated pad into the pad holder shuttle and closes it. The free water content value in ppm then appears on the electronic display.
Mattingly said once a device is selected the change out on surface ships should be straightforward. Both options are portable, and take up about as much space as the old technology – the free water detector standard card method.
The NSWCCD Materials Division is a Navy principal test and evaluation organization and in-service engineering agent for all hull, mechanical and electrical ship systems and equipment and has the capability to test and engineer the full range of shipboard systems and equipment from full-scale propulsion systems to digital controls and electric power systems.
Press release, Image: US Navy