Airbus to Use Parker Fuel-Tank Inerting System

Airbus has awarded Parker Hannifin Corporation contracts for fuel tank inerting systems for its A400M military transport aircraft, and might include the A318, A319, A320, A321, A330, and A340.

The contracts were awarded in anticipation of forthcoming FAA and European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) rules dealing with fuel tank explosions.  Their value could exceed $500 million over the life of the programs, which are respectively forecast to extend over several decades.

The Parker fuel tank inerting system uses ASMs (air separation modules) that generate nitrogen-enriched air by removing the oxygen from its air source and distributing it to the aircraft's center fuel tank, thereby reducing the flammability of fuel vapors in the tank.  As the tier-one integrator, Parker will provide the core inerting technology subsystem consisting of the ASMs that produce the nitrogen and integrate it with a temperature-control subsystem developed by Liebherr Aerospace, Airbus's primary environmental control system supplier.

The ASM fiber technology for the Airbus programs is patented and owned by Parker.

Parker's inerting system is expected to enter into service on Airbus aircraft in the course of 2009.  12-08-2006.

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