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Ref: C-OL-AC4012ING

A320 CBT Page: 1/8

FUEL SYSTEM Rev: 1


Date: 22.01.2019

TABLE OF CONTENT
LEGAL CAUTION ..........................................................................................................................................................2
FUEL SYSTEM .................................................................................................................................................................2
ENGINE FUEL FEED ..............................................................................................................................................................2
INTERTANK TRANSFER VALVES ..........................................................................................................................................2
SUCTION FEED .....................................................................................................................................................................2
APU FUEL FEED ....................................................................................................................................................................2
FUEL RECIRCULATION SYSTEM ..........................................................................................................................................3
FUEL SYSTEM CONTROLS AND INDICATIONS ..................................................................................................................3
REFUELING AND DEFUELING .............................................................................................................................................4
FUEL QUANTITY INDICATION AND FUEL LEVEL SENSING ...............................................................................................4
FUEL TANK INERTING SYSTEM .............................................................................................................................................5
ECAM FUEL PAGE ...............................................................................................................................................................5
WARNING AND CAUTIONS ...............................................................................................................................................6
SUMMARY OF WARNINGS AND CAUTIONS ..............................................................................................................8

Copyrights © 2007 by Flyco Training Solutions


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FUEL SYSTEM Rev: 1


Date: 22.01.2019

LEGAL CAUTION
The material contained in this training program is based on the information obtained from
current national, international and company regulations and it is to be used for training
purposes only. At the time of designing this program contained then current information.
In the event of conflict between data provided herein and that in publications issued by
the authority, the authority shall take precedence.

2
FUEL SYSTEM
ENGINE FUEL FEED
The engine fuel feed system uses these primary components to supply fuel to the engines:
the tank pumps, the inter-tank transfer valves crossfeed valve, the engine low pressure
fuel valves, and suction feed.
3
INTERTANK TRANSFER VALVES
Two inter-tank transfer valves are installed in each wing to allow fuel transfer from the
outer to the inner wing tank.
4
When the inner tank fuel quantity reduces to a low fuel level, that is about 750 kilograms,
the transfer valves automatically open and let the fuel be transferred from the outer to
inner tanks by gravity.
5
If at least one transfer valve is open in one wing tank, the OUTER TANK FUEL TRANSFER
message appears on the MEMO display
6
Once open, the transfer valves remain open until they automatically close at the next
refueling operation.
7
When an engine fire pushbutton is pushed or the engine master switch is set to OFF, the
respective low pressure valve closes to stop fuel flow to the engine.
8
SUCTION FEED
The engine fuel feed also incorporates suction feeds. When the inner tank pumps fail, the
suction feed allows an engine to be fed by gravity from its corresponding inner tank
bypassing the tank pumps.
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The center tank is not fitted with a suction line. Thus, gravity feeding is not possible from
the center tank.
10
APU FUEL FEED
The APU fuel feed system supplies fuel to the APU from the left side of the fuel manifold
as long as the tank pumps are operative.

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FUEL SYSTEM Rev: 1


Date: 22.01.2019

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When fuel feed pressure is low due to loss of tank pumps or loss of normal AC electrical
supply, a special fuel pump supplies fuel for an APU startup.
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FUEL RECIRCULATION SYSTEM
Some of the fuel supplied to the engine burner is divided to the IDG oil cooler which heats
the fuel and cools the oil. This ensures IDG cooling when the engine runs at low speed or
the IDG operates on high electrical load.
13
The heated fuel then goes to the fuel return valve which is controlled by the FADEC. In
the return valve, the heated fuel is mixed with the cold fuel from the low pressure pump
before it is directed to the outer wing tank.
14
During the fuel recirculation, if the outer tank is already full, the fuel overflows to the inner
tank through a spill pipe.
15
If the center wing tank is supplying the engine, the fuel recirculation may cause the wing
tanks to overfill. To prevent this, the center tank pumps should be stopped so that wing
tanks feed the engine.
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If the fuel system is operating in automatic mode, the center pump is automatically
turned off when the inner tank is full. The wing tank pumps supply the engine until
approximately 500 kg of fuel is used. Then the center tank pump resumes operation.
17
If the fuel system is in the manual mode, the center pump does not turn off automatically
when the inner tank is full. Therefore, you must manually switch the center tank off to
prevent overflow of the wing tanks on ground.
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FUEL SYSTEM CONTROLS AND INDICATIONS
The fuel panel is located on the overhead panel.
19
When the output pressure of the wing tank pump is low, amber FAULT light illuminates on
the respective wing tank pump switch. The FAULT light is inhibited when the switch is in
the OFF position
20
When the mode selector switch lights are extinguished, the automatic mode is selected
and control of center tank pumps is automatic.
21
With the mode selector switch in the AUTO position, if the slats are retracted, the center
tank pumps run automatically before or after the engine start sequence.
22
At engine start, regardless of slat position, the center tank pumps run for two minutes to
verify operation.

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FUEL SYSTEM Rev: 1


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Five minutes after the center tank low level is reached, the pumps turn off automatically.
25
When center tank contains more than 250 kilograms of fuel and the left or right wing tank
contains less than 5000 kilograms, amber the FAULT light illuminates on the mode selector
switch.
27
When at least one center tank pump is energized, the CENTER TANK FEEDING message
appears on MEMO display.
28
With the mode selector switch in the AUTO mode, until approximately 500 kilograms of
the fuel has been used in an inner tank, the associated center tank pump stops and the
OFF light remains illuminated on the pump switch.
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The crossfeed switch controls and indicates the crossfeed valve position.
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When the valve is fully open, the OPEN light illuminates green on the switch.
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REFUELING AND DEFUELING
The aircraft fueling and defueling system consists of one or two refueling couplings under
each wing.
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Fuel from the refuel coupling goes into refueling line. Then it flows through the refuel
valves into the fuel tanks.
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Refueling starts with the outer tanks. When an outer tank is full, the fuel overflows into the
inner tank through a spill pipe
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If the fuel quantity selected from the refuel panel exceeds the wing tank capacity, the
center tank is refueled simultaneously.
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A defuel transfer valve allows the tank pumps to transfer fuel from one tank to another. It
is also used for defueling through the refuel coupling.
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When the door of the refuel control panel is open, the REFUELING message appears on
the MEMO display.
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The refuel valves selectors control the operation of respective refuel valve.
40
FUEL QUANTITY INDICATION AND FUEL LEVEL SENSING
Fuel quantity indication computer incorporates two subsystems: the Fuel Quantity
Indication System and the Fuel Level Sensing Control Units.
41

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FUEL SYSTEM Rev: 1


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The fuel quantity indication system supplies all fuel information, including total fuel mass,
and quantity and temperature of fuel in each individual tank to the ECAM and controls
automatic refueling.
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Fuel probes measure the fuel level and fuel temperature in each tank.
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The fuel quantity indication system also receives aircraft attitude data to improve the
accuracy of the fuel quantity computation
44
The fuel level sensing control unit produces fuel level and fuel temperature signals which
are used to operate the appropriate valves for refueling, defueling, the center tank-to-
wing tank fuel transfer system, and control the IDG cooling recirculation system.
45
The fuel level sensing is independent of fuel quantity indicating system.
46
FUEL TANK INERTING SYSTEM
The purpose of fuel tank inerting system is to provide protection against fuel tank fire and
explosion.
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The system is used only for the center tank which has a high flammability exposure.
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The fuel tank inerting system reduces the flammability by using oxygen depleted air to
displace the ambient air in the center tank.
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ECAM FUEL PAGE
The fuel used indication displays in green and automatically resets upon engine start on
the ground.
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When the fuel indicating system is not accurate, amber lines appears over the last two
digits.
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When the inner tank level is at low level state, the fuel on board indication is half-boxed
in amber, if both the center tank pumps are: failed or switched OFF, or both transfer
valves in either wing fail to open.
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When the difference between the fuel quantities in the two wings is greater than 1500 kg,
the indications of the wing inner and outer tanks, with the highest fuel level pulses in
green. Now let’s look at a degraded fuel indications.
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On the upper ECAM display, if you see the fuel on board indication with two dashes over
the last two digits, it means that the fuel quantity indication is operating in a degraded
mode. In this case, you must call the FUEL page on the ECAM lower display to determine
which tank is affected.
54

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FUEL SYSTEM Rev: 1


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The fuel temperature is displayed in green when the associated temperature sensor is
wet.
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If a high or low limit is exceeded, the associated indication becomes amber.
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WARNING AND CAUTIONS
While operating, if a center tank pump output pressure drops to less than normal, both
master caution lights come on, a single chime sounds, the ECAM shows the CENTER TANK
PUMP LOW PRESSURE caution message with the affected pump number and the FUEL
page appears on the lower display unit. In addition to the central system cautions, the
amber FAULT light illuminates on the associated center tank pump switch.
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When you receive a center tank pump low pressure caution and if there is no fuel leak,
set the crossfeed valve switch to ON. Turn off the affected center tank pump. To prevent
a possible fuel imbalance, you may turn off crossfeed valve when the center tank is
empty. If a fuel imbalance occurs, apply the fuel imbalance procedure as required.
58
If low output pressure is detected in both the center tank pumps, both master caution
lights come on, a single chime sounds, the ECAM shows the CENTER TANK PUMPS LOW
PRESSURE caution message and the FUEL page appears on the lower display unit. In
addition to the central system cautions, the amber FAULT lights illuminate on both center
tank pump switches.
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When both center tank pump pressures are low, set the mode selector switch to manual.
Turn both center tank pumps off. The center tank fuel is not usable for the rest of the
flight.
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When the left or right wing tank pumps low pressure caution is generated with the center
tank empty, ensure that no fuel leak exists. If you are above the flight level 150, select the
crossfeed valve to ON. Set the engine mode selector to IGNITION to start continuous
relight. This provides protection against a possible flame-out due to fuel supply surging.
Switch off the affected wing tank pumps.
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Note that with both wing tank pumps off, only gravity feeding is possible from the
affected wing tank. Thus apply the gravity fuel procedure if the fuel is required from this
wing tank.
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The AUTO FEED FAULT caution is generated for two cases: a large difference in fuel
quantity between the center tank and the wing tanks on either side or an
uncommanded operation of the center tank pumps.
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If the center tank contains more than 250 kilograms of fuel while the left or right wing tank
has less than 5000 kilograms, the AUTO FEED FAULT caution activates. Both master
caution lights come on, a single chime sounds, the ECAM displays the AUTO FEED FAULT

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FUEL SYSTEM Rev: 1


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caution message and the FUEL page appears on the lower display unit. An amber FAULT
light illuminates on the mode select switch.
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Set the mode select switch to manual. The center tank pumps will run and feed the
engines. For aircraft equipped with CFM engines only: On the ground, if the center tank
is not empty at slat extension, the center tank pumps should be switched OFF manually
to prevent a possible wing tank overflow due to the IDG fuel recirculation.
65
If the center tank pumps do not stop after slat extension or the center tank low level is
reached, the auto feed fault caution activates again. Both the master caution lights
come on, a single chime sounds, the ECAM shows the AUTO FEED FAULT caution message
and the FUEL page is displayed on the lower display unit. Switch off the center tank
pumps to clear the caution.
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When a low level is detected in both wing inner tanks with the remaining flight time is
about 30 minutes, both master caution lights come on, a single chime sounds, the ECAM
indicates the left and right wing tanks low level caution message and the FUEL page is
shown on the lower display unit.
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With the center tank not empty, set the mode select switch to MANUAL. Ensure all pump
switches are ON and the cross feed valve switch is off.
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When the fuel temperature in the outer or inner tank exceeds the high limit, both master
caution lights come on and a single chime sounds.
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If the fuel temperature in left or right outer tank is above 55 °C on ground or above 60 °C
in flight, the ECAM shows the OUTER TANK HIGH TEMPERATURE caution message for the
affected tank.
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Likewise, when the fuel temperature in an inner tank is above 45 °C on ground or above
54 °C in flight, the left or right INNER TANK HIGH TEMPERATURE caution message shows on
the ECAM upper display. In both cases, the FUEL page is called on the lower display unit.
71
When a fuel high temperature caution shows on the ECAM, wait 2 minutes while the fuel
temperature measurement is updated. This is required to ensure that the caution is not
a false indication due to radio wave interference from the communication equipment.
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After 2 minutes, if the ECAM still shows the caution, it is usually due to high temperature
of fuel returning from the IDG cooling recirculation system
73
Turn off the galley to reduce the electrical load on the IDG, which in turn, will reduce the
fuel temperature used for the cooling.
74

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If you are on the ground, and the fuel temperature reaches 60° C in outer tank or 54° C
in inner tank, delay the takeoff. Turn off the engine master switch on the affected side.
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If you are in the air, adjust the thrust lever to increase fuel flow on the affected side. This
helps decrease the temperature of the fuel returning to the outer tank.
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In case, the fuel temperature reaches 65° C in outer tank or 57° C in inner tank and if the
opposite generator is available, turn off the IDG on the affected side. You may also use
APU generator to disconnect the affected IDG.
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Likewise, when the APU low pressure fuel valve is not in the commanded position, both
master caution lights come on, a single chime sounds, the ECAM upper display shows
the APU low pressure valve fault caution message and the FUEL page appears in the
lower display unit. No crew action is required for this caution as well.
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SUMMARY OF WARNINGS AND CAUTIONS
This part summarizes warnings and cautions associated with the system.

End of course.

Copyrights © 2007 by Flyco Training Solutions

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