Chicago O'Hare Tank Farm

CUSTOMER

ASIG (Menzies Aviation)

PROJECT

20-Year Fuel Management Partnership

Fuelling the World's Busiest Airports with Confidence.

01

The Project

ASIG at Chicago O'Hare

Aircraft Service International Group (ASIG) — now owned by Menzies Aviation — has operated the tank farm at Chicago O’Hare since 1960. The site runs two farms: a United Airlines farm with 14 pumps and an Other Airlines farm with six pumps feeding the cargo loading rack and two super satellite systems.

Varec — a Cognesense brand — installed a PLC in each farm and FuelsManager® for inventory and reconciliation in 1999. Those PLCs are still running today.

By the early 2000s, erratic pump starts and stops were driving up maintenance — especially across the satellite systems. Previous attempts to integrate the two satellites as one 18-pump system had all failed. When Varec was engaged in 2004, a lead-lag method was in place, causing uneven wear and quick-cycle starts.

Our Partner

Varec — a Cognesense brand — the global standard in fuel management and terminal automation. FuelsManager® is the de facto standard in aviation fuel operations.

One partner. Every obligation. Legacy meets future.

The Solution

Varec replaced lead-lag with first-in, first-out (FiFo) pump control — distributing run times evenly, eliminating quick cycles, and using pressure and flow to decide when pumps start and stop.

Results

Varec went further than the original scope: logic updates let the two satellite PLCs run as a single system. Operators can switch between independent and unified modes automatically. FiFo reduced pump downtime and maintenance costs year-over-year.

Six months total; two weeks on-site. Thirteen years on, the core logic is still in place.

2010 – Present

In 2010, Varec upgraded ASIG’s servers and tank farm computers; tank gauges followed in 2012. Since Menzies’ 2017 acquisition, FuelsManager pushes inventory data directly into Menzies’ fuel and ERP systems.

02

More Information

Talk to Varec — a Cognesense brand.

Read More ↵
Measure. Monitor. Protect.