Expanding Margins: Reclaiming Aviation Grade Lubrication Oils

Wg Cdr Asheesh Shrivastava, Dr Yogita Khare

The aviation industry is governed by very well defined maintenance philosophies. Concurrently, strictly complaint technical procedures/ practices are hallmark of this industry. Therefore, very high quality and costly lubricants are required to support aircraft operations. Oil is used primarily as lubricants, power transmitters and coolants in aircrafts. Further, due to flight safety considerations, the change-over period for oils are very well defined and strictly complied. Reclamation/ recycling of used oil are an accepted fact worldwide in automobile industry. The reverse supply chain starts at the repair depots/ workshops and ensure safe collection/ transportation of used oil back to a central warehouse/ reclamation plant where it is re-processed. In the aviation sector, there is a value proposition which can generate ancillary revenue, by reclaiming the used/ waste oil. It is estimated that the Scheduled Domestic carriers consumed (or re-charged) over one lakh liters of lubricant (hydraulic and engine) oil for 9.35 lakh hrs of cumulative flying done in year 2013. The consumption pattern of engine oil/ hydraulic oil can be estimated on flying hours basis. These figures can be used to project the recoverable quantities of oil at 75% efficiency using existing technologies. This paper discusses this unique possibility by conceptualizing a reverse supply chain model for collection/ transportation of used aviation oil. Various technical procedures, relevant literature and various case studies on handling waste oil were reviewed to develop the basic framework for the Reverse Supply Chain model.