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APEA 2010 Conference, Exhibition and Awards Dinner
They have changed little in the last 60 years as their function and safety concept of controlling incendive sparks in potentially explosive atmospheres is still the same today as it was back then.
However with the introduction of other electronic devices the standard Shunt – diode barrier is now gradually being replaced by a Safety Isolator, again an “Associated” piece of apparatus but these isolators can be of the “Optical” or “Galvanic” type. This can give designers better control options plus they do not need the dedicated low impedance high Integrity Earth connection that is paramount for the safe operation of the Shunt – diode Barrier.
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I would therefore suggest that what some people may describe as an Zener Barrier may actually be an Isolator device instead. This will be particular to the design of the dispenser head, leak control equipment; tank contents measuring system that typically use these devices.
So what’s the purpose of these devices and where can they be found? Well they are found on what’s called an Intrinsically safe system or circuit, and I would like very much at this point like to clarify a statement that is often said incorrectly when I’m out and about meeting people. Often I hear people saying that a piece of equipment maybe a junction box, dispenser or light is “Intrinsically safe”. In a word its rubbish and a miss quotation of what they have said. If we look at the dictionary “Intrinsic” means “adjective belonging to the basic nature of someone or something; essential” so an Intrinsically safe circuit or system is essential for safety in our context.
There are various electrical protection concepts detailed in the BSEN 60079 set of standards Exd (Flameproof),Exe (Increased Safety), for example Exi is “Intrinsically safe” and with reference to the most recent standards has three sub groups Exia, Exib and now Exic each of which is suitable for only one, some or all hazardous Zones.
If we take Exia equipment which could be placed in a Zone Zero, then to have something that is truly “Intrinsic” then we are not going to be putting lights or motors in that type of Zone because of the electrical parameters and opportunity for an incendive spark to occur or heat generation.
So ultimately Intrinsic safe systems and circuits are always for what we call instrument systems, in other words because through specific and very detailed electrical circuit design where all parameters are taken into account then we are left with a system that operates at such low energy levels that measurement of temperature, levels, flow rates and pressure are the only possible outcomes. Hence on an typical filling station we will find these circuits in the places described earlier.
There are thousands of different barriers and isolators, made by different manufacturers depending on what circuit you are planning to have and use. The specialist system designer (and I would suggest a normal electrician would not be capable of doing this design) will calculate out what they are trying to measure and do and select a barrier to suit their application. When the system or circuit has been designed, nobody should add, change or alter the system or circuit or any of the equipment without prior approval of the designer in case the parameters now do not make the circuit intrinsically safe.
The barriers themselves can never be installed in a hazardous area unless inside some other form of Ex protection, possibly an Exd
enclosure as you can see in Fig 2 the barriers have “Safe” and “Normal” electrical connections so these devices themselves could cause an incendive spark on the “Normal” connections. As such these devices may be within control panels or equipment in the sales building or if installed in the dispenser will likely be in the dispenser head but always, no matter what, above the vapour barrier and in a non zoned “safe”area of the dispenser.
So a barrier or if an isolator is used ist is just one part, albeit an essential part of the Intrinsically safe circuit. Persons working on these items or systems must be suitably trained and competent, as a simple mix up of connections of the safe and Haz area connections could lead to an catastrophic event.
I hope this has perhaps helped explain things a bit better and sorry about the long answer! But you did ask!
Fig 2 - Showing an selection of “Zener” Barriers and Isolators
Fig 1 - Showing an typical “Zener” Barrier
APEA attend Petroforum 2010 in Malaysia
By Brian Humm, APEA Training Chairman
Following on from the APEA visit to Oman in 2008, it was once again decided that the Association would send a representative to the Petroforum event being held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 23rd to 25th March. The aim once again was to promote the association to a wider audience, to encourage membership and promote general awareness of the association’s aims and objectives.
The event itself was organised by OpenRoom Events Limited and was sponsored by Petronas Dagangan Berhad, Malaysia’s leading Oil Company, it took the same format of a one day conference and then two days of round robin business meetings of 15 minute intervals between oil companies and suppliers. The delegates for the event were from 40 oil companies, with both regional and global companies being represented, the suppliers were just as well represented with 56 companies with approximately 130 delegates.
The event was held at the Saujana Hotel/Saujana Club, situated just outside Kuala Lumpar.
Early on the morning of the conference an optional visit to two modern Petronas owned petrol filling stations had been arranged, two coaches left the hotel with approximately 60 delegates on board.
The first site was Mutiara Damansara, a modern petrol filling station which is company owned and dealer operated, built in 2005, the site is classed as reasonably busy and has a throughput of 700,000 litres a month, also attached is a fast food outlet and a cake shop, it also has an ATM. The site itself was partial attended service, with attendants on the forecourt to facilitate with fuelling if required, the physical aspects of the site which were of interest to me were the tanks, which in this case were “permatank” which is a double skin tank, which has a steel inner tank with a GRP outer tank. One thing that struck me was the tank label, not only did it show the tank safe working capacity, but the type of tank and the date of installation!.
The pumping was by pressure because of the extreme heat of the country meaning that suction was virtually impossible, also the fact that the tanks contents were measured by dipstick and not tank gauges which somewhat surprised me.
The site was clean and well maintained and representatives of Petronas were on hand to answer questions.
The second site was the latest development by Petronas, Service Station Jalan Kolam Air Lama, Built in 2008, a larger site with a throughput of 1.1 million litres a month, again this was partial attended service, the difference with this site though was the store, to the left of the shop was a coffee outlet and to the right was a fast food retailer, but when you walk through the rear of the store you enter a shopping mall, which is also owned by the oil company, this area has numerous food outlets and a few specialist retailers, this in turn leads to the “Mall of Champions” which is a motorcycle museum, with associated shops, which is aimed at the thousands of motorcycle clubs which operate within Malaysia, as you can imagine a very large store indeed.
The forecourt was once again clean and well maintained, once again the pumping system was pressurised, the underground storage tanks in this instance were double skin GRP and the tank measurement was via dipstick.
Once again Petronas representatives were on hand to answer questions.
The visits were, as agreed by all, an interesting insight into the workings of filling stations within this country.
The conference in the afternoon was chaired by Mahinda Valipuram, Managing Director of KPS Petrol Pipe
System, he welcomed all the delegates and outlined the events to be held over the next two days.
The first presentation was from David Barrett from RPS Energy, entitled Fuel Retailing – Tough choices to drive future success, this was well received by the attending audience.
Next to present was Mr William Chua, General Manager of Smart Energy Pte Limited, who gave a really fascinating insight into the refuelling stations in Singapore who retail Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). CNG is looked upon as a proven alternative and Eco friendly fuel. A well received presentation indeed.
Following a refreshment break the next topic covered was from Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, represented by Sanjeev Agrawal, Senior Design and Development Manager, he outlined his companies automated online maintenance system for his company’s network of petrol filling stations.
Next up was an insight into the petroleum retail market in Pakistan, given by Kalim Siddiqui who is the President of Byco Petroleum Pakistan Limited, a relative newcomer to the market which is showing aggressive growth, a very interesting topic which was well received.
Following on was a presentation from Claire Livesey, Managing Director of Circle Limited, a design company, who gave a really informative and very well received presentation on environmentally friendly initiatives design.
The final presentation of the Conference was from Koenraad De Bruyne, COO and Retail Director of Tas’Helat Marketing Company who gave a presentation on Asset management within the petroleum retailing industry, once again very well received and thought provoking. The conference was closed at this point by Mahinda Valipuram who thanked all the conference speakers and everybody agreed that it had been an interesting day. The evening was spent at a welcome dinner at the hotel poolside, a great opportunity to talk to a variety of people, discuss the association’s aims and generally give advice as to why we were attending the event.
Days two and three were taken up by the business meeting format.
Openroom Events allocated me a stand adjacent to the entrance of the hall, on this stand were copies of the latest bulletin, a sample of the Blue Book and a laptop showing a looped presentation about the association and the training courses that we provide, over the 2 days I spoke to well in excess of 100 people, gave out 130 bulletins and received enquiries regarding the association and training courses offered from a host of companies from all parts of the region.
Over the two days a total in excess of 800 “one to one” meetings were held and feedback from delegates that I spoke to inferred that this event was a valuable way of doing business.
After lunch on day two the business meetings closed and some of the delegates were treated to a VIP tour of the Petronas Towers in the heart of Kuala Lumpar, this was a spectacular sight from close up and the view from the 41st floor was simply breathtaking.
Final thoughts on this journey, firstly it was an interesting few days, the conference was well run and facilitated, and it will broaden the association’s connections within this region.
May I extend a thank you to Emma and Fiona of OpenRoom events for the opportunity to attend this conference and the valuable help and assistance they offered to the association throughout.
The Winter meeting/AGM of the Southern Branch took place on Thursday 4th February 2010 at Marlborough Golf Club; Phil Monger welcomed all 34 members and guests in lieu of Barry Jenner, who could not attend due to work commitments.
Phil chaired the AGM which started at 10.30 a.m. which was concluded at 10.45 a.m. by the newly elected branch Chairman, Paul Reyner; many thanks go to
Barry Jenner who has done a sterling job during his three years of office.
The first presentation of the day was on tank lining and the effects of ethanol by Paul Brittel of Graphite UK.
Paul gave a brief background of the company and their achievements to date, and explained in detail the properties and benefits of their lining system.
Paul advised that a fuel tank lined approx. 8 years ago was recently assessed and checked for integrity, and found to be sound.
The second presentation of the day was on the environmental effect of decommissioned fuel tanks by Simon Deacon of the Environment Agency.
Simon advised that groundwater contamination is extremely difficult to remediate, and every care must be taken to avoid its occurrence, and as a result, it is highly likely that new petrol station builds will not be approved in SPZ1 areas.
Simon also advised that the ‘Blue Book’ update, which is to be published shortly, gives more guidance on tank decommissioning. A splendid lunch which consisted of lasagne, chips and salad, was served at 12.15 p.m. which was enjoyed by all, followed by a selection of mouthwatering desserts. The first presentation of the afternoon was by Brian Humm and Neil Roberts of the London Fire & Emergency Planning Authority on enforcement procedures for disused tanks.
Enforcement powers for this situation come under Section 73 of the Public Health Act 1961. This was introduced following an explosion at Dudgeon’s Wharf in East London
resulting in the deaths of five firefighters.
Currently one of their directives is that underground fuel tanks may only be filled with water for a fixed period after which the tanks must be permanently made safe. Neil ran through their process for site visits/inspections, and showed several photos of tanks that had been removed from the ground; he also showed some examples of
Paul Reyner, new Branch Chairman Simon Deacon of the EA
Brian Humm and Neil Roberts of the London Fire & Emergency Planning Authority
Lunch
installations not properly decommissioned.
The fourth presentation was an LPG update given by Henry Betts of Autogas Limited.
Henry advised that Autogas Limited is a joint venture between Calor and Shell.
He stated that recent technical innovations include pipeline condition testing, stock control system, dispenser temperature compensation and forecourt LPG tank statutory testing.
Autogas Limited have 221 sites on petroleum forecourts; the majority being Shell branded.
Henry reported that there are approx. 154,000 LPG vehicles in the
UK, with approx. 1,400 public access refuelling points.
The last presentation of the day was on DSEAR and driver training, by Mike Carpenter and Jeff Tallis of BP.
Jeff advised that they provide various driver training courses covering legislation and safety standards (10 golden rules)
BP were the first oil company to ban mobile phones being used when the tankers are being driven.
BP in the UK assisted their colleagues in the US to set up their own training standards.
Jeff advised that their drivers each have approx. 8 days training per annum, of which firefighting is included; recently highlighted areas of concern include driver tiredness and conflict awareness.
Mike followed this by explaining the delivery assessor’s role and the process involved with risk assessing new sites for fuel deliveries.
Assessments are valid for 5 years, but all site changes, such as grade changes should be notified and recorded.
The DSEAR information collected by Mike and the team is collated and sent to a central place to allow site specific delivery instructions to be given to the tanker drivers for each delivery.
Similarly, site problems, such as broken fill caps, missing padlocks are fed back using a standard delivery point defect report.
In closing the meeting, the new branch Chairman, Paul Reyner, thanked all speakers for their well received and informative presentations, and wished all a safe journey home.
The next Southern Branch meeting will be on 8th June at Brooklands Motor Museum, Brooklands Road, Weybridge, Surrey KT13 0QN.
Agenda 10.00 – 10.30 Arrival/coffee
10.30 – 10.35 Address by Paul Reyner, Southern Branch Chairman
10.35 – 10.45 Clarification of issues raised at the Winter meeting Martin Window, Hampshire CC and Brian Humm - London Fire Brigade 10.45 – 11.15 Control biofuel contamination issues Dr. Philip Nathan E&S Group/Adler & Allan Ltd
11.15 – 11.45 Electrical testing on remote sites Richard Curnow RD & RE Curnow Electrical Ltd
11.45 – 12.15 Site sensitivity and environmental risk Sam Carson & Lisa Hawker OHES Ltd
12.15 – 12.30 Q & A session
12.30 Finger buffet lunch, with dessert, followed by entry to Brooklands Museum.
There will be an attendance contribution of £15.00 per member (inclusive of lunch & morning coffee) payable in advance. If you wish to attend the meeting please contact me for a booking form on 07795 841891 or by email at sue@high-cross.com. Payments must be received by 28th May, to enable catering arrangements to be made; please advise if you have any specific dietary requirements.
Brooklands is just off the A317 between junctions 10 and 11 of the M25; both www.multimap.co.uk and www.streetmap.co.uk give accurate directions.
Places are limited, so early booking is advisable. Please contact me if you have any questions/queries.
We look forward to seeing you for what promises to be another interesting meeting.
Sue Meadowcroft Branch Secretary
Jeff Tallis of BP Mike Carpenter of BP
Eastern
The APEA Eastern Branch met at Imperial war museum Duxford on March 31st 2010 . Guest and speakers were greeted
