The Bulletin Magazine - June 2003

The Bulletin Journal of the Association for Petroleum and Explosives Administration

June 2003

"The photograph on the front cover was taken in Tanzania by Pedro Laguia from Spain - many thanks Pedro"

Editorial

Contents Regulars Editors Letter Chairmans Report Business Managers Report New APEA Members Letters to the Editor

3 5 6 9 10

News

13

Press Releases

28

Articles The Forecourt Show Car wheel falls through forecourt Can mobile phone communications ignite petroleum vapour?

Tank Remedial Modification - Part Two Regulators work in partnership to help retailers Operating agreement between Environment Agency and SE Group RIS-Cop new valve to prevent fuel cross-contamination Cathodic Protection Modern Fuel Delivery The State of Florida’s Experiences with Thermoplastic Flexible Piping Shear Valves

31 32 37 38 39 40 41 42 44 47 59

Branch News Branch reports Branch Representative Contact Details

60 61

Training 2003 course dates and sponsors BP Bovis attend APEA training course New Courses

63 64 64

Rob Tunnicliff Editor 37 Victoria Park Road Tunstall Stoke on Trent ST6 6DX Tel: 01782 817741/232376 Mobile: 07815 069846 email: rob.tunnicliff@stoke.gov.uk

Jamie Thompson Publishing Chairman 70 Wangford Road Reydon Southwold Suffolk IP18 6NX Tel/fax: 01502 722999 Mobile: 07770 625851 email: jamiethompson@ukonline.co.uk

Jane Mardell Business Manager (including Bulletin Advertising and Production) PO Box 106 Saffron Walden Essex CB11 3XT Tel/fax: 01799 502929 Mobile: 07815 055514 email: admin@apea.org.uk

Editors letter This job is always surprising me and when I got an e-mail from China it made me think! The readership is truly global and that is why we try to include items of interest to all, but I must remember to put in what all the initials mean and not assume everyone knows just because it is a hot topic in Britain! We had good comments about the new look which was down to Jane and I do thank her for it.

This issue is full of new items and interesting articles so my thanks to the contributors, I especially like the article about tankers as it is an area most of us could do with learning about as the Code of Practice is due out in May.

Published by the Association for Petroleum and Explosives Administration A company Limited by Guarantee registered in England No. 2261600 Opinions expressed in this Journal are not necessarily the views of the Association.

There are a few controversial things out there and perhaps they are happening in your area, write to the Editor and let me know your views whether they are for de-regulation or against lets get a debate going! We know there are contentious issues with electrical testing and next time we hope to bring that particular debate to the for.

If you have any thoughts on the environment and what part we can play in improving it let me know too as we all have responsibilities to care for this planet and the future of it.

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Chairmans Report Incredibly, more than a year has elapsed since I was appointed as APEA Chairman.

This past year has been an incredibly busy one for me in both my business and private life. Recently I have moved both my home and a large part of my business from the leafy surrounds of the south of England, to Barnsley in the north of the country. Having lived my entire life in the south, there have been many culture shocks for me to consider, but overall, I must report that the genuine friendliness and honesty of northern folk has delighted both me and my family and reinforced our opinion that we should have made the move years ago!

Regarding the APEA, I am delighted with the way in which we have progressed throughout the year. When I took on the position of Chairman, we were without any administrative support following Brian Taylor's early retirement as a result of his illness. Without doubt, this difficult period put a huge amount of strain on the Association, but I am pleased to report that with the willing support of council members and other loyal supporters we rode the storm, until Jane Mardell came to our rescue in July last year!

Working with Jane has been an absolute delight. She is efficient, superbly able to work on her own initiative and has a great personality and sense of humour! I am sure that I speak for all when I compliment Jane on the enthusiastic way in which she has approached her appointment as Business Manager. In my opinion, she has taken the bull by the horns, and has succeeded in injecting professionalism into the workings and presentation of the association The publications committee has been working extremely hard to improve the appearance, layout and content of the Bulletin. I am sure you will agree, that in its new format it is now most professional, and a publication which we can be justifiable proud of. Please keep up your support for the editorial team, and keep your articles and submissions coming.

Throughout last year the APEA re-established and developed it's training programme. The training committee, under the chairmanship of Brian Baker, worked relentlessly to produce new and professionally presented training material. APEA training has been well received within the industry, with many large organisations signing up for bespoke training courses. I must compliment Brian and his colleagues for their diligence in promoting and establishing the association as a professional training provider.

the recent jointly hosted APEA/IFFE exhibition and conference held at the NEC in Birmingham. As an exhibitor and as a representative of the APEA, I found the whole event a resounding success, and it is my opinion that merging with William Reed Publishing was the right move. Exhibitions are all about attracting visitors, and William Reed with their publicity machine working overtime certainly managed to do that! They succeeded in increasing the "foot fall" far beyond that which has been previously achieved by the APEA when hosting its own event. Whether or not it is a principle that we should adopt in the future is a separate issue, and not for debate here, but I genuinely believe it was right this time, and I sincerely hope that all of you who attended found it to be informative and enjoyable.

Without doubt, the 2003 APEA Annual Dinner was a resounding success! This event, which was held in conjunction with the APEA/IFFE Show saw us back at the old and preferred venue of the Metropol Hotel in the grounds of the NEC. This well established and unique event provides the perfect forum for socialising and networking with friends and colleagues, and from what I observed this year we certainly delivered the goods! On behalf of the council, I would like to thank all of you who supported us by sponsoring tables and hope that you will continue to do so at future events.

It just remains for me to thank council members and the countless others amongst you who have given your willing support throughout my period of chairmanship. It has been a great honour to occupy this position and an experience I will cherish long into the future.

Tony Jenner (Chairman)

Branch membership is still an area for concern, and I would ask that you give your local branch your full support. Members participation is the very lifeblood of this association, please consider what you can do to help revitalise your branch and encourage the support and attendance of others..

My report would not be complete without mentioning 5

Business Managers Report At last Spring is in the air and no doubt all of you will now be busy making plans for the summer... myself included.

Since my last update the APEA Council and members have been busy at the International Forecourt and Fuel Exhibition at the NEC in March. This was a busy show with the APEA contributing speakers to ‘The Platform’.

The APEA stand, situated next to ‘The Platform’, was kept busy with alot of interest from members and nonmembers. I received positive feedback from visitors in respect of the activities and services of the APEA and interest as to how they could become further involved with the APEA. I am grateful to all the APEA members that helped out on the stand, your help and expertise were invaluable.

To compliment the exhibition the APEA held its’ annual dinner at the Hilton Metropole at the NEC on 5th March.

The APEA dinner was well attended with over 360 people and by the reports I have had back, a good time was had by all (well those that can remember anyway!).

I would like to thank those of you that have sent kind thankyou letters and emails to me, these are very much appreciated.

So onto other matters now: Membership To date there are 930 APEA members with payments still arriving for renewal payments.

You can find new members to the APEA for February and March on page 8, some of these generated from the recent IFFE at the NEC. I am keen to keep the database up to date so please let me have any changes to your contact details. This will also ensure you receive any correspondence from me.

AGM The AGM was held on 12th May and therefore too late to be covered in this issue of The Bulletin. There will be a full report in the September issue and the minutes can be found on our website.

Bulletin Thank you to all of you that have contributed to this issue of The Bulletin, please contact our Editor if you have any articles or letters for the next issue and he will forward them onto me. His contact details can be found on page 3 of this issue. Please also note that any advertising issues should be directed to me in future.

Yearbook Thank you to all of you that returned your Advertising/Registration forms so promptly. I am now typesetting the 2004 Yearbook, so if any of you have not replied, please do so by the end of June if you wish to have your details included. As usual all corporate members are entitled to a free Classified entry in the Yearbook but unless I receive your registration form your company details will not be included.

Training There is a booking form enclosed with this issue of The Bulletin to make it easier for those of you interested in booking APEA Training Courses. Course dates are listed on page 57 and course descriptions on page 59.

Please contact our Training Chairman if you wish to make a booking.

General Assistance Finally if any of you need any assistance with industry matters, please do not hesitate to contact me on 01799 502929 and I will endeavor to help.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Website I am now keeping a close eye on the website so that it is continually updated. Please let me know if you have any interesting news items that you would like to include on the site. As I mentioned in the last issue these can be submitted directly to the website and I will check them for suitability.

6

Jane

New APEA Members Detailed below are new members that have recently joined the APEA.

Anthony Hall National Car Rental James House 55 Welford Road Leicester LE2 7AR

January since 23.1.03 Robert Winwood 49 Fillingham Close Chelmsley Wood Birmingham West Midlands B37 7TE Martin Hyder Hyder Contractors Ltd Farriers House, The Anvils Court at Street, Lympne Hythe Kent CT21 4PF Emma Louise Paulou Teasdale Electrical Engineering Ltd Queensway Swansea West Industrial Park Pforestfach Swansea SA5 4ED

Simon McNamara 50 Tunbridge Close Great Sankey Warrington Cheshire WA5 3RF John Prior 79 Hawthorn Road Bognor Regis West Sussex PO21 2BE

March Martin Rackleg 8 The Pippins Halstead Essex CO9 1JY Stephen Stokes 3 Swinside Whelley Wigan Lancashire WN1 3NQ

February Stuart Giles 22 Fairfield Tasley Park Bridgnorth Shropshire WV16 4RY Keith Campbell 107 Grosvenor Drive Loughton Essex IG10 2LA David Hill Community Fire Safety Office - Central Station House Mutton Lane Potters Bar Herts EN6 2HF Mick Gill CFS Industrial Services Ltd Albert House 16 Upper High Street Wednesbury West Midlands WS10 7HQ Dave Paton GeoDelft Environmental 3 Chapel Street Congleton Cheshire CW12 4AB Tony McMenamin Hertfordshire Fire & Rescue Service South District Fire Safety Queenway Hemel Hempstead Herts HP2 5HA Martin Moore Marco Electrical UK Ltd 22 Tresilian Street Cattedown Plymouth Devon PL4 0QW

David J Sumpter 6-8 Grimrod Place East Gillibrands Skelmersdale Lancashire WN8 9UU Paul Brennan Bedfordshire County Council Beds Trading Standards Countyhall, Cauldwell St Bedford Bedfordshire MK42 9AP John Binnie C.S.C 6 Timon View Heathcote Warwick Warwickshire CV34 6ES Ian Milward Derbyshire County Council Trading Standards Division Chatworth Hall Chesterfield Road Matlock Derbyshire DE4 3FW Eddy Smets Elnor Motors NV De Costerstraat, 45 Haacht Belgium B-3150 Ray Hines Envirotank Pty Ltd Envirotank Pty Ltd PO Box 548 Dallas Victoria Melbourne 3047 Australia

Stephen Brown Fox Construction Block 6, Units 25/26 Stirling Road Chapelhall Ind Estate Chapel Hall Airdrie ML6 8QH Leanne McFadden GeoDelft Environmental Ulster Bank Building 22a Frances Street Newtownards Co Down BT23 7DN Ireland David Sutch GeoDelft Environmental 3 Chapel Street Congleton Cheshire CW12 4AB Graham White Graham White Lighting Consultancies The Mow Cottage, Choloham Road Lower Knaphill Woking Surrey GU21 2J Tim Foster Irish Truck N Tank (Precision Testing) Ltd Ballymorgan Ferns Enniscorthy Co Wexford Ireland Hylton Reid NICEIC 11 Post Office Road Alrewas Staffordshire DE13 7BS Abdulaziz J Al-Muftah Qatar Petroleum PO Box 47 Dottai State of Qatar Stephen Zatchij Steve Zatchij Electrical Ltd Leaside 391b Ham Green Holt Trowbridge Wiltshire BA14 6PZ Wolf Koch Technology Resorces International, Inc 1314 Mineral Springs Road Sterling IL 61081 USA Trevor Wallace Westfield Pump and Tank Ltd Pennine View Trading Estate Birstall Butley West Yorkshire

C Dunn-Meynell Forecourt Equipment Federationn PO Box 35084 London NW1 4XE

9

Letters to the Editor Sir, Just a note about the article in the news section of the March 2003 Bulletin regarding the 'bloody fuel' who tried to set fire to petrol at the Safeway Petrol Station, West North Street, Aberdeen.

At the time of the incident, the emergency procedures were followed, the staff were properly trained and the matter was reported to the Petroleum Officer, as required by the conditions of the petroleum licence, this made what could have been a very serious incident, fairly minor.

Surely the HSC should realise that this example of how the current system of Petroleum Licensing protects the public (even bloody fuels) and employees, and one which would be very difficult to replace to ensure the same level of protection.

Graham Shand Senior Authorised Officer Aberdeen City Council Trading Standards Service Environment & Infrastructure Tel 01224 523732.

Fax 01224 645786. www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/ab erdeen/

Re: BP bespoke training course 18-19th March 03 (letter to APEA Training Chairman) Dear Brian On behalf of the Alliance I would like to register our appreciation for the abovementioned course, which our UK operations team attended last week. The feedback from our team was very positive and there 10

was particular mention of the excellent delivery and presentations from Paul Craven and yourself.

I will be in touch shortly to discuss possible future courses including an Audit and Inspection course for members of our maintenance team. One of the most important benefits for us is to see things from an authority/inspectors perspective and to reinforce the message of viewing these as a support where ever possible.

Many thanks again and I look forward to additional training projects with APEA in the near future.

Martin Rackley Global Alliance HSSE Manager (Europe)

Re: Electrical testing/licence renewal for petrol filling stations Sir, Can somebody help please!!

I am the manager of a "hazardous area" electrical company who is going mad!

We have 'been involved with petrol filling installations for over 20 years and I am now told (by NICEIC) that none of my Engineers are competent to carry out an electrical work or testing oil petrol Filling stations unless they have the qualification, Comp 'Ex EX07 and EX08 - which incidentally is a £700 course, presently only available at one training centre!

Until we have these qualifications we are unable to purchase NICEIC certificates to carry out our electrical tests.

This brings us onto the certificates now prescribed for petrol filling stations, the NICEIC now has 3 no. certificates for "visual", "close" and "detailed" reports. Whilst I am the first to

agree that obviously certification should be brought into line with the new industry standards Blue book) it seems that nobody has taken into consideration the Trading Standards requirements for licence renewal. The real world is as most of us know that the expertise possessed generally by Enforcing officers is not sufficient to deal with these new 6 no. page documents and the reality is now that anything goes; (I apologise to the Enforcing Officers that have this expertise).

Throughout the country at present all types of paperwork are being accepted for licence renewal given the flux state caused by all of the above confusion, indeed I have been informed that my, local petrol retailers association have informed their members to ignore the new certificate requesting "full documentation and drawings" (a massive expense on a private existing site) because the Trading Standards "aren't bothered" and lets face it these sites and indeed the majority of oil company owned sites will only carry out the minimum certification (and consequently expenditure!) to enable continued trading whatever the NICEIC's viewpoint.

Needless to say I have not over contemplated the likely effect D.S.E.A.R. will have on the above. How can our industry get itself into this state, does anybody talk to each other, surely we should have had the new system i.e. certificates, training, qualifications all sorted out and ready to go before we left HSG41- Can we not produce “simple-summary" sheets for the Trading Standards to deal with the new certification?

P Williams Worcester Electrical Services

News

UK:Supermarket chain Tesco takes 25pc stake in growing green fuel firm Supermarket giant Tesco has bought a 25pc stake in a fuel business which makes diesel using an ingredient found in salad dressings and margarine.

The £1.9m deal will see Tesco extend its current supply agreement with Greenergy Fuels, a subsidiary of environmentally focused fuel supplier Greenergy International.

Tesco's arrangement with Greenergy is not exclusive and the fuel company will continue to supply other clients, including Tesco's rival supermarket Sainsbury's.

Tesco commercial and trading director John Gildersleeve yesterday said: "This deal demonstrates our support for Greenergy Fuel's innovative work to develop environmentally friendly fuels. This relationship also collectively gives us the ability to improve our supply chain and bring long-term benefits to all."

News of the agreement follows a request for outside investment made by Greenergy's chairman Andrew Owens. In October Mr Owens said the company needed some form of institutional investment, perhaps in the shape of an equity partner, to help it sustain growth rates. Greenergy expects its turnover to reach £250m this year, roughly double last year's.

The GlobalDiesel product Greenergy supplies to garage forecourts is made from a blend of ultra-low sulphur diesel and processed rapeseed oil - which can be found in some soap products as well as margarine spreads and salad dressings. Greenergy claims Global- Diesel is significantly less damaging to the environment than regular ultra-low sulphur diesel (ULSD), which currently makes up most of the UK's diesel sales.

Greenergy claims Global- Diesel results in more economic fuel consumption, a guaranteed 5pc reduction in carbon dioxide

emissions and up to 28pc fewer particulate emissions than regular diesel.

UK: Driver unaccounted for as exploding petrol tanker shuts motorway

A petrol tanker has exploded after plunging off a motorway and down an embankment. Police believe the vehicle hit a broken down car on the M56 near Runcorn, Cheshire, at 8pm and careered off the motorway towards the River Weaver. A Cheshire police spokeswoman said: "Witnesses reported seeing an explosion and flames." The driver of the petrol tanker has not been accounted for, she said. The driver of the broken down car was not in his vehicle at the time and was not injured. The spokeswoman said the motorway was closed in both directions between junctions 12 and 14.

UK: London Feb 24, 2003. Greenpeace activists shut Esso Station.

Greenpeace activists, some dressed as tigers, have forced the closure of Esso's British headquarters and 100 petrol stations as a protest against what it calls the firm's "fuelling of the Iraq crisis".

Esso is a unit of U.S. oil giant ExxonMobil.

About 300 Greenpeace volunteers begun targeting stations from dawn on Monday, removing power switches that controlled pumps and locking pump nozzles together, a spokesman for the lobby group told Reuters. "We've found a way of stopping power to the pumps.

We've just shut down out 100th garage and shut down their headquarters," the spokesman said. "This is in response to their fuelling of the Iraq crisis and their funding of groups in Washington that are aggressively advocating an

attack on Iraq as well as their stance on global warming."

Esso spokesman David Eglinton confirmed the station closures and said staff were being told to stay away from the company's headquarters in Leatherhead, southern England, because activists had got onto the glass roof and were posing a safety problem.

But he firmly denied the lobby group's claims that the company was pushing for military action in Iraq. "People have every right to express their views but it is ludicrous to suggest that ExxonMobil is in any way encouraging a potential war on Iraq," he said. "The Iraq situation is entirely a matter for governments, not companies to resolves." He said the company had not been asked, nor made inquiries or had any discussions with U.S. President George W. Bush's administration or any other government regarding military action to gain access to Iraqi oil.

Greenpeace said the protest would continue throughout the day but no more of the company's 1,300 British petrol stations would be targeted. Instead, members would be packaging up the power switches they had removed from 100 stations around the country and posting them to ExxonMobil executives in Texas.

UK: East Anglia March 1 2003. Oil Spill in Chelmsford More than 4000 litres of waste oil has been removed from a spill at a stream in East Anglia, preventing potentially "devastating" consequences.

The Environment Agency has been dealing with the severe loss in Baddow Mead Brook in Chelmsford. Agency officers were notified by members of the public and managed to prevent the oil reaching the River Chelmer.

The pollution incident is believed to have been caused by a large tanker illegally discharging waste oil to a water sewer or highway drain, possibly to avoid disposal costs, or from a commercial company which 13

News "lost" the oil.

The clean-up operation after the incident last Wednesday prevented harm to wildlife or members of the public, who could have been effected by any polluted water which is abstracted for drinking at Maldon.

Steve Bewers, Environment Agency manager, said the source of the leak was still unknown. "We have employed contractors and removed 4000 litres of waste oil, the quantities of which are so high it must have been caused by a large spillage from a tank or bulk container. "It is much larger than anything that could have come from a domestic property. The specialist clean-up operation has already run into thousands of pounds, which ultimately will be paid by the local taxpayers."

An agency spokeswoman added it was not clear who owned the land where the spill occurred, although it is not thought the source of the problem. She said: "We are of the view that the spillage is so large that whoever is responsible must be fully aware of the problem."

The agency issued an appeal to members of the public to contact them if they know of any recent spillages or have seen any tanker vehicles acting suspiciously in the area of the incident.

Anyone with any information about the pollution incidents should contact the agency's 24-hour hotline on 0800 80 70 60.

UK: Woman killed helper in freak accident on petrol station A man was crushed to death in a freak accident at a supermarket petrol station, an inquest heard.

Bristol Coroner's Court was told that Mulke Rehan Mirza, was killed trying to help a woman put air in her tyres at the Tesco garage in Eastville. Yesterday's inquest was told that the driver, 59-year-old Kawther Abdalla, had accelerated into Mr Mirza when he was crouched in front of her car. The car crushed him against a wall, causing 14

fatal head injuries. Mr Mirza, a married 30-year-old taxi driver from Hathway Walk, Easton, was pronounced dead on arrival at Bristol Royal Infirmary.

Mrs Abdalla apologised to the court and said that she sympathised with Mr Mirza's family, as she had lost her only son in an accident.

Following the incident Mrs Abdalla, from Westbury Park, was charged with careless driving. She pleaded guilty and was fined £200, with £40 costs, and disqualified from driving for a year.

Lee Selkirk, a security officer at Tesco, was at the garage on the day of the accident, June 2 last year. He told the inquest that at around 2.30pm he saw a woman come into the garage shop saying she had hit someone at the back of the garage.

Mr Selkirk said: "I went round the back and saw a red car and the deceased on the floor in a crouched position. "I tried to administer first aid until the paramedics arrived and they took over."

PC David Horsley arrived at the garage at 4pm. He said: "Mr Mirza was parked in his red Toyota Corolla beside the air and water lines at the Tesco supermarket filling station. While standing outside his vehicle he was approached by Mrs Abdalla, who had just parked her silver Mazda car behind the Toyota. Although there is no available evidence to corroborate Mrs Abdalla's story, it was probably her intention to move her car closer to him to enable him to put air in it. In my personal opinion, Mrs Abdalla accidentally put her foot on the accelerator at the point she wanted to put her foot on the brake pedal." PC Horsley also said that Mrs Abdalla was driving an automatic car, which only had two pedals, which may have caused her to be confused.

Bristol Coroner Paul Forrest said: "It seems Mr Mirza offered to help Mrs Abdalla inflate a tyre and for some reason, when she got in the car, it lurched forward and collided with the deceased." Mr Forrest described Mr MIrza's death as "tragic" and returned a verdict of accidental death.

UK: Sneaky Petrol Firms Cash In 6p rise in six weeks Oil companies have quietly raised petrol prices by 6p a gallon in the last six weeks. Unleaded petrol has gone up from 74.12p to 75.63p per litre. The same applies to diesel.

Experts blame rising oil prices, and forecourt bosses yesterday denied profiteering. Ray Holloway, of the Petrol Retailers Association, said, "neither UK oil companies nor retailers control these costs. Similar increases have been applied across Europe. Since September 2002, crude oil has risen by three to four dollars per barrel. Petrol retailers are not profiteering when prices rise. The only way they can recover the additional money they spend buying fuel is by raising the retail price. Profits in the forecourt industry have been critically low since 1996, and around 1000 forecourts have closed each year since then."

Mr Holloway blamed the Government for high fuel costs. He said: "Taxes account for more than three quarters of the retail price."

The threat of war on Iraq is driving world oil prices up. The problem has been made worse by OPEC, the alliance of world oil producers, announcing plans to sell less oil. A strike in the Venezuelan oil industry has also hit the market.

The petrol price survey comes from fuel management firm Arval PHH, who checked 12,000 of Britain's 14,000 forecourts. They found that some Scots drivers enjoy the cheapest petrol in Britain. In Leith, Edinburgh, and Coupar Angus, Perthshire, a litre costs as little as 70.70p - almost 5p less than average. But motorists in Lerwick and Thurso pay well above the average at 82.90p a litre.

Researchers plan to connect petrol stations to natural gas supply to fuel hydrogen powered cars

News Researchers at the University of Warwick's Warwick Process Technology Group are leading a programme called "Hydrofueler" to connect petrol stations to the normal natural gas supply to fuel hydrogen powered vehicles.

The 2.8 million euro EC funded three year research programme has already drawn interest from Exxon Mobil and BMW. One of the problems with using hydrogen powered cars is how do you keep their fuel cells supplied with a ready source of hydrogen?

The Warwick researchers believe that much of the necessary infrastructure already exists - the new technology can be fitted to preexisting filling stations who will then use it to produce hydrogen from the normal pre-existing natural gas pipeline supply system. To do this however you need to resolve a number of problems. In particular how to produce the hydrogen from that natural gas in a confined space, using a simple automated remotely controlled process.

Obviously very large scale industrial processes already exist to produce hydrogen from natural gas but these technologies cannot be scaled down to compact size needed to be practical in a filling station context and the costs of using these processes would be prohibitive.

The new University of Warwick research solves these problems by a combination of innovative heat exchange technology, novel ways of managing and using heat reactor technology, and the use of new coated nanocrystaline catalysts to greatly increase the efficiency of there actions. These techniques will allow the researchers to develop a reactor around the size of three average office desks which can be used in the confined space available on pre-existing petrol station forecourts and which will produce hydrogen at a cost effective rate and without any emissions problems.

The research will draw on technology developed by University of Warwick Process Technology Group researcher Dr Ashok Bhattacharya, and the following research partners: Chart Heat Exchangers Ltd in Wolverhampton, England; France's Commissariat a

l'Energie Atomique; Norway's Foundation for Technical and Industrial Research in Strindveien (SINTEF); The National Research Council of Italy; and catalyst specialists Dytech in Sheffield, England. Another advantage of the technology proposed by the Warwick team is that the process employs a number of stages at which hydrogen reaches different rates of purity.This is ideal, as different sorts of fuel cell will require different mixes of hydrogen. Thus the technology proposed can in one reactor simultaneously produce what one might describe as 2, 3 and 4 star hydrogen! The researchers are also considering using the technology to carry out hydrogen production within car engines and also as a possible replacement for large industrial hydrogen production processes.

Lineloop Petrol/Diesel Discrimination Device The AA have received a rising number of calls resulting from misfuelled vehicles (45,000 compared with 37,000 last year). The majority have resulted from the fuelling of diesel vehicles with petrol.It costs the driver approximately £120 to drain a vehicle with the incorrect fuel, this figure is much higher if the engine is started.

Lineloop's innovative discrimination technology can prevent it.

Using infra-red gas sensors provided by e2v technologies and connected to a standard vapour recovery nozzle, the fuel pump can be configured to determine which fuel is present in the petrol tank of the target vehicle. If the vehicle is petrol fuelled, the pump will operate normally allowing the driver to dispense their fuel and pay in the usual fashion. If the vehicle is diesel fuelled, the pumped flow will be ceased.If no vehicle is present or if the fuel is being dispensed into an inappropriate container, the pumped flow will be ceased. e2v technologies is a leading manufacturer of gas sensors and sensing solutions for the fixed and portable industrial safety marketplace. For over 40 years instrumentation manufacturers

have relied on their high quality sensors to protect workers on oil rigs, in mines and tunnels and anywhere where flammable or toxic gases may be present. Their nondispersive infra-red (NDIR) sensors boast: •

Intrinsically safe operation

•

Non-invasive, non-chemical detection principle

•

The ability to operate in a wide range of ambient pressure, temperature and humidity

•

Long operating lifetimes with long maintenance and calibration intervals

Lineloop Limited have provided complex consultancy Information Technology services to many leading companies in the U.K. and Europe. Using the basic concepts of Programme Management and extensive research, these skills have been now been used to solve the most basic, but unresolved problem of incorrect forecourt fuel delivery.

Working in partnership with e2v technologies, a patented device has now been built and the concept is proven using the industry's standard fuel delivery systems.

For more information on this leading edge development or to arrange a demonstration of the device please do not hesitate to contact us. e2v technologies Contact: Terry Brown Tel. +44 1245 453675 e-mail: terry.brown@e2vtechnologies.com Lineloop Contact: Steve Lunn Tel. +44 1642 640275 e-mail: steve@linloop.co.uk

Scotland: Feb 13 2003. Petrol Tankers Train derailed A train loaded with petrol derailed yesterday. The train left the tracks 15

News at Carmuirs, Falkirk, as it headed from the BP complex at Grangemouth, Stirlingshire, to Cumbria.

Train operators EWS have launched a probe, but said the tankers were designed to withstand such impacts and there were no leaks or danger to the public.

Thousands of morning commuters were hit by a shutdown of part of the track which affected services between Edinburgh and Dunblane.

Scotland: City petrol stations fail on fire code Nearly half of all petrol stations in a Scottish city failed to meet official fire safety guidelines in recent spotchecks.

Of 51 garages visited by trading standards officers in Edinburgh, 20 fell below statutory standards to protect public safety. Breaches included damaged pumps, faulty emergency shut-off switches, substandard fire extinguishers and poor staff knowledge of emergency procedures.

The checks were carried out during the eight-day firefighters’ strike in November to ensure residents were as safe as possible while emergency cover was disrupted.

Mike Drewry, the director of environmental and consumer services for the City of Edinburgh Council, said there could be "no excuses" for the lapses.

Scottish whisky island to run wave-powered bus Scotland's whisky-producing island of Islay will run the world's first bus to be powered by wavegenerated electricity at the end of November, Greenpeace said.

The environmental campaigning group said it had donated the electric bus to be powered from a commercial wave generator on Islay, which aims to be energy selfsufficient. "We're pretty confident that this is the first wave-powered

bus in the world," said Ben Stewart of Greenpeace. "We hope in decades to come all transport will be of this type."

Previously electric vehicles have mostly relied on fossil-fuel power generation, which produces greenhouse gases, blamed for global warming.

The UK government has set itself a target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 23 percent on 1990 levels by 2010, well above its commitments under the U.N. Kyoto Protocol.

Tesco claims selling petrol 9c cheaper than average Irish price UK retail giant Tesco has begun selling petrol which it claims is 9c per litre less than the average price charged in Dublin.

Although the supermarket group has only opened one station - in Killarney - it has fired the first shot in what could be a price war, indicating its willingness to undercut the existing players. In recent years, similar moves in the UK resulted in a massive price war between supermarkets and oil corporations.

Gordon Fryett, chief executive of the Irish operation said it has sought planning permission for forecourts in Finglas and Sandyford in Dublin and Maynooth in Co Kildare and is to seek planning permission for a station in Letterkenny, Co Donegal.

its UK petrol retailing operations, Tesco Ireland has dipped its toe in the Irish petrol market with a new filling station at its store in Killarney.

However, Tesco has played down suggestions of a nationwide roll-out for its petrol business although it says that other ventures in Meath and Dublin may be on the cards.

The Killarney store has already caused a bit of controversy by selling unleaded petrol at 84 cents per litre and diesel for 76.6 cents.

This forced a number of local outlets run by Statoil and Shell to cut their prices to bring them in line with their new rival.

Over the last ten years, Tesco has built up a successful and highly profitable business in the UK where it now operates 300 filling stations adjacent to its stores.

Ireland: Feb 16 2003 Illicit fuel operation uncovered Police and customs officers have uncovered an illegal fuel laundering operation in Northern Ireland.

Officers said the plant at Carrickmore in County Tyrone had a capacity to launder 85,000 litres of fuel a month. The laundering operation, which could have cost the taxpayer up to £500,000 a year, was discovered in a barn erected above several underground storage tanks. The current price of fuel in the Republic of Ireland is lower than that in Northern Ireland - with excise duty on petrol 20p per litre cheaper on petrol and 25p per litre on diesel.

'Significant hit'

The supermarket group is preparing to increase the amount of sales it generates from non-food items. Fryett said the company had signed a new deal with US clothing company Cherokee to provide goods for Irish and British outlets.

Ireland: Tesco takes on the petrol companies Following on from the success of

Large amounts of illegal fuel are smuggled across the border into Northern Ireland. Paramilitaries are involved in many of the illegal laundering operations. A customs spokesman said: "This was a highly sophisticated laundering operation.

Its discovery is another significant hit on the illegal fuel trade and shows the benefit of close working with the Police Service of Northern Ireland. We have repeatedly warned motorists to think before buying cheap fuel. It puts honest filling stations out of business, robs 17

News the taxpayer of money for public services and puts the motorist's vehicle at risk of serious engine damage."

He said about 8,400 litres of illicit fuel was seized and two buses, two private vehicles and a coach were taken away. A man and woman have been arrested in connection with the discovery.

USA: Gasoline prices reach highest level in 10 months The price U.S. drivers pay for gasoline jumped 5.4 cents a gallon, the biggest weekly increase in 10 months, the Energy Department said.

The price for regular unleaded gasoline averaged $1.527 a gallon - up 37 cents from a year ago and the biggest increase since the last week of March 2002 - based on a survey of service stations by the department's Energy Information Administration. Gasoline prices have surged with crude as the possibility of war with Iraq has ignited fears of Middle East supply disruptions and as a nation-wide strike in Venezuela has sharply curtailed oil shipments from the No. 5 crude exporter. The price of crude accounts for about 40 percent of the cost of a gallon of gasoline.

The national price for cleanerburning reformulated gasoline, which is sold at about one-third of the gas stations in more polluted metropolitan areas, increased 4.1 cents in the last week to $1.585 a gallon, EIA said.

The West Coast had the most expensive regular unleaded gasoline over the last week, with the average price in the region up 4 cents to $1.609 a gallon, EIA said.

The Gulf Coast states had the cheapest fuel, even though the average price was up 5.8 cents to $1.472 a gallon.

Among cities, San Francisco had the top spot in fuel costs, with the price up 3.7 cents to $1.802 a gallon. Denver had the cheapest gasoline, with the price up 3.2 cents to $1.461 a gallon.

The report also showed gasoline prices were up 2.8 cents in Los 18

Angeles at $1.629, up 2.8 cents in New York City at $1.579, up 4.8 cents in Chicago at $1.566 and up 6.7 cents in Houston at $1.473.

The biggest year-on-year change in city pump prices was in San Francisco, where gasoline costs were up 56 cents a gallon from a year earlier.

Separately, the nationwide price for diesel fuel increased 5 cents to $1.542 a gallon, up 40 cents from last year and the highest since December 2000. Truckers in central Atlantic states paid the most for diesel fuel at $1.66 a gallon, up 5 cents from the prior week. The Rocky Mountain states had the cheapest diesel at $1.50 a gallon, up 4.6 cents from the previous week.

USA: tank testing firm sentenced to pay $2.29 million Tanknology - NDE, International, Inc. Criminal Plea On October 30, 2002, Tanknology - NDE, International, Inc. was sentenced in federal district court in Austin, Texas to pay a criminal fine of $1 million and pay restitution of $1.29 million to the United States for the costs of the potential retesting of underground storage tanks that the company had falsely tested. In addition, Tanknology will serve five years probation.

Pursuant to the plea agreement, Tanknology will implement a quality management system to ensure that false and improper testing practices do not occur again.

The United States, on July 24, 2002, had filed criminal charges against Tanknology-NDE, International, Inc. (Tanknology) in 10 federal district courts. The United States also filed a plea agreement wherein Tanknology agreed to plead guilty to all 10 felony charges. The guilty pleas were for false underground storage tank (UST) testing services performed by Tanknology employees at federal facilities located in the States of Texas, California, Arizona, Illinois, Florida, South Carolina, New Jersey and the Commonwealths of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts.

The pleas were entered in the Western District of Texas on August 29, 2002.

The case was filed under the criminal provision of 18 U.S.C. Sections 287 and 1001 (false claims and false statements) subsequent to the federal government conducting an investigation, from July 1998 through December 1999. The investigation found evidence that Tanknology employees failed to properly perform tank tightness testing and leak detection testing at U.S. Department of Defense, US Postal Service, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) facilities.

The false tests ranged from failing to follow required test protocols to conducting "drive-by" tests (e.g., a Tanknology tester was videotaped driving up to a federal facility, driving away after a few minutes and then submitting false data). The investigations were conducted by the EPA Criminal Investigation Division along with the investigative arms of seven other federal agencies with the assistance of personnel from the Texas Natural Resources and Conservation Commission (TNRCC) and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. The United States has no evidence that the environment was harmed due to the company's violations.

USA: Multi-State Retail Gasoline and Convenience Store Conversion Project With Autodesk The Dimension Group, a full service development firm based in Dallas, has made the Autodesk Buzzsaw project collaboration service from Autodesk, Inc. an integral element in its business as it continues a massive retail gasoline and convenience store renovation project for real estate management company Trammel Crow.

The Dimension Group was one of three firms chosen to permit the conversion of more than 150 gasoline/retail sites in Texas from Texaco to the Shell brand. Each

News firm was responsible for 50 sites for the initial project phase -- including due diligence, site signage design, and permitting. After being the first to complete their sites as the other two firms struggled to meet deadlines, Trammell Crow awarded Dimension the balance of the sites for them to complete.

While delighted with the endorsement of its work, Dimension realized that the large increase in projects under management would significantly increase its workload. The threefold increase in the number of locations for which it was responsible effectively tripled the number of details to manage.

Dimension had already been using Autodesk Buzzsaw, but primarily as an internal tool. Now, with its project managers devoting more and more time to phone conversations with various general contractors, sign contractors, and sub-contractors, the firm decided to adopt the Buzzsaw service as its standard platform for all project communications related to the Shell station conversions.

continue to have the ability to produce both the new ethanolbased blend and MTBE-based (methyl tertiary butyl ether) CARB gasoline. "We plan to switch to ethanol-based CARBOB in the first part of 2003, and we'll be flexible to do both," Ford said.

Tesoro owns and operates the Golden Eagle refinery in Northern California's Contra Costa County.

The refinery has a crudeprocessing capacity of 168,000 barrels a day. The independent refining company also owns refineries in Washington, Alaska, Hawaii, Utah and North Dakota.

Tesoro's planned switch to ethanol-based gasoline early this year would be months ahead of the year-end deadline for the ethanol conversion required by the state.

Tsoro joins all the major oil refiners in California in announcing an early 2003 switch to ethanol. Valero Energy Corp. remains the only independent refiner that has not announced plans to convert most or all of its production to ethanolbased gasoline production in early 2003.

USA: Petrol Pump Fire

InnovaTek Demonstrates Fuel Processor

Fire officials are still investigating a petrol pump fire in Plainview USA last week, but static electricity appears to be to blame. It happened in January at the Allsup's Convenience Store at 8th St. and Columbia. Fire crews responded to the scene in just three minutes, and got the fire under control within seconds. No one was injured.

Experts say when you fill up your tank remember to touch something metal, like the side of your car before reaching for the pump. That will prevent any static sparks from igniting the gasoline.

Tesoro To Switch To Ethanol Gasoline In California Tesoro Petroleum Corp. plans to switch its California gasoline production to the ethanol-based CARBOB blend in early 2003, company spokeswoman Tara Ford informed. The company will

InnovaTek demonstrated its InnovaGen™ fuel processor technology for the U.S. Army, meeting an important milestone in its development program.

The company demonstrated an alpha-stage laboratory prototype that converts diesel fuel to hydrogen using a proprietary catalytic process and an advanced separations membrane.

The system produces pure hydrogen at a rate of 12 liters per minute, enough to produce 1 kW electrical energy from a fuel cell.

Tokheim Sale Complete

remains for a total package of more than $50 million. The court upheld successful bids presented in an auction earlier this month. First Reserve Corp., parent company of pump manufacturer Dresser Wayne, obtains Tokheim's North American retail gasoline dispenser business for $17.83 million, while Danaher Corp., proprietor of multiple fuel equipment holdings including dispenser maker Gilbarco, picks up Tokheim's Gasboy subsidiary for $38.3 million, according to the Associated Press.

For the city of Fort Wayne, the lengthy demise of an industrial stalwart marks a devastating blow to an already economically depressed region. While the two winning dispenser companies declined comment, it is likely that the Fort Wayne plant will be shut down, officials have said. That reality is not surprising as the petroleum equipment industry is in the midst of a major shakeout resulting in substantial consolidation in both underground and aboveground infrastructure, from tank gauging to dispensers.

For Tokheim, once the world's largest dispenser provider, the road to dissolution has been fraught with more than two years of financial uncertainty and downsizing. The company filed its second Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November and subsequently sought to halt health coverage of its remaining 400 employees. Since then, Tokheim continued to pare payroll and, now, according to media reports, sits in peril. Former Tokheim CFO John Negovetich has said that a successful bid by Dresser Wayne would result in the relocation of Tokheim operations to Dresser's plant in Austin, Texas.

The Fort Wayne community had held out hope that a local investment group would be successful in its efforts to continue operations. Last December, Ruffolo Benson LLC expressed interest in acquiring Tokheim's North American operations, excluding the Gasboy subsidiary in Landsale, Pa.

A U.S. bankruptcy court judge, waving aside concerns by the Justice Department about antitrust violations, approved the breakup of Tokheim Corp.'s assets Thursday.

Its two primary rivals divided the 21

News

Steel Tank Institute.

New Standard SP00100, Inspection of Shop Fabricated above ground storage tanks STI has published a new standard, STI SP001-00, Standard for Inspection of In-service Shop Fabricated Aboveground Tanks for Storage of Combustible and Flammable Liquids. This standard was developed at the request of the Federal EPA, in response to proposed tank inspection requirements that, under some circumstances, will become a mandatory part of a tank owner's Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) Plan, when the EPA rule becomes final by the end of the year.

The U.S. Clean Water Act requires that facilities covered under the EPA's SPCC regulations develop and submit an SPCC Plan, certified by a professional engineer, to prevent the discharge of oil into the U.S. navigable waters. Because the SPCC Rule includes facilities, which may discharge oil into groundwater or storm run-off, which in turn may flow into navigable waters, nearly all facilities that store or use oil products are affected.

The current rule states that above ground tanks should be subject to periodic integrity testing, using such techniques as hydrostatic testing, visual inspection or a system of non-destructive shell thickness testing.

The new STI Standard will be referenced in the final SPCC Rule.

Other than the new STI Standard, only API 653, Tank Inspection, Repair, Alteration and Reconstruction, addresses inspection of above ground storage tanks for flammable and combustible fluids.

The main targets for API 653 are the large, field-fabricated tanks that are fabricated to API 650. The extensive inspection requirements of API 653 are needed for large tanks because of the large volumes and hydrostatic pressures encountered. API 650 includes equations for calculating the steel 22

thickness needed for a particular tank.

These equations take into account pressure encountered, the type of steel used, the weld joints used, and the weld inspection testing used. The construction and installation of the smaller shop fabricated tanks differs greatly from those needed for large, fieldfabricated tanks. The shopfabricated tanks covered by STI SP001-00 are commonly manufactured to standards, such as UL 142 or UL 2085. These Underwriters Laboratories standards include tables that specify the steel thickness based on tank diameter and capacity.

Shop fabricated tanks have smaller capacities than site fabricated tanks, and therefore smaller hydrostatic pressures are encountered at the tank bottom.

Shop fabricated tank capacity is rarely more than 50,000 gallons.

Further, whereas API 650 tanks are always vertical, shop fabricated tanks are commonly horizontal cylindrical. The bottom of the tank is visible and the tank supports used to elevate the tank must be inspected.

The STI SP001-00 standard includes inspection techniques for all types of shop fabricated tanks, including those that are horizontalcylindrical, vertical, and rectangular; tanks that are either single or double wall; and tanks that rest directly on the ground or that are elevated on supports.

STI incorporated comments solicited from the US EPA representatives and several state representatives into the final standard, approved by STI in August. Copies of the standard are available at $35.00 (plus $5.00 shipping and handling) from the Steel Tank Institute, 570 Oakwood Road, Lake Zurich, IL 60047, Phone: 847/438-8265 Fax: 847438-8766.

African Countries Phasing out Leaded Petrol Within five years, most African countries will have phased out or be close to phasing out leaded petrol,

says the United Nations Environment Programme. Around 90% of petrol supplies around the world are unleaded. The remaining 10% that is leaded is concentrated in developing countries, according to the UNEP. The UNEP's survey reveals that, four countries - Egypt, Libya, Mauritius and the Sudan - are already fully lead-free, and this year four other countries - Morocco, Reunion, Tunisia and Western Sahara will join them. The progress does not stop there, as 22 other African countries, including South Africa, Ghana and Kenya countries are currently drawing up plans to phase out leaded fuel by 2006.

There are also plans to bring the remaining countries, many in central Africa into the unleaded fold.

Much of Africa has lagged behind the rest of the world in phasing out unleaded fuel mainly for technological reasons and misconceptions about the effect of unleaded fuel on engines, says UNEP Executive Director Klaus Toepfer. "Many people who drive older cars are convinced that they will suffer engine damage if they fill up with unleaded fuel, but this really is not the case," said Rob de Jong, the UNEP's programme officer for urban environment. Unleaded petrol works well, if not better in most if not all vehicles, he said.

"Unleaded petrol also allows motorists to drive vehicles with catalytic converters," he said.

The plan to phase out leaded fuel from Africa is being assisted by the Cleaner Fuels and Vehicles Partnership, one of the outcomes of the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg last August. As part of the scheme, the UNEP's on-site filling station at its headquarters in Kenya has ceased selling leaded fuel.

Zimbabwe: Petrol hoarding causes fire, property worth £3.5m destroyed Property worth £3.5 million was destroyed while two men escaped with moderate burns after petrol they had stored in their Kuwadzana

News home in Zimbabwe caught fire recently.

One of the men, Shelton Tsuro of Kuwadzana, was moving property from one room into the next using candlelight in the evening. The candle, which was supported by a stand on a bookshelf in the room, fell off, landing on a can containing about 40 litres of petrol. There was an explosion and the room immediately caught fire, which quickly spread to other rooms.

However, Shelton managed to help his father Elisha Tsuro out of the house and in the process, they both sustained moderate burns all over their bodies. The fire brigade was later summoned and the blaze was put out but some of the property could not be saved. Police spokesperson Inspector Cecilia Churu urged members of the public to refrain from hoarding petrol and storing it in their homes as this could prove fatal.

The two men who suffered moderate burns are at Harare Hospital receiving treatment.

Nigeria: Petrol Supplies Sabotaged The Nigerian Government has blamed recent petrol shortages on political sabotage. Information Minister Jerry Gana said it was no coincidence that traffic had been paralysed by a lack of petrol in the run-up to general elections in April.

Petrol has become scarce in Lagos and some other parts of Nigeria, prompting a return to the long petrol queues common during the military rule, which ended in 1999.

Correspondents say that President Olusegun Obasanjo had been citing the end of fuel queues as one of the key dividends of his rule during his re-election campaign.

'Dark days return' "For three years, we resolved the (fuel shortage) problem and then suddenly because we are now campaigning, some people thought they could make some subterranean moves just to discredit us," Mr Gana said. Oil officials have provided a raft of other reasons for the sudden

shortage of petrol: • • • • • •

Panic-buying Petrol hoarding Striking oil workers Broken-down refineries Fears of war in Iraq World oil markets

Nigeria is a major oil exporter but most petrol is imported. During the military era, corruption, smuggling and mismanagement led to massive petrol queues and some of those caught in Lagos traffic jams felt a sense of deja vu. "It is like the Abacha dark days are here again," civil servant Celestine Orji said sadly, remembering the regime of late military ruler General Sani Abacha. "What sort of country is this? Why should we continue to suffer in the midst of plenty?" he asked.

One man was relieved to get a full tank after a four-hour wait. Workers in Nigeria's oil exporting industry briefly went on strike last week but this should not have affected domestic supplies of imported petrol. However, this may have prompted panic buying, worsened by fears that a war in Iraq may lead to a rise in the price of petrol.

South Africa: Minister Omar Asked to Help Stop Massive Fuel Theft Road transport operators have appealed to transport minister Dullah Omar for help in combatting the theft of fuel amounting to millions of rand each year. Despite the prevalence of fuel theft, either through petrol card scams or by syndicates that drain petrol tankers, there is no national police investigation into the theft.

Each year SA truckers ferry 870 metric tons of goods, including fuel, worth R2 000 billion. The road freight industry employs 70,000 people and have launched a campaign to clean up the industry.

The Scorpions unit, a special investigation unit attached to the national prosecutions office, has at least five major fuel fraud investigations underway.

Convictions were recently obtained

in major fraud at Sasol's Secunda plant amounting to millions of rands.

Petrol at R4 a litre has made it one of the most desirable and easy to steal commodities in the country.

Across SA are multiple cases of theft ranging from brazen emptying of tankers into underground holds between Zeerust and the Botswana border, to petrol card scams, taxi industry heists and even paraffin being mixed into fuel to increase profits (and wreck your car engine).

Thieves have been found filling dustbins with fuel at filling stations late at night and taxis have got away with filling barrels with fuel at depot and racing past security guards and barriers with their valuable loot.

David Parry of BP ho heads the fuel industry Crime and Related Matters working group said fuel theft is a major problem. 'It involves many intermediaries and companies and cross border syndicates," he said.

Engen and Caltex say the situation is "grave." The fuel industry is reluctant to discuss theft believing that it could lead to further losses - but they are not the only ones experiencing the impact.

Ultimately the consumer pays.

South Africa's high taxes on fuel has given some dealers an incentive to buy stolen fuel. Forty percent of the cost of petrol goes to tax - 5% to the road accident levy, 1% customs and excise, 31% fuel levy, 3% equalisation fund. A dealer who does not pay tax by purchasing stolen fuel immediately makes at least a 40% profit.

Imperial - Largest Commercial Fueling Network in South Africa - Joins OTi's FuelMaster OTI announced that the Logistic and Transport Division of Imperial Bulk Services, the largest commercial fueling network in South Africa, has selected FuelMaster, OTI's Gasoline Management System, for its fleet in Africa. FuelMaster is the brand 25

News name under which BP sells OTI's Gasoline Management System in the African market.

This decision follows an extensive review and pilot implementation undertaken by Imperial. Revenues under the contract, which could exceed $1M, will predominantly result from the sale of OTI site equipment, volume-based fees, and installation services. Over 100 million litres of fuel were dispensed through the FuelMaster system in 2002, for which OTI receives transaction fees.

As a result of Imperial's decision to utilize OTI hand-held tags for driver identification in conjunction with the vehicle-mounted equipment, additional applications such as in-store purchases, time and attendance, access control, medical management and the payment of toll fees may be implemented in the later stages of the project.

With more than 50 transportrelated companies, Imperial's Logistics and Transport division employs 13,651 staff members at 210 branches and engages in long distance hauling including flat deck operations, tanker transport, refrigerated transport, forest harvesting and transportation of timber. It operates a fleet of approximately 5500 prime movers and 3000 trailers, which are to be equipped with the OTI system.

Want a Thai Massage? Go to a petrol station in Thailand Traditional Thai massage services at petrol stations are proving a real hit. Not only is there a long queue for a good rubdown, the good business is also spilling over into sales of petrol and at the convenience stores. 'Usually, we sell around 600,000 litres of petrol, but since the massage service started just a few months ago, sales are now up to around 650,000 litres a month,' said Mr Kiertikul Komin, senior vice-president, marketing, for Bangchak Petroleum Plc. Bangchak's New Charoen Krung 26

service station was the first branch to open an 'Alternative Health Centre' offering traditional massage. Sales at the station's convenience store, coffee shops and even its laundry service have also improved since, said Mr Kiertikul. 'The new service deserves all the credit,' he added. During peak periods - after office hours on weekdays and on weekends - the waiting list is long even though 10 masseurs are on duty.

Riem Bhodhiphan, the area manager who oversees the shop, says customers now make reservations by phone. Is there scope for this in Europe?

Tokyo: Fuel Cell Vehicle Unveiled by Nissan; X-Trail FCV powered by UTC Fuel Cells Plant Nissan X-TRAIL FCV fuel cell vehicle powered by a UTC Fuel Cells (UTCFC) hydrogen power plant was unveiled in Tokyo. The vehicle is the first produced under agreements signed between Nissan and UTC Fuel Cells to develop fuel cells and fuel cell components for vehicles. The zero-emissions XTRAIL FCV is a hybrid vehicle drawing primary power from a 75kilowatt UTCFC ambient pressure fuel cell power plant. It is fueled by compressed hydrogen. Nissan intends to start public road testing of the vehicle in Japan. UTC Fuel Cells is also developing fuel cells for the fleet vehicle market with partners Irisbus of Europe and Thor Industries of the United States. A Thor Industries' bus powered by a 75-kilowatt fuel cell power plant unit entered passenger service in November with Sunline Transit Agency, which serves the Greater Palm Springs, California, area.

Bio-fuels, a greener alternative to diesel It turns out that Rudolf Diesel, who invented the diesel engine, had as early as in 1899, experimented

with the by-products of coal distillation and coke plants, such as tar and creosote oils. And he came to the conclusion that it was possible to burn vegetable and animal oils without difficulty.

In 1912, he wrote "...the first trials were made in 1900 with earth-nut oil; it is certain that motor power can still be produced from the heat of the sun which is always available for agricultural purposes, even where all our natural stores of solid and liquid fuels are exhausted".

A hundred years on, diesel may still be the wonder fuel it was touted to be, but its effect on the air quality and the health of a city has assumed alarming proportions, and the search for clean, green fuels continues.

And then there was E.F. Schumacher, who wrote in the foreword to Forest Farming, Prosperity for India, "travelling through India, I came to the conclusion that there was no salvation for India except through trees."

In 1952, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research declared, "It can be safely stated, therefore, that when running diesel engines on vegetable oils without any appreciable change in design, it is possible to get similar, or superior, efficiency to that obtained when using mineral oil."

Much diesel has been burned since then and, hearteningly, the search for bio-fuels has not been flagging.

Scientists and technologists are now talking of a national policy on non-edible vegetable oils as bio-fuels.

SuTRA (Sustainable Transformation of Rural Areas), Indian Institute of Science, and the Samagra Vikas Trust have planned a seminar on the subject on February 1. The retired V. Balasubramanian, who is the convener of the seminar, has said that a committee chaired by K.V. Raju, Institute of Social and Economic Change, has drafted a national policy after a series of consultations. The draft is being circulated among various agencies and organisations for their inputs.

The Samagra Vikas Trust president, Y.B. Ramakrishna, says the trust has joined hands with SuTRA to popularise and promote

News the technology to extract bio-fuels from non-edible oils. SuTRA has been successfully running a demonstration of the holistic benefits of the technology at Ungura, a village in Kunigal, near Bangalore, for many years now.

It has been very successful in promoting the honge (pongamia) oil as a diesel substitute to run generators to produce electricity to pump water. It has also been shown that diesel-run automobiles can be run on these non-edible oils.

There is also ample opportunity for socio-economic development of the rural community that can be centred on honge cultivation and production of honge oil, the Samagra Vikas Trust's Vaman Acharya points out.

We are closer than we think to what Joshua Tickell, writing in From the Fryer to the Fuel Tank visualises: "As you roll down your window to let in some fresh air, you notice the sweet smell of French fries... you turn your diesel off, and wonder why nobody believed you when you told them that you were going to run your car on French fry oil."

OMV buys BP assets and becomes CEE market leader OMV buys BP assets, becomes CEE market leader: • Acquisition of 313 filling stations from BP in Germany, Hungary and Slovakia • 45% stake in BAYERNOIL and 18% stake in the Transalpine pipeline • •

Accelerates growth and adds value Earnings accretive in 2003

OMV, the European oil and gas group, today announces the acquisition of 313 Aral and BP filling stations in Southern Germany, Hungary and Slovakia from Deutsche BP AG. OMV has also acquired a 45% stake in BAYERNOIL, a network of three refineries in the Ingolstadt area, and an 18% stake in the Transalpine pipeline (TAL) from Trieste to

Bavaria. The purchasing price of about EUR 377 million will be financed through debt. This acquisition is a further milestone in OMV's strategy and strengthens its leading position in the core markets of Central and Eastern Europe. This deal meets OMV's strategic target of achieving a 10% market share in Bavaria and will be immediately earnings accretive from 2003 onwards.

In line with strategy, following the acquisition of the international exploration and production portfolio of Preussag Energie from TUI AG in January 2003, OMV extends its Central and Eastern European retail network from 1,232 as of December 31, 2002 to 1,615 stations, the latter including 70 service stations acquired during the last year.

With an additional 5.4 mn tons (t) the company's refinery capacity in Bavaria increases from 3.4 mn t to 8.8 mn t per year. With the opportunity of integrating OMV's refinery Burghausen into the Southern German refinery network of BAYERNOIL, a 12 mn t network established in 1998, this builds up a strong strategic supply position. In addition, OMV intends to exploit short-term and long-term synergy effects to optimize the filling station and commercial business.

The Company will spend approximately EUR 220 mn on the retail station networks, about EUR 142 mn on the stake in the refineries and about EUR 15 mn on the TAL pipeline. In addition to the purchasing price, it is expected that working capital will be approximately EUR 150 mn. In the short term, this acquisition will be financed through debt thus increasing the gearing rate. OMV will not consider a capital increase for this transaction and remains committed to its long term gearing target of 30%. The acquisition will become effective at its closing, scheduled for the second quarter of 2003.

Wolfgang Ruttenstorfer, CEO of OMV said: "This acquisition is fully in line with our strategy to double our size by 2008 and to become a leading European oil and gas company. We have achieved a leading position in Bavaria and have enhanced our presence in Hungary and Slovakia, both

countries which will join the European Union in 2004."

Ruttenstorfer adds that as an integrated oil and gas company, OMV strives to achieve a balanced rate of expansion in its two core segments, namely Exploration and Production (E & P) and Refining and Marketing (R & M). OMV adopted a strategic balance ratio of 0.5 to 1 between the equity production in E & P and the output in Refining.

Market leader in a market with more than 100 million people Gerhard Roiss, Deputy CEO of OMV and member of the Board with responsibility for R & M, added: "Our target is to operate at least 2,000 filling stations in our core region. With this acquisition, we significantly strengthen our leadership in the Central and Eastern European region." The purchase of the network of high quality filling stations ties in with the expansive quality and convenience strategy. This adds an additional opportunity of growth for the 491 VIVA shops and 100 Vienna Cafés that are already operating.

Through this acquisition the OMV Group increases its retail network to 1,615 stations, reaching a market share of 12%. The Company's target remains to increase market share in the Central and Eastern European growth market - home to 100 mn people - to 20% by 2008.

Third largest network of filling stations in Bavaria, a market share of almost 10% 247 of the purchased filling stations are located in Southern Germany, mainly in Bavaria, Saxony, Baden-Württemberg and Thuringia. This acquisition and the acquisitions of the previous year increase OMV's market share in Bavaria from 2% to 9% and the number of filling stations from 76 as of December 31, 2002 to 246 (118 thereof as a result of this transaction).

OMV also acquires a further 71 stations in Baden-Württemberg. In Saxony, the number of filling stations operated by OMV rises from 20 to 50, and market share from about 4% to 9%. In 2002, the filling stations acquired in Germany achieved sales of approximately 27

News 747 mn litres, corresponding to an average annual sales volume of approximately 3.02 mn litres per station, versus a Bavarian average of 2.9 mn litres and an Austrian average of approximately 2.2 mn litres.

OMV with 43% of the refining capacity most important supplier in Bavaria With the acquisition of a 45% stake in BAYERNOIL Raffineriegesellschaft mbH, which disposes of a processing capacity of approximately 12 mn t, OMV's annual crude oil processing capacity in Bavaria increases by 5.4 mn t to 8.8 mn t. Roiss commented: "With a total petroleum products market of 18.8 mn t, we are now the most important supplier in Bavaria."

In addition, with the acquired further 18% stake in the Transalpine pipeline, OMV holds a 25% stake in one of the most significant crude oil pipelines from the Mediterranean to the North. OMV's refinery in Schwechat is supplied by the AdriaWien-Pipeline, a spur line of the TAL pipeline.

BAYERNOIL consists of three pipeline-connected refineries equipped with state-of-the-art technology. In 2002, these sites, located in Ingolstadt, Vohburg and Neustadt, respectively, produced approximately 10 mn t of mineral oil products. A possible integration of the OMV refinery in Burghausen into this network of refineries originally established in 1998 would provide to considerable short and mid-term synergies. Roiss adds: "An integration with the network will markedly improve our refinery's competitiveness." The acquisition also enhances OMV's position in the Bavarian commercial business, the area being a net import market. It also supports supplies to the Munich airport, where OMV already supplies 50% of the jet fuel. In addition, it also creates an attractive supply base for customer demand in the Czech Republic and Western Austria.

Strong international player in Hungary In Hungary, OMV's acquisition of 55 quality Aral branded filling stations increases market share from approximately 11% to 16%, 28

firmly establishing OMV as the leading international company in this growth market. As a result of this acquisition, the number of OMV filling stations in Hungary increases from 113 to 168. In 2002, the newly purchased stations sold approximately 180 mn litres or an average of 3.3 mn litres per station, versus a Hungarian average of approximately 2.1 mn litres. The Hungarian market, including the economically strong Budapest area, is supplied directly from the OMV refinery in Schwechat and OMV's Danube storage facility in Csepel.

Leading international provider in Slovakia In Slovakia, OMV takes over 11 Aral filling stations, thereby increasing the number of stations to 81 and market share from 13% to 15%. This establishes OMV as the largest international filling station company in Slovakia. In 2002, the sales volume of the newly purchased filling stations amounted to approximately 24 mn litres, or an average of 2.2 mn litres per station, against a Slovakian average of approximately 1.8 mn litres per station.

Sale of the BP-R&M portfolio In the wake of its acquisition of Veba Oel AG from E.ON in 2001, BP will sell its participating interests in BAYERNOIL and the TAL pipeline as well as the filling station networks. The German Monopolies and Mergers Commission has given its approval of the acquisition, but it is dependent on BP's selling of 45% of its stake in BAYERNOIL Raffineriegesellschaft mbH and 4 percentage points of its market share in the German filling station business based on the sales figures for the year 2000.

The conclusion of the transaction depends on the approval and decisions of the shareholders involved and the competition authorities of the German provinces and countries. It is expected to be concluded in the second quarter of 2003.

Press Releases Is global oil production close to peaking?

"Global conventional oil production will reach its physical peak in approximately 10 years" said Dr Roger Bentley, Research Fellow at the University of Reading at last week's Institute of Energy oil depletion debate. Debated by Mr Francis Harper, Manager of Reserves and Resources a BP and Professor Paul Stevens, Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law Policy at Dundee University, this event considered the possibility of oil supply peaking between 2010 and 2015.

One of the key issues that arose as a result of this debate was that further discussion was needed as to what would happen if and when global oil production started to decline. Prof Paul Stevens said "If oil supply were to reach physical limits, it would not be a catastrophe, it would simply encourage other areas of human ingenuity".

However, this debate demonstrated an overwhelming consensus from delegates that the industry needs urgent Government intervention, encouraging additional investment and improvements in the global energy mix.

Whilst Mr Harper stated that future production will come from a combination of known reserves and potential growth in those reserves and future discoveries, he agreed that world oil production would probably peak and fall due to resource limits, and rapid development of other forms of energy, such as renewables, would play a greater role in the energy mix.

With Dr Bentley arguing that conventional oil production is already in resource limited decline in many countries, including the UK, the US and Indonesia; and in overall decline in Europe, North America and the Asian-Pacific region, John Ingham CEng FInstE, Secretary and Chief Executive of the Institute of Energy said, "This issue will not go away and the Institute of Energy will continue to provide a platform to progress

News discussions to take this forward and assist in identifying actions for the future."

For further information please contact the Institute of Energy on 020 7580 0008 JoannaHeke communications@instenergy.org.uk

InstE and IP merger update Addressing the Institute of Energy's Annual Northern Ireland Branch Dinner at the Culloden Hotel, Cultra, John Blackhall CEng FInstE, President of the Institute of Energy provided an update on the proposed merger between the Institute of Energy and the Institute of Petroleum. He said, "as with many of our supporters, the Institute of Energy has to change to continue to meet the needs of its industry. Over 10 months ago, a team of InstE trustees began working to develop a proposal for the Institute of Energy to broaden its horizons. The aim being the creation of a strong, single body that will serve the needs of the energy business, globally, in the 21st century. It was very quickly apparent to all concerned, when the trustees of both Institutes first met, that the potential merger represented an exciting opportunity to create a unique body. One that was truly representative of the entire energy sector and that could ably serve both its group and individual members' needs both today and well into the future."

In January of this year, the 12,000 combined members of the Institute of Energy and Institute of Petroleum received a merger prospectus and a ballot paper. Members were asked whether they supported the merger proposal to create the Energy Institute. Over 40% of the combined membership voted, with over 94% of votes cast in favour of the merger. John Blackhall went on to say "our members have given us a clear mandate for change and a solid base from which to build the Energy Institute. With this very positive go-ahead we can now start laying the promised foundations for the future of the Energy Institute and for all energy professionals."

John Ingham CEng FInstE, Secretary and Chief Executive of the Institute of Energy says, "the new Institute will provide academic, professional and technical support for individuals and companies involved in all aspects of the energy industry, from the renewable energy sector through to the exploration and production of hydrocarbons. He goes on to say "by their votes InstE and IP members have taken that first and most significant step and together we are now embarking on a new and exciting chapter in our proud histories. I am confident that we have the expertise and ability to manage not only the process of merger but also the expectation to achieve the promises made."

For further information please contact the Institute of Energy on 020 7580 0008 JoannaHeke communications@instenergy.org.uk

Lans Man Joins Safety Elite Ian Burns, QAR, H&S Advisor, Lead Auditor at Fairbanks Environment Ltd in Lancs has received the prestigious British Safety Council Diploma in Safety Management at an awards ceremony at HQS Wellington, London.

Mr Burns was among 80 safety professionals who were presented with their awards following the completion of the Diploma.

In achieving the award, Mr Burns will be in a better position to help create a safer working environment for co-workers at Fairbanks Environment Ltd. Additional knowledge and monitoring of health and safety in the workplace could eventually help reduce the £18 billion a year cost of on-site accidents and illness in the United Kingdom.

In a message of congratulations to successful delegates, Safety Council Director General David Ballard said: "Good safety is good business and can save firms hundreds of thousands of pounds.

In passing the Diploma in Safety Management, Mr Burns has shown a big commitment to improving

workplace health and safety and reducing the toll of 300 work-related deaths each year."

Many company directors and managers are unaware of how big the savings from first-rate safety management can be.

Diploma delegates study safety law, communicating the safety message, advanced safety management, management of occupational health and hygiene and risk management.

Fairbanks Environment Ltd contact: Brian Reed, telephone 0787 969 6967 British Safety Council contact: Mardi Westphalen, telephone 0208600 5570, email mardi_w@britsafe.org

UK Pre-Tax unleaded petrol price confirmed as the lowest amongst mahor EU countries in 2002 The average pump price of unleaded 95 octane petrol, excluding duty and VAT, on Britain's forecourts was the lowest amongst major EU countries during 2002.

Data from OPAL Oil Price Assessments Ltd, one of Europe's leading energy information companies specialising in downstream oil markets, was based on the monitoring of major brand pump prices across 10 EU members countries. It revealed that the UK average pre-tax pump price of unleaded 95 petrol was a full 1 penny per litre cheaper at 16.6 pence per litre than the next lowest countries, France and Germany on 17.7ppl.

The UK was also second cheapest pre-tax for diesel averaging18.3ppl, compared with 17.9ppl in Germany and 18.4ppl in France.

Malcolm Webb, Director General of UKPIA, commented "This data from OPAL underlines just how competitive fuel retailing is in the UK. Pre-tax pump prices have been consistently amongst the lowest in the EU over the last six years. At 29

News the same time, our members have introduced cleaner low sulphur fuels well ahead of the EU mandated deadlines, which combined with new engine and exhaust clean-up technologies, have made a significant contribution to reduced exhaust emissions".

Competition in fuel retailing is also reflected in the level of gross margin on each litre of petrol sold the difference between the selling price of petrol and the open market cost - which, OPAL figures show, averaged just over 4 pence per litre in 2002. This compared with close to 7 pence in 1992. The gross margin is not the profit available to a retailer but represents the sum available to cover costs such as transporting fuel from a refinery, marketing and promotion, and operating a filling station.

These tough conditions have contributed to the closure of filling stations in both urban and rural areas of the UK, whose number has declined from over 18,500 in 1992 to 12,200 in 2001.(Source: IP UK Retail Marketing Survey 2002) Enquires to: Nick Vandervell, UKPIA Tel. 020 7240 0289/0780 3954090

BP Contract Boosts Remote Management Company A North East, UK company has signed its first major contract in the UK to supply the remote wet stock management services to the BP UK network of convenience retail locations. eGasStation Europe Limited, based in Gateshead, is in the process of surveying the first group of the BP convenience retail locations across the country to begin provisioning its remote wet stock management services. eGasStation wet stock services program will help BP detect and immediately respond to any emerging petroleum product leaks, troubleshoot site equipment inaccuracies (i.e. miscalibrated pumps), and improve the overall site profitability.

Martin McTague, Managing Director of eGasStation Europe 30

Limited, said: "Obviously, we are delighted to have signed our first European contract with BP Oil UK as they are part of one of the largest oil companies in the world. We are confident that the lifecycle cost to fuel retailers of introducing remote management services to their site operations will be offset against the significant cost savings" For further information please contact Phillippa Hughes at eGasStation on telephone number (0191) 482 7798 or email info@egasstation.co.uk

Concerns over Lead Replacement Petrol (LRP) Storage Fuel contamination of LRP storage is being reported as being the cause of internal corrosion on a petrol storage tank that recently failed.

Microbial corrosion is a relatively rare phenomenon in petrol storage tanks in the UK and is thought to have caused the problem.

Contaminated LRP fuel, which is a slow selling product and is often not replenished for up to a month, provides the ideal conditions for microbial growth to occur. The microbes thrive on the fuel/water interface that occurs at the bottom of the tank. The digestive result from the activity is nitric acid that can attack any surface.

Microbial corrosion is more commonly found in marine storage, and can only occur if the fuel is dirty and contains water, clean fuel will not support microbial growth.

The major oil companies due to low demand are withdrawing LRP and those with concern for their storage tanks may well speed up this process.

Tanks should always be checked for water, and this should be removed, or the fuel tank dosed with additives to destroy the microbes.

Petrol Filling Station Numbers Continue to Decline The Institute of Petroleum annual retail marketing survey on petrol filling stations has revealed a further reduction in the number of sites operating, there being 11,423

a reduction of 778 on last year's figures.

More reductions are almost certain with major oils continuing to disinvest further following The shake down after recent mergers, along with some of the smaller uneconomic dealer sites closing.

The Figures show that only 8264 sites have self service, the numbers for the major oils are: Texaco Esso BP Shell TotalElfFina Jet Murco Q8 310

1337 1295 1247 1159 1136 576 422

Tesco Sainsbury Safeway Asda Morrison Spar (N Ireland) Coop

346 229 184 154 99 21 17

The stations operate 191,816 nozzles, 6504 of the sites have stage 1B vapour recovery, which is only 57% of the sites.

Boy Killed in Petrol Fire Police named a teenager from south Wales who was killed in a fire, which left a school friend with serious burns. Gwent police said that on Saturday 29 March they believed that 12-year-old Richard Hawrot suffered fatal injuries in a fire that started as they tried to refuel a scooter in the back yard of his friend's house in Newport.

Police believed that one of the boys might have used a cigarette lighter to help them see what they were doing in the darkness. The fuel caught light and the children were trapped in the courtyard style back garden. Richard suffered fatal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene. It took fire fighters an hour to bring the blaze under control, and the friend was taken to a specialist burns unit where his condition is believed to be serious.

site operations, pumping out fuel and taking back to the depot it is the combination of disruption, inconvenience and cost which makes such a valve attractive.

Articles

The Forecourt Show (IFFE)

by Jamie Thompson William Reed put on the International Forecourt and Fuel Equipment Show in Birmingham at the NEC on 4 to 6th March this year.

The show was in partnership with the APEA who provided speaker sessions during the event. In addition the APEA annual dinner was held at the Metropole Hotel on 5th March.

Visitors to the APEA stand met Jane Mardell the new business manager and with the stand situated

Tony Jenner and Jane Mardell at the APEA Dinner

New products were harder to find in the engineering section but interest was found in the following.

left to right: Jamie Thompson, Jane Mardell, Jack Brinkhurst, Phil Monger, Anton Martiniussen and Andy Berry on the APEA stand

next to the seminar position may visitors called to pick up information on training and Jane joined 10 new members from the Exhibition.

The Dinner The Annual APEA Dinner was attended by almost 400 people at the Metropole Hotel and it proved a popular event with good entertainment. Tony Jenner the chairman thanked Jane Mardell for making all the arrangements and introduced the after dinner speaker (name) who was an air traffic controller. People who were flying the next day would have had some anxious moments, but most of us sat back and enjoyed a wonderful evening, which did not finish for many until the early hours of the morning.

Judging from the late arrivals the next day and puffy eyes we all enjoyed a good evening.

Crossover Prevention Valve Risbridger has developed a crossover prevention valve that is new to the industry to prevent diesel and petrol crossovers. The valve has been developed using a chemical fuse, this is fitted to the fill point of the tank will automatically trigger a shut of mechanism when the fuse "fails" following a delivery of the wrong product. I spoke to one oil company engineer who told me that crossovers cost the industry far too much at the moment and apart from disruptions to

Tank Gauge 4Tech ASA from Norway has produced a tank gauge with a difference and it is claimed to be one of the most accurate gauges on the market. The system based on mass measurement is a simple system with excellent design and software that has been refined to provide whatever the customer wants. The system can perform as a stand-alone gauging system; it can perform and monitor delivery reports, reconciliation, leak detection water alarms temperature measurements etc.

Vapour Management Valve Accumulus is a new valve on the market from the Petroman stable and there was a lot of interest in the Accumulus vapour management system. The valve that is fitted in the fill pipe internal just inside the tank is designed to radically improve the performance of vapour recovery systems and prevent the loss of vapour from the tank especially during delivery. The valve is designed to reduce the pressure during unloading while achieving a negative pressure between the delivery tanker and the tank farm. This allows a much leaner mixture of vapour to be passed back to the road tanker.

Test results on one operational site is very favourable with pay back time estimated to be around 2 years for an average site but much sooner for busy sites.

There is considerable interest from California where CARB are anxious to trial a system.

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Articles

Car wheel falls through forecourt

by Kerry Clarke Petroleum and Explosives Officer, Trading Standards Herefordshire Council In Hereford City Centre on the evening of Sunday 23rd February 2003, a car wheel falls through the petrol station forecourt directly

adjacent to the concrete slab where the vehicle refill's. The site was closed by police and fire brigade.

After a daylight inspection, it would appear that half the forecourt has no underground support, just a 20ft deep cave as far as the eye can

32

see with water at the bottom!

After a visit from surveyors with help from a light lowered into the "cave" it appeared to have some sort of circular shape with perfect stone and brick work. Many suggestions were made to try and guess what it was using old plans and drawings: An old well? Something in relation to the old Canal?, Underground escape for the old monastery?

It has now been revealed that it is likely to be a medieval pit which was inherited by wool and leather factory in the late 1800's. The factory then made use of the pit and built up the walls which would

explain the 2 types of brickwork (sandstone into orange bricks). We assume this pit was used as a

tanning/soaking leather/wool

pit for the manufacturing

process. When the factory closed the pit seemed to have been capped with wooden railway sleepers or something similar and forgotten about. In the 1950's/60's the petrol station was built and has been in use ever since and over the years the sleepers have rotted and collapsed revealing the pit on Sunday. To give you an idea of the task in hand, the diameter of the pit was approx 13 feet, and the depth at least 25 feet. It was situated approx 3ft from the canopy support, approx 1ft from the kiosk and approx 3ft from an underground fuel tank. A suction line passes over the pit wall! And no-one ever knew???

I am later informed of the process for making leather using this method, which is that they would need multiple Tanning Pit's which usually are adjacent to each other!

If it wasn't for the reinforced concrete slab on the dispensing forecourt, maybe a whole car or person may have gone in......very lucky escape I think!

The pit will was filled with a concrete foamed slurry. Also ground surveyors shall be looking for the other tanning pits...may find one under the kiosk....who knows!

Articles

Can Mobile Phone Communications Ignite Petroleum Vapour?

By Jamie Thompson The Institute of Petroleum hosted a daylong seminar on 11 March on mobile phones with a series of interesting presentations that questioned both the regulatory and general policy of oil companies, and mobile phone suppliers, which is aimed at preventing the operation of mobile phones while on petrol filling station forecourts.

Mike Longman the chairman of the IP Distribution and Marketing committee opened the proceedings with an overview and explained that the IP was acting as a facilitator to promote technical discussion on the subject and cut through some of the myth and rumour which surrounded this subject.

Mark Phillips of Dr J H Burgoyne and Partners reminded delegates of the basic requirements for ignition and explained the gas air mixture and temperatures for ignition.

Peter Harrison of Nokia explained the breakdown of the elements on the modern mobile phone, its components, the power used and a little about the RF signals they produce.

Tony Maddocks of ERA Technology explained the theory and problems of RF ignition and explained the new British Standard BS6656 November 2002, which covers the subject. It became clear that the present generations of mobile phones do not appear to present an ignition problem as far as RF signals are concerned.

Malcolm Bosher of Spyder Facilities presented a paper on

the base stations and the fact that petrol filling stations are now seen as a favoured place to position them. He explained that the hazard came from the unit that was normally up a pole on the site. The unit should be placed a minimum of 3m from a hazardous area and he explained that due to its usual elevated position this was usually outside the hazardous area. He also explained that his company carried out a risk assessment at each site and presented plans to the petroleum licensing authority.

Two presentations from the United States covering research projects on mobile phones were next on the programme. First, Glenn Kuriger of University of Oklahoma explained that experiments showed that mobile phone batteries could be deliberately short-circuited and were able to produce sparking.

The batteries were then placed in the phone and when tried again in flammable atmospheres could not replicate ignition. The conclusion from this study in the US was that ignition from mobile phones at a petrol filling station was negligible.

Nathan Weyandt of South West Research Institute covered a research project he undertook on an ignition source that may have been caused by a mobile phone.

Intensive manipulation of the phone in laboratory conditions and in an explosive atmosphere failed to secure ignition. The conclusion was this mobile phone was not the cause of the ignition.

Jeremy Smallwood of Electrostatics Solutions explained the research he had undertaken regarding possible electrostatics implication of mobile phone use and these were considered lower than possible ignition of mobile phone itself.

The only presentation to apparently support the current stance taken by industry and the regulators was from Michael

Bergmeiers of ECOM Instruments who explained that under European Law and the ATEX directive there is a need for equipment to be assessed for use in hazardous areas. This was especially true for people using the phone during refuelling.

His presentation was particularly interesting by pointing out that phones fitted with a vibrating alert almost certainly had a small sparking motor in the phone. It became clear during the questions that the research in the US did not cover the vibrating alert. He also explained that phones could be produced which are intrinsically safe.

Richard Coates of BP then explained the myths and alleged reports of incidents and confusion between mobile phone ignitions and those involving static in the US. He did however state the distraction issue in using mobile phones during filling would mean that BP would support the current ban on mobiles on forecourts.

In the discussions that followed the presentations the mobile phone suppliers view was that the ban should be lifted and with pump and credit card authorisation technology available via the mobile phone there is a strong marketing reason to challenge the existing restrictions.

The meeting did not provide the ultimate answer and Mike Longman explained that the IP were just the facilitator. John Hazledean of the HSE did explain that the UK had a duty in law to comply with the ATEX directive but agreed he would through the HELA structure agree to meet with representatives of the industry (Intellect) to look at the current advice to see if it needed changing.

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Articles

Tank Remedial Modification Part Two

By Ray King, Director of King Tanktechnic Ltd

To Line or Not to Line To continue from part one "The Reasons Tanks Leak we would reiterate that the powers now granted to the Government Environment Agency from April 1999 allow inspectors to ensure that tanks and their infrastructure, pipes and pumps are liquid tight before any leak takes place. The power granted enables EA. inspectors to issue improvement orders called 'work notices' which, once issued, becomes part of a prosecution procedure should they be ignored and can lead to imprisonment or large fines upon conviction.

and, in some cases, will not offer insurance cover for off site and the owner site cleaning and ground remediation costs if the damage is caused by leaks.

Tank lining is the easiest way to afford protection from leaks and we must stress that tank lining is not a temporary solution but a very long term permanent u p g r a d e system.

T h e estimated cost saving can be more than 50% of the replacement tank cost

excavations required, the work is undertaken, in most cases, without interrupting normal business and losing customers and turnover. The work can be used as a 'one tank' remediation modification and full site upgrades are a very viable

Double Skin Lining with Electrostatic Protection System

dependent upon the system of retrofit lining chosen.

Apart from the overall cost saving of undertaking a tank lining you do not need to obtain planning permission.

There are no civil engineering Flexible Inliner under Vacuum Test

Some 40% of our drinking water is derived from groundwater. Therefore, given local ground conditions which allow the migration of spilt petroleum products, a few litres of product can pollute many thousands of litres of groundwater.

Owners of retail and commercial underground storage tanks (U.S.T.s) have a duty to protect the public, the environment and their own capital infrastructure from leaking U.S.T.s and must take into account that many UK insurance companies regard unprotected single skin U.S.T.s as a major risk 38

Leaking tank prior to removal

alternative to tankage replacement.

We have found that 80% of tank leaks we have had to investigate are caused by internal corrosion which is completely stopped after tank lining.

The tank is lined after the residual product is removed. A full manentry tank clean and de-gassing

Articles procedure is undertaken.

It is a requirement of current HSE guidance and IP/APEA information that prior to re-lining a full inspection of the tank internal is undertaken by a competent person, including extensive ultrasonic thickness testing and recording the extent of any corrosion and the cause to both internal and external

Inspection of G.R.P laminate prior to final coating

surfaces.

A comprehensive report shall be issued including the age of the tank, the type of backfill and all nondestructive testing results. This report also confirms the suitability of the tank to become a donor tank for an upgrade re-lining system. The internal tank surface is abrasive blast cleaned, any perforations are mechanically repaired. The tank is

Regulators work in partnership to help retailers

by The Environment Agency The Environment Agency was delighted to launch a new guidance document at the recent International Fuel and Forecourt equipment event at the NEC. "Wetstock Reconcilation at Fuel Storage Facilities: An Operators Guide" was released just in time for the show and over 1000 copies were distributed to representatives of all sectors of the industry.

The "self help" guide is an

then ready to receive the chosen lining system.

Single Skin System The system can be applied both by the hand rolling method using laminating techniques or spray application. The most commonly used lining materials are vinylester or polyester glass flake composites and glass fibre laminates and advanced solvent free epoxy systems.

The lining system is bonded to the existing internal steel tank wall therefore building a 'tank within a tank.' The final thickness of this fully cured lining shall be between 1mm and 3mm thick dependent upon the system used Double Skin Systems After completion of the Single Skin System (the first stage of a Double Skin System) the second stage is to build an interstitial space which will form the foundation for the final stage of construction - the forming of the secondary tank using similar materials used in the application of the Single Skin System.

This inner secondary tank is constantly monitored by an explosion proof fully approved alarm control which will record a change within the interstitial space should the tank leak and gives both a visual and an audible alarm...

introduction to wetstock reconciliation for site operators. It describes the theory of wetstock reconciliation and shows some worked examples of the mathematics. It goes on to explain many of the causes of variance affecting wetstock reconciliation and how to generate a "normal operating pattern" for the site. It then goes on to explain what to do in the event of a deviation from the normal operating pattern.

The guide has been written by a project team from the Agency's North West Region after inspections of petrol filling stations were carried out jointly by the Agency and Petroleum Licensing Officers. These joint inspections were carried out on petrol filling stations located on Groundwater

Bladder In-liner A flexible leak protection 1 g 11 d a 'Bag Liner' or 'Bladder' is fabricated from a PVC or other approved fabric. The donor tank has a fleece or polystyrene honeycomb fabric fitted to form an interstitial space. The bladder/bag is installed and a vacuum is generated between the tank wall and inliner which is linked to a monitoring control system.

For successful installation of Inliners it is required that the donor tank be sound and able to stand a pressure test. For the leak detection system to be effective, this may require single skin tank remediation prior to installation of the Inliner Electrostatic Protection All lining systems installed in Europe and used for the storage of inflammable liquids belonging to Class 1 and Class 11 shall have an Electrostatic protection system installed and should be earth conductive to avoid static build up.

This information is provided by Raymond King, Director King Tanktechnic Ltd., telephone 0161-684 8534. Mr King has over 40 years experience working as an Engineer on tanking projects in the UK., Europe and the Farm and MIddle East on both downstream and upstream operations.

Source Protection Zones.

Having carried out several joint inspections in Lancashire, it became evident that many of the 39

Articles sites did not have adequate leak detection systems in place and some sites were doing no wetstock reconciliation at all.

It was clear that these site operators needed support to improve their operations on site and so the Environment Agency and Lancashire County Council Trading Standards set up a partnership and provided training courses for almost 100 retailers across the county.

A project team was then set up to produce an easy-to-use guide for site operators to implement on site.

County Councillor Doreen Pollitt said: "Petrol can be a very dangerous product and any leak or escape can result in both the risk of fire and explosion and pollution of the environment. This guide will enable petrol retailers to monitor their wetstock more closely and help in the earlier detection of leaks for the benefit and safety of businesses, residents and the environment. The project is a good example of how working in partnership can bring real benefits to the community and businesses of Lancashire."

The guide is targeted at sites which do not have leak detection

equipment in place and which do not carry out adequate wetstock reconciliation. It has been written with the intention of helping these sites to improve their own operations whilst incurring little cost.

The inspectors accept that on many of these sites more advanced leak detection procedures would be preferable but we also acknowledge that these advanced procedures require capital investment that may not be available.

The joint inspections are continuing in North West Region and the operating agreement is about to be adopted in some other regions to allow them to benefit from the efficiencies it provides. The new guide will be distributed during the inspections and advice and guidance will be offered to support the guide.

The Environment Agency is confident that the widespread use of the guide will improve the quality of wetstock reconcilation with the benefit of protecting the environment.

Jo Bradley, Environment Officer at the Environment Agency, said, " During our site visits, many sites were found which did not have leak detection equipment in place and

which did not carry out adequate wetstock reconciliation. These sites are all located in vulnerable locations where any loss of product to the ground can cause groundwater pollution and it is essential that leak detection is carried out. If a leak of fuel into the groundwater goes undetected, large volumes of fuel will cause significant pollution and may get into drinking water supplies. The clean up of such a loss and the removal of fuel from drinking water are extremely expensive operations and can cost many hundreds of thousands of pounds".

The guide is freely available from the Environment Agency by contacting Jo Bradley at: jo.bradley@environmentagency.gov.uk.

Operating Agreement between the Environment Agency and the South East Licencing Co-ordinating Group The Environment Agency and 28 Local Authority members of SELCOG signed an operational agreement on Tuesday 18th March 2003 to ensure the safe storage of petroleum and other related products though the exchange of information and co-operative enforcement work.

Representatives from both parties met at the London Fire Brigade offices in London to sign the agreement. The agreement is only one of a number of initiatives that contribute to the Agency's overall Groundwater Pollution Prevention campaign programme and has already attracted interest from other petroleum licensing groups, major oil companies such as Texaco and 40

Esso and leading supermarkets.

Howard Davidson, Head of Process Management, signing on behalf of the Environment Agency

said: "Protection of groundwater resources in England and Wales is a key priority for the Agency, largely

Articles because of its importance for public water supply and because it helps maintain healthy river flows.

"If underground fuel storage tanks and pipe work leak, it is not always immediately obvious and if not dealt with quickly can cost £100,000s to clean up the contamination.

The agreement will enable us to share information with Local Authorities and industry to enable us to better protect the environment.

"Co-ordinating site visits and sharing areas of regulatory expertise has enabled Agency Environment Officers and Local Authorities' Petrol Licensing Officers (PLOs) to identify sites posing a high risk to groundwater and to encourage other petrol retailers and operators to follow suit and improve operational and storage practices on a voluntary basis".

Chair of the South East Licensing Co-ordinating Group (SELCOG) Steve Rowe signed the agreement on behalf of its members and said: "I am delighted to be signing on behalf of the members of SELCOG. "This is an excellent example of government bodies working successfully together and is the culmination of eighteen months negotiation with the individual members of the group and the Environment Agency.

Joint inspections have proved successful in raising awareness of the environmental duties of the Agency within each organisation and amongst petrol retailers, at ground and at management level.

The operational agreement will build on these foundations and formalise our partnership approach."

Howard Davidson added: "The Agency is developing plans for similar agreements, with major national companies as well as with other PLA groups across England and Wales, to ensure groundwater pollution prevention is taken more seriously.Hydrocarbons are a major polluter of groundwater and it is hoped that a partnership approach will go some way to tackling the problem".

RIS-Cop New valve to prevent fuel cross-

contamination

by Peter Hendricks Bluewater Environment Costly and disruptive cross contamination of diesel and gasoline at retail sites and fuel depots will be a thing of the past thanks to the new Risbridger designed 'RIS-Cop' cross over prevention valve.

The precision engineered valve RIS-Cop, incorporating the unique invention of the Chemical Fuse, is fitted to fuel inlet pipes and will automatically trigger the shut off mechanism when the fuse 'fails' following an attempted delivery of the wrong product. RIS-Cop is engineered to close within 3 seconds from the detection of a prespecified contaminant, but is not sensitive to either delivery pressure or flow-rate.

RIS-Cop is a safe and simple way of protecting petroleum 'liquid assets', saving considerable disruption to site operations, customer inconvenience and cost.

Marketed exclusively by Bluewater Environment Limited, RIS-Cop replaces standard four inch couplings and with the inclusion of the unique and intrinsically safe Chemical Fuse, designed to fail physically under the chemical action of the contaminant, provides constant protection in all operating conditions.

With just a three second shut off time, a contamination percentage of less than 0,04% will be expected in a typical service station tank.

RIS-Cop features include a butterfly valve, which will not restrict delivery flow, an integral relief valve to prevent excessive shock pressure in the delivery hose when activated, an optional safe sealing cap and drain plug to remove the incorrect fuel from the hose. A 'shut off' indicator is also included and it is fully 'tamper' proof. Fuses can be easily replaced after being activated or for tank product changes.

Safety is paramount and Bluewater will provide operating instructions to both site and delivery staff including hose drain down procedures.

Stainless steel containers with earthing clip, able to hold up to 30 litres of product, and ancillary equipment will also be available. Drained fuel from the

hose can be safely reintroduced into the correct fill pipe.

The teaming of Bluewater, an Adler & Allan and E&S Pump & Forecourt Services joint venture company, with Risbridger engineering technology and the MassTech patented Chemical Fuse, provides the components of a successful partnership. RIS-cop is seen by many as a remarkable 'breakthrough' product for the petroleum industry, saving on costs, operational disruption to sites and customer inconvenience. Preproduction units are currently undergoing extensive field trials.

For further contact:

details,

please

Andrew Clarke E&S Pumps, Witney, Oxon.

Tel No. 01993 772451 Annie Risbridger Risbridger, Redhill, Surrey Tel No. 01883 743107 Bluewater Environment Limited 17 Witney Road Ducklington Witney Oxon. OX29 7TX The Forecourt Show

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Articles

Cathodic Protection

by Martin McTague "…the most effective corrosion protection is provided when high quality coatings and an appropriate cathodic protection system are used in combination" This is advice given by IP/APEA Guidance for the Design, Construction, Modification and Maintenance of Petrol Filling Stations (Blue Book).

But what is Cathodic Protection and why should tank owners consider this technology as part of managing underground storage risks and where can they get detailed advice?

In December the Institute of Petroleum published a new guidance document to provide information on the safe and effective use of cathodic protection (CP) to prevent external corrosion of underground steel storage tanks and associated pipework. The following article should help give you some of the answers.

So what is Cathodic Protection?

In November last year DEFRA published a new Ground Water Protection Code. This is an approved code under Regulation 21 of the Groundwater Regulations 1998 which gives the Environment Agency powers to prohibit, or control, any activity which may risk polluting groundwater.

In section 3.17 it states: "coatings should not be relied upon as the sole means of preventing corrosion. Other measures would include effective leak detection systems and, where appropriate, cathodic protection."

It also makes it clear in section 4.6 that when assessing the risk to groundwater the authorities would regard the absence of cathodic protection as factor that

Cathodic protection is an electrochemical process that can be used to prevent corrosion attacking underground tanks, pipes and structures. In order to understand how cathodic protection works, it is helpful to first understand the corrosion process.

Steel, the most common metal protected by cathodic protection, is produced from iron ore. To produce steel, the iron ore is subjected to a refining process that adds energy. Once the steel is put back into the environment, it begins to revert back to its original state (i.e. iron ore) by releasing the added energy back into the surrounding environment. This process of dispersing energy is called corrosion.

Cathodic protection electrodes, called anodes, are placed near, and connected to, the structure to be protected (i.e. the underground tank & pipework). At a service station the cathodic protection system works by passing an electrical current from the anode to the underground tank system (cathode).

This process maintains the energy level on the tank, thus stopping it from corroding. Instead, the anode corrodes, sacrificing itself to maintain the integrity of the tank & connected metallic pipework.

Figure 1: Basic Corrosion Cell Benefits will increase the risk of a leak.

In section A3.15 it discusses methods of assessing corrosion and states "This data, once collected, can be analysed using a standard method to determine the probability of a leak caused by corrosion, both at present and in the future. Assessment of corrosion probability will help to decide if urgent action is required, e.g. the fitting of cathodic protection, tank lining or the replacement of a tank."

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Cathodic protection will prevent corrosion on buried steel tanks a n d pipework, it supplements the corrosion

CP Rectifier Transformer

Articles protection afforded by the coating system, increases the structure design life, and prevents deterioration of the structure.

Cathodic Protection therefore prevents there being any loss of product caused by external corrosion, a v o i d i n g environmental damage and safety implications.

cathodic protection.

•

Maintenance

Cathodic protection is an electrical system that will need regular inspection & maintenance by suitably qualified personnel (see Section 8.0) •

Design

Each petrol filling station will have different safety and cathodic protection design considerations that should be assessed by a competent individual.

Frequently Asked Questions: •

Permanent

CP Anode ready to be inserted

To guarantee freedom from corrosion the coating must completely separate the metal surface from the ground water (or electrolyte). Coatings alone cannot entirely eliminate corrosion, because they can never, in practice, be applied and buried without any defect or damage.

However, a correctly designed and maintained cathodic protection system can guarantee to stop corrosion at a fraction of the cost for replacement system.

•

Well Established

The application of cathodic protection to prevent external corrosion on new buried steel storage tanks is a well-established technique. It is routinely specified as a method of protecting thousands of LPG vessels in the UK, it is widely used in the US and in some EU countries it is mandatory to protect buried petrol storage tanks with cathodic protection.

Cathodic protection has been accepted in the US by the Environment Protection Agency as a method to prove that underground storage tanks remain structurally sound, as required by Federal Law. •

Verifiable

Buried storage tanks cannot be easily inspected once they are buried, but when fitted with cathodic protection they can be monitored, to assess the tank's corrosion status and the level of cathodic protection applied.

So what are the limitations on using CP? •

Evaluation

Not all buried storage tanks are suitable for upgrading by cathodic protection.

Tests on the t a n k s condition should be carried out prior to the application of CP Test Fink

Q. Is it safe?

A. Yes - it uses very low voltage/current and installation techniques are regulated by established industry codes.

Q. Is it proven?

A. The principles were established by Sir Humphrey Davy in 1820's. Routinely used on pipelines and used on underground LPG vessels it is well established. Tanks protected by CP are given same status as new tanks by US Environmental Protection Agency.

Q. Is it economical to install?

A. Typically 1/10 cost of replacement and only 2% of new tank installation.

Q. What are the running costs?

A. Typical power consumption equates to one light bulb. Annual Monitoring/Maintenance is quick, simple and cheap.

Q. How long do these sacrificial anodes last?

A. Ground conditions determine the amount of sacrificial anode material required and this would be decided at the design stage. The life of the anodes will be dictated by the output, which relates to the coating condition of the tank.

Typically sacrificial anodes will have a life of 10 15 years. Replacement is normally possible with minimal disruption utilising a small drilling rig.

Q. Can an operator save money by checking the anodes themselves?

A. Specialists should be used to monitor cathodic protection systems. The checks are carried out annually, they are inexpensive (typically less than 20% of a precision tank test) and do not affect site operation.

For more information please contact the author: Martin McTague of Ecotech on 01325 316081.

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Articles

Modern Fuel Delivery

By Alec G. O'Beirne PTF Training Limited HSG 146 clearly identifies that one of the higher risk events in the operation of a petrol filling station is the process of receiving fuel from a road tanker.

This article will have a look at the delivery vehicle and the delivery process.

Petrol tankers have come long way since the days of horse drawn vehicles and 'can boys'. The old 2 gallon cans embossed with the company logos cans now make entertaining collectors items.

The rapid introduction of the internal combustion engine resulted in the core of the market changing from heating and lighting oils to petrol.

Initially the powered tanker ran on petrol engines with tanks of around 1000 gallons, As illustrated by the Shell Mex and BP Dennis tanker (Picture 1.) fitted with a 3 compartment 1000 gallon steel tank manufactured by

Picture1 - 1935 Dennis 'Pax' with Thompson tank, 3 compartments 1000gallons.

Thomson's at Bilston. This company is still building petrol tankers as part of Heil Trailer International Ltd. Powered by a 4 litre 4 cylinder petrol engine the 'Flying Pig' was used for inner city deliveries, and latterly as a training vehicle. Anyone who could master the crash gearbox could drive anything.

Petrol engines gave way to diesel and over the years the size of the trucks gradually increased until we are now operating at the EU norm of 44 tonnes.

This article will focus on the full weight vehicles used to deliver petrol and diesel fuel to the larger filling stations.

These vehicles predominantly operate at 44 tonnes and are

44

capable of carrying a maximum load of around 43,000 litres depending on the fuel being carried. Since diesel is heaver than petrol a full load of diesel will equate to around 37,000 litres.

Designed as articulated units they are mounted on 6 axles ( 3 on the trailer and 3 on the tractor unit). This

Picture 2 - 2003 Heil ADR trailer. 6 compartments 42,800 litres.

assists in spreading the load and the use of air suspension also helps to minimise road damage. (Picture 2) Most oil companies now employ a specialist contractor to deliver product to their filing stations although the requirements of the smaller sites are often met by one of the vehicles operating for a distributor. These trucks, many of which are designed to meet the requirements for petrol are usually much smaller since the bulk of their work is in the delivery of heating oils

Picture 2 - 2002 Distributor vehicle constructed to petroleum standards

to domestic and agricultural customers. (Picture 3.)

Full size trucks are mostly manufactured from aluminium alloy ( picture 4) to keep the unladen weight to a minimum whilst maximising the payload.

Picture 4 -Heil ADR Aluminium trailer prior to painting

All road tankers require to conform to a large number of specifications both national and international.

In 1996 the UK enacted the provisions of the European Agreement for the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road, known by the acronym 'ADR' There are also the national requirements such as UK 'Approved Tank Requirements' and Approved Vehicle Requirements as well as the Institute of Petroleum code 'Petroleum Road Tanker Design and Construction' .

Theses various codes and regulations ensure that the vehicles are constructed to recognised standards and maintained and operated in a safe manner. In addition the major UK Participating Oil Companies have developed a 'Safe Loading Pass Scheme' to ensure that tankers loading out of oil company premises meet the recognised standards and do not introduce safety problems when loading at another company's facility.

Loading a tanker.

Tankers can be loaded in two ways.

1. Top loading Since the introduction of bulk liquid tankers top loading has been the standard way of filling the vehicle.

The first task before any other is to connect the bonding lead. This wire ensures that any electrostatic charges that exist on the vehicle, or build up during the loading process, are dissipated to earth and do not provide an ignition source for vapours.

Each compartment is provided with a lockable man lid which allows the driver to place the loading arm into the tank.

The loading arms are counterbalanced usually by means of a spring and it is important that the drop pipe goes fully to the bottom of the tank compartment to prevent splash filling, a known generator of static charges in fuel.

The amount to be loaded can then be pre-set on the meter and the driver stamps the loading ticket before opening the loading valve.

Once the pre-determined quantity has been loaded the meter shuts off the flow automatically, the driver shuts the valve on the loading arm and moves it to the next

Articles compartment to be filled.

2. Bottom loading.

All tankers constructed for the delivery of petrol have been designed and constructed as 'bottom loading' vehicles since January 1996 in line with the VOC regulations.

The process involves first unlocking the guard bar which protects the loading/discharge adaptors, known as API's after the American standard to which they are manufactured. This process also opens the internal valves in each compartment, known as the 'foot valves' as well as the vapour transfer valves in the top of each compartment. Since the API is also a valve there is effectively a double valving of each compartment outlet.

The driver can then connect the overfill protection system. This system is linked to the loading meters by a multi core cable and

and the meters set to fill the compartment.

Rotating grade indicators are provided for each compartment, usually adjacent to the API valves which the driver must set to show the product loaded in each compartment. (Picture 6)

the cab must be hermetically sealed and made of fire resistant glass.

The vehicle exhaust system should discharge to the offside of the vehicle and be routed in such a way as to avoid any likelihood of fuel coming into contact with it.

In addition a fire screen, usually metal, is called for to the rear of the cab. This is to prevent spilled or leaking fuel reaching hot engine components and additionally isolate an engine fire from the main cargo tank.

Vehicle Marking Picture 6 - API Outlets, Vapour adaptor, overfill plug and grade drums

In the event of an overfill the probe in the compartment senses the high level and shuts down the loading process to the entire vehicle. Until the overloaded compartment has product removed the system will not allow the rest of the vehicle to be filled.

Once the loading process is complete the driver can then collect a 'bill of lading' prior to leaving the terminal.

All tankers carrying hazardous goods are required to be fitted with placards indicating that they are carrying a hazardous load.

At the front a plain reflective orange rectangular panel will be found .

On both sides and at the rear of the tank are Hazard Warning Panels which advise the emergency services of the load being carried.

A typical set of panels are shown below.

En route

Picture 5 - Overfill Prevention System and Vapour Recovery Hose

plug (Picture 5) Each truck compartment is fitted with a probe which senses the presence of the liquid surface.

Before the system will allow the truck to be loaded it runs a check on all the probes and also ensures that the vehicle is bonded to allow static dissipation.

The probes must indicate that they are dry and the control unit must recognise that the truck is bonded to the loading pipework before the control unit will give the meters a 'permissive signal' to allow loading to commence.

The driver can then connect the vapour recovery hose to the vehicle which enables vapours displaced during loading to be recovered in the terminal vapour recovery unit.

Finally the bottom loading arms can be connected to the truck adaptors, the self sealing coupler valves opened, the API's opened

Vehicles carrying hazardous goods are required to be fitted with a number of safety features such as speed limiters which prevent the vehicle exceeding 56 mph.

In addition they are provided with anti lock brakes as well as a secondary retardation system to reduce the strain on the truck brakes during long hill descents.

Wiring installations, usually in flexible conduit must be firmly fixed to the chassis to prevent chafing.

Fire extinguishers must be carried on board, both in the cab (2kg minimum) and externally for a load or tyre fire. (6kg minimum).

Spill kits are also provided for the drivers use in the event of minor spillages.

The truck electrical system must be capable of isolation by means of an external master switch which must be switched off during loading and unloading.

In addition there should be a facility to allow the driver to isolate the electrical system from the driving position.

Cab materials must be fire resistant to a recognised standard and any windows in the rear wall of

Five pieces of information are provided.

1. The emergency action code which advises the fire crews of the appropriate equipment necessary to tackle a fire or spillage. This is contained in the code 3YE,3Z, etc.

2. The UN number of the product being carried, 1202, 1203, 1223 etc.

3. The telephone number for specialist advice on the load, 4. The hazard warning label for class 3 product (flammable

45

Articles liquids) The logo of the company (this is optional) It should be noted that where the load being carried is distillate, e.g. diesel, gas oil or kerosene but a previous load was petrol and there is reason to believe that petrol vapours are still within the vehicle then the UN number for petrol will be displayed.

This is also the case where a mixed load of petrol and diesel is carried.

5.

protecting the bottom loading couplers, the overfill socket and the vapour recovery adaptor. The guard bar is also linked to the truck braking system to ensure that the vehicle cannot be moved with any hoses still connected.

Having raised the guard bar (in some cases this takes the form of a door when the outlets are located in a separate closed compartment), the driver may then connect the vapour hose, first to the truck and then to the site. This sequence minimises any loss of vapour to atmosphere.

Discharge Since January 1996 all filling stations with a throughput of petrol in excess of 1 million litres per annum require to be provided with vapour balancing pipework. (now includes stations with throughputs in excess of 500,000 litres per year since January 2002).

When the tanker arrives at the site and after the petroleum certificate has been scrutinised and partially completed the drivers first action is to

Picture 7 - Control box showing pneumatic control valves

unlock the control box , see picture 7.

The driver can then charge the compressed air system by using the master button. which powers the tanker internal footvalves at the base of each compartment and the vapour transfer valves in the top of each compartment. Theses valves are interlinked so that the footvalve will not open unless the vapour transfer valve has already opened. This sequencing of the valves ensures there is no damage to the tanker and that the vapour from the site is 'balanced' back to the tanker.

It also releases the guard bar

46

The first connection to be made is the vapour balancing hose, which is initially connected to the truck and then to the site.

The delivery hose may then be connected, normally to the site first and finally to the truck. Once the driver and competent person are satisfied that the hoses are attached to the correct compartment and site tank delivery can commence. Good practice will dictate that where a mixed load is to be delivered the diesel will be discharged first to avoid the possibility of a cross-over.

O n completion of the delivery the driver will drain the hoses before closing the API and disconnecting the hose, vehicle end first.

Once all the delivery hoses are drained and removed the footvalves and vapour transfer valves are closed and the vapour hose is removed, site end first before final disconnection from the tanker.

Driver Qualifications The Carriage of Dangerous Goods (Driver Training) Regulations 1996 require all drivers of v e h i c l e s c a r r y i n g dangerous goods with a m a x i m u m

weight over 3.5 tonnes, and tankers with a capacity over 1000 litres to possess a vocational training certificate issued by the DVLA and appropriate to the load being carried.

To obtain this certificate it is necessary for the driver to attend an approved training course and pass an exam at the end of it.

The courses are provided by approved training organisations and the scheme is administered by City and Guilds on behalf of the DfT. The certificate issued is usually known by the acronym 'ADR' and it is a requirement that drivers must carry them when operating a vehicle carrying dangerous goods.

The certificates have a life of 5 years and can be renewed in the last 12 months of validity.

Unlike the requirement for 'competent person' training the syllabus for the ADR training is clearly specified and the training courses and exams, which take around 3 days to complete, are regularly attended by invigilators from City and Guilds.

With the current value of a tanker vehicle around £110,000 plus a load value of around £33000 most companies also ensure that their drivers have regular refresher training. This training tends to focus on health and safety issues, legislation changes, assessments on driving skills and specific training for the depots from which they operate.

Systems training is also required since many modern vehicles are equipped with in-cab computers which handle much of the transactional data, can print delivery notes and communicate via cell phone technology with the drivers head office.

Articles

The State of Florida's Experiences with Thermoplastic Flexible Piping

By Marshall T. Mott-Smith, Administrator, Storage Tank Regulation Section Bureau of Petroleum Storage Systems Florida Department of Environmental Protection Editorial Comment The APEA, in this issue of The Bulletin, is sharing some disturbing news from the USA, Marshall MottSmith a regulator from Florida has produced an extensive insight into some of the problems experienced with flexible pipe work. This flexible pipe work is not new to Europe where the more common pipe work installations are the more rigid polyethylene systems. However, where these flexible systems have been used we are not aware of similar problems in Europe, perhaps there are some difference is use (exclusively pressure in US) or poor contractor installation as suggested by the manufacturers, which has caused these concerns.

Introduction There are two types of thermoplastic pipes, semi rigid and flexible.

One type of thermoplastic piping could be best characterised as “semi-rigid”. These are constructed with high-density polyethylene and the joints are electro-fusion welded.

These semi-rigid pipes are not involved in the analysis and investigation of this paper. There are two manufacturers approved for use of semi-regid piping in Florida (UPP and NUPI) one has been in use for four years, and no incidents have been reported to Department of Environmental Protections (DEP) to date.

Incidents and discharges involving thermoplastic flexible piping (flexpipe, for brevity's sake) connected to underground petroleum storage tanks have recently become more numerous, particularly in the southeastern United States. This problem has become a significant issue for a number of interests.

Facility owners are angry because their relatively new flexpipe systems are failing within five years of installation. Piping installers are frustrated with having to perform

frequent site visits to respond to the incidents and repair the systems.

Piping manufacturers insist that faulty installation or inadequate operation and maintenance caused the problems.

Regulators are caught in the middle. However, it is the regulators that must deal with the facility's non-compliance and the cleanup of petroleumcontaminated soils and groundwater.

Unlike rigid fiberglass reinforced plastic and steel piping systems, which have been in use for many years, flexpipe is a relatively new technology and its limitations are not widely known. The purpose of this article is to provide information regarding those limitations and dispel the myth that flexpipe is a "bury it and forget it" system. Due to the large numbers of thermoplastic flexible piping systems being installed, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) wants installers, owners, and operators of such systems to become educated about the problems associated with flexpipe and encourage better installation, monitoring and maintenance of these systems.

Background Information In Florida, the regulation of underground and aboveground storage tank systems is the responsibility of the DEP's Bureau of Petroleum Storage Systems.

Florida began its regulatory efforts in the early 1980s after a leaking underground storage tank contaminated the city of Belleview's drinking water supply well. In 1983, the Florida Legislature responded by passing laws that enabled the DEP to adopt rules for aboveground storage tanks (ASTs) and underground storage tanks (USTs).

Florida's rules initially only required that tanks and piping be protected from corrosion or be constructed with corrosion-resistant materials.

In 1990 and 1992, the rules were

amended to require secondary containment for new tanks and piping. The rules also established deadlines for existing storage tank systems to upgrade to secondary containment by deadlines established in the rules based on the age of the storage tank system.

The first deadline was 1989, and the last deadline will be December 31, 2009.

Facility owners upgrading their tanks and piping to meet the 1989 and 1992 deadlines typically chose double-wall fiberglass pipe. In Florida, this piping was usually manufactured or sold by Ameron or Smith Fiberglass. Flexpipe was just emerging as an option in the early 1990s, and was not commonly available for the 1992 deadline.

Before any piping integral to a storage tank system is installed in Florida, the piping must be third party certified by a nationally recognized laboratory as meeting the DEP's standards, or it must be approved and listed by Underwriter's Laboratories (UL) and subsequently approved by the DEP. The Florida DEP first allowed flexpipe as "approved equipment" in 1995. Total Containment, Inc. (TCI) manufactured that piping. As with TCI's piping, other manufacturer's equipment (Bufflex, Environ, APT, Western Fiberglass, OPW, UPP, and NUPI) obtained approval as it came on the market. Many owners chose flexpipe to meet Florida's 1995 deadline (for tanks and piping installed between 1976 and 1980), as well as in 1998 (for tanks installed between 1980 and 1984).

Florida's Storage Tank Program contracts with county-level governments to implement a legislatively mandated effort called the "Compliance Verification Program". The contracted-counties perform routine compliance, installation, closure, and discharge inspections of all storage tank facilities within the state, with a goal of inspecting every facility once a 47

Articles year. Over 380,000 inspections have been performed since 1983, and the average number of inspections for the each of the last two years is approximately 25,000.

The Compliance Verification Program has significantly improved facility compliance. It also helps tanks program managers stay in touch with emerging issues and problems. The county inspectors document the status of each facility's compliance by using digital cameras. The photographs and inspection information are entered into DEP's database management system. These photographs and inspection reports have been the source of much of the Department's data for flexpipe incidents.

One final background note that is pertinent to this issue is the difference between "incidents" and "discharges". An incident is a condition indicating that a discharge may have occurred and further investigation is required, whereas a discharge is a confirmed release to the environment. Florida's rules require that owners and operators of storage tank systems report incidents and discharges within 24 hours of discovery. After 2009, all Florida facilities should have secondary containment systems.

About 11,000 of the 32,000 registered regulated USTs currently have secondary containment.

When these facilities perform their monthly leak detection checks, they are looking within the interstice (the space between the primary wall and the secondary containment) for petroleum products or water.

Examples of interstices include piping sumps, dispenser sumps or liners, and the space between the inner and outer wall of double-wall tanks or piping.

When a problem is discovered in an interstitial space, it must be reported as an incident because the product or water may be contained in the interstice.

If further investigation finds stained soils, free product, a sheen, or laboratory analytical data that indicates there is a release then this is reported as a discharge. Because most of the flexpipe in Florida is double-wall or has secondary containment, the majority of the problems have been 48

incidents and not discharges.

Some flexpipe failures have resulted in discharges. Regardless, the problems with flexpipe that have been reported are serious concerns for DEP. Manufacturers Other than as specified in the background information above, no mention of manufacturer names will be made in this article.

The information reported comes from the DEP's contracted county inspectors as well as from information reported to the DEP by facility owners.

It is not the Department's intent to make comparisons between different manufacturers of thermoplastic flexible piping or to discourage or promote the use of any type of piping. The DEP's intent is to report the findings from its field inspectors so this issue can be discussed and further investigated.

Thermoplastics Thermoplastics are polymers that will become soft and melt if exposed to sufficient heat. The polymers that are utilized in rigid fiberglass reinforced plastic piping and the elastomers that make up the various rubber boots in piping systems are thermosets.

Thermosets are cross-linked polymers that will not soften or melt upon the application of heat.

Flex pipe systems are composed of multiple layers of extruded thermoplastics and each layer is intended to perform a specific function. These layers include internal liners, outer walls of the primary pipe, the coaxial jacket or secondary containment of "doublewalled" pipe and outer protective barriers. Thermoplastics commonly utilized as liners include: Polyamides (Nylon), Polyvinylidene Fluoride (Kynar), Aliphatic Polyketone (Carilon) and Polyphenylene sulfide (Fortron).

Polyethylenes and Polyurethanes are utilized in the construction of the outer layers of the primary pipe.

The secondary jacket of all coaxial flexpipe and the secondary containment systems are constructed of various grades of

polyethylene.

Thermoplastics are susceptible to permeation by aromatic hydrocarbons although the rate of permeation varies considerably between different polymers. Many thermoplastics will also swell (increase in volume) when exposed to petroleum products. As with permeation rates, different thermoplastics exhibit widely varying swelling characteristics.

Thermoplastics utilized in the construction of flex pipe systems exhibit volume changes ranging from less than 1% to as much as 9%. Some grades of polyethylenes are particularly susceptible to swelling and it is believed that this has caused or contributed to many of the problems Florida is experiencing with flexpipe systems.

When some polyethylenes come into contact with hydrocarbons (whether free phase liquids, vapors or dissolved constituents in water) swelling and softening of the material will occur within a relatively short period of time. For this reason, it is essential that flexpipe systems not be externally exposed to hydrocarbons for any length of time.

Florida's experience with polyethylene has given DEP cause for concern when this material comes in contact with petroleum products and vapors, particularly in piping and dispenser sumps. This piping can come into contact with petroleum products and vapors three main ways. If storage tank system's sumps are not properly maintained and drips, leaks, and spills are allowed to remain in the bottom of the sumps, then petroleum products and vapors come into contact with the polyethylene piping inside the sumps.

Another source of petroleum products in contact with the flexpipe comes from contaminated stormwater or groundwater that enters the sump through boots, manways, or electrical conduits. Sump integrity can also be compromised by structural deterioration or deformation (some sumps are constructed with polyethylene), and by problems caused by soil movement and groundwater hydrostatic forces.

Finally,

Articles petroleum products can come in contact with the outer polyethylene portions of the pipe through the internal coating within the pipe. If there are problems with the inner protective coating that is the barrier between the polyethylene outer layer and the products within the pipe, the polyethylene can degrade.

Each flexpipe manufacturer has a specialized system to minimize this possibility.

are part of some pipe system couplings may be cracked. · Piping manufactured prior to 1994 that is yellow in color may be delaminating and a fungus/ microbial growth may be attacking the outer walls of the pipe.

This list was prepared after comparing DEP's experiences with the State of Mississippi, and is based on the mutual experiences of both states with reported flexpipe incidents. The DEP's concern with the above problems is that the integrity of the piping has been compromised such that it no longer meets the required performance standards and that it does not provide the necessary protection to the environment.

The Data

The Problem The State of Florida recently published the following list of problems that thermoplastic flexible piping exhibits after it is installed and comes in contact with petroleum products, petroleum contact water, or petroleum vapors in piping sumps, dispenser sumps, or other field applications: · The piping connections, riser pipes and flex connectors found within the sumps where the piping is terminated may be twisted, overstressed or pushed out of normal alignment. · The pipe may be over bent within the piping sump or folded over on itself (kinked). · The outer jacket of doublewalled (coaxial) piping may extend over the metallic ferrule of the pipe coupling. · The outer jacket of doublewalled (coaxial) piping may split as it attempts to grow over the metallic coupling. · The pipe may be swelling and appear to be bulging or "ballooned". · The pipe may be wrinkling or it may be sticky/spongy and softer than it was originally. · The outer walls of the primary pipe and/or the secondary jacket may be cracking. · The rubber boots that are installed in the walls of the containment sumps may be stretched or torn. · The "donuts" that make up part of the boot of some pipe systems may be dislodged or the clamps may not be in place. · The rubber "test" boots that are installed at the pipe terminations of some coaxial pipe systems may appear to be compressed or distorted. · The metallic connectors that

The flexpipe problem in Florida did not happen at once. The number of incidents has increased each year, and the 2003 data is only from the first six weeks of the year (see the table below). The Department's main concern is that the number of incidents will continue to increase in frequency.

Another concern is that there are many more incidents that have not yet been reported to the DEP. Table 1 Year Unknown Date 2000 2001 2002 2003 Total

Number of Events 5 1 9 41 5 61

The next table (Table 2) contains information that describes the type of problem encountered at the facilities in Table 1. The description is in the original words of the inspector, owner, or operator, and is taken from the DEP's matrix of incidents in the State of Florida:

Table 2 Description

Number of Events

Cracking

3

Swelling/Split open

1

Blow out

24

Uncertain

1

Loose Swage

2

Plasticized

1

Pin Hole

1

Breach in Piping

9

Piping failure

5

Burst Pipe

3

Bulging in Piping

9

Piping Split

2

Total

61

There are some commonalities in the observations that can be joined together for the sake of minimizing the categories (See Table 3 below).

Table 3 Description

Number of Events

Cracking/Splitting

6

Breach from holes/blowouts

37

Bulging/Ballooning

10

Uncertain

1

Loose Connections

2

Piping Failure

5

Total

61

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Articles The Photographs The DEP has received hundreds of photographs from its field inspectors, as well as from UST inspectors in other states that depict each of the conditions and problems mentioned above. This information is a public record in the State of Florida and is available on CD upon request. Information about flexpipe incidents at specific facilities and the affected equipment has not been included in this article. The pictures below are a sampling of what has been seen.

There are two types of thermoplastic flexible piping single-wall carrier pipe that is placed within a secondary containment outer flexpipe, and a double-wall coaxial pipe that is one piece of pipe with an interstice between the pipe walls. From the data above it is clear that the most frequent problem associated with the reported incidents is the breaching of the pipe from "blow outs", "bursting", and similar descriptions. From Florida's data, this has usually been associated with the single-wall carrier pipe systems. The following photographs from two different Florida sites should provide some visual understanding: Cracking and splitting can occur in both types of flexpipe - coaxial double-wall and single-wall:

The next photographs depict the "bulging" and "ballooning" effect. This condition is usually associated with the coaxial type of flexpiping.

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Articles

Piping failure is a generally descriptive term, but the following photographs probably best demonstrate this type of condition:

The last two photographs are from other states in the southeast.

One photograph shows elongation that can occur, and the other shows problems with loose connections and fittings.

The next two photographs will help show the "softening" condition:

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Articles The Extent of the Problem The above problems have been encountered in several states within the U.S. A complete list is not available, but the following states are known to have experienced some degree of problems with flexpipe: Alabama Arizona Arkansas Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Illinois Indiana Iowa Kentucky Louisiana Maryland

Michigan Mississippi Missouri Nebraska Ohio Oklahoma South Carolina Tennessee Texas Virginia West Virginia Wisconsin Guam

The DEP encourages anyone from any state or country not listed above to share data about flexpipe incidents.

Reference Standards The industry standards for thermoplastic flexible piping are contained in UL Standard 971.

State experiences with problems associated with thermoplastic flexible piping have been brought to the attention of Underwriters Laboratories, and two states, Mississippi and Florida, now have representatives on the UL Committee responsible for considering revisions to UL Standard 971. The Committee has proposed recent changes, and the draft has been circulated among the members for review and comment.

The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Response EPA Region IV staff responsible for overseeing EPA's UST program management in eight southeastern states, several southeastern State Tanks Program Supervisors, and staff from EPA's Office of Underground Storage Tanks (OUST) met recently to discuss the growing number of incidents. EPA Region IV and State attendees provided information about observed and reported incidents.

They also recommended that 56

OUST consider gathering incident data from other states outside of Region IV, and that EPA initiate testing and research projects for materials compatibility and response of flexpipe systems to field conditions. OUST is still considering the recommendations.

EPA Region IV has been very active and supportive of the Region IV state's efforts to investigate these incidents.

Florida's Response The State of Florida is in the process of revising its Storage Tank Rules, and there are a number of suggestions for amendments to the requirements for flexpipe. Doublewall sumps, continuous monitoring (hydrostatic, pressure, or vacuum) of double-wall piping, and doubleentry piping sump boots are being considered.

In addition, the elimination of the allowance for the outer secondary containment piping wall to just direct the pipe as a "gutter" to the piping sump is being proposed, along with more stringent flexpipe material construction requirements such as weight loss, elongation, and permeation.

The DEP has tried to identify where flexpipe is installed at facilities statewide. This effort will take at least a year based on the annual re-inspection cycle. The Department's inspectors are urging owners and operators to frequently inspect their piping systems to catch any problems in the early stages.

A public informational notice is located on the program's Internet website at: http://www.dep.state.fl.us/waste/c ategories/tanks/default.htm The State of Mississippi's UST Program also has a website that has information and photographs.

The Website has two links that show the problems associated with thermoplastic flexible piping as well as how the piping should look when properly installed. The website link is: www.deq.state.ms.us/newweb/hom epages.nsf Conclusions Florida receives approximately

92% of its drinking water supplies from groundwater, and secondary containment is the cornerstone of DEP's regulatory strategy to protect this valuable resource. At this time, DEP does not believe tertiary containment is necessary. DEP is currently focused on making secondary containment better by working with owners and operators of existing systems, piping installers, Underwriters Laboratories, and the piping manufacturers. The Department will continue to gather data and consult with its counterparts in other states. The DEP hopes that the United States Environmental Protection Agency will provide leadership in this area by providing national standards or guidance, testing programs, or other research.

However, if Underwriters Laboratories and the piping manufacturers are unable to provide solutions to the increase in flexpipe problems, then DEP will propose solutions that will protect Florida's groundwater and prevent contamination from UST piping systems.

Marshall T. Mott-Smith, Administrator Storage Tank Regulation Section Bureau of Petroleum Storage Systems Florida Department of Environmental Protection 2600 Blair Stone Road, M.S. 4525 Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2400 Marshall.MottSmith@dep.state.fl.us 850-245-8842

Articles

Shear Valves Following a recent site visit by John Wigfull & Co Ltd, Richard Wigfull uncovered incorrect use of a Risbridger vapour recovery shear valve for LPG service and wrote to Risbridger to make them aware.

Risbridger have never advised customers to use the vapour valve for LPG installations, and have always differentiated them on literature and packaging. They were at a loss to know why the vapour valve would be used as there is no cost advantage in doing so.

Risbridger sent this letter to Richard following his site visit results: Dear Richard Thank you for your letter of the above reference, and for your visit to our stand at the IFFE Show.

I can confirm that we have investigated the use of our Vapour Line Shear valve, and Trevor has advised his customer that the use of our Stage 2 Vapour Line return valve is not suitable. I understand that the installer has already received valves to replace ones incorrectly installed. We will be writing separately to this installer and have amended our literature to make clear the correct usage of both valves. Please see copy enclosed.

Graham has confirmed that the RISSHEAR-G2 Stage 2 Petroleum vapour return line shear valve has a maximum operating pressure of 35 mbar. This valve must not be used with LPG. The seals in this valve are also incompatible with LPG as they are viton, not nitrile. Each LPG installation should have two RIS-SHEAR-LPG valve one each in the delivery and return lines.

I would be happy for you to let the LPGA of this problem and will give you any assistance in this as required, just let me know if I can help.

We appreciate your quick action and involvement in this incident, thank you very much for your help.

STAGE 2 VAPOUR LINE SHEAR VALVE •

Normally open, full-flow design with low pressure drop

•

Dual opposed piston design avoids partial break interference and leakage condition

•

Seals upstream & downstream upon impact

•

Cylindrical body fits through and allows sealing with standard membrane seals

•

Shuts fully irrespective of direction of impact

•

400kg break force

•

Variety of end adaptors available

•

Non-spark brass construction

•

The installation tool allows correct alignment and prevents pre-stressing the shear valve

•

Pressure rated for maximum of 35 mbar,

seals viton,

to be used on petroleum stage 2 vapour return lines only

LPG SHEAR VALVE •

Full flow design with low pressure drop

•

1" nominal size for 80 l/min flow rating

•

Displaced ball design prevents ‘partial break interference’ leaks

•

Seals upstream and downstream upon impact

•

Shuts fully irrespective of direction of impact

•

Consistent 420 Nm bending moment break

•

25 bar pressure rating with 12:1 safety factor

•

Non-spark brass body construction, nitrile seals

•

Optional mounting kits available

•

Optional end fittings available

•

Installation tool allows correct alignment & prevents pre-stressing the shear valve

With best regards, Yours sincerely Annie Risbridger Sales & Marketing Director

Risbridger Ltd, Stychens Lane, Bletchingley, Redhill, Surrey. RH1 4LN Tel: +44 (0) 1883 743107 Fax: +44 (0) 1883 744342 email: info@risbridger.com www.risbridger.com

59

Branches

Branch Reports Eastern The last Eastern branch meeting and AGM was held on 3rd April.at The Limes Hotel, Needham Market.

The event started off with tea and biscuits and proceeded with the formal arrangements of the AGM which was to elect officers for the coming year 2003/2004. There were no nominations for Chairman so Brian Baker volunteered to stand for another year.

Anton Martiniussen was re-elected as the Secretary and Treasurer and all others on the attached list were also re-elected another year for the same positions. The accounts were approved ant the auditor Mike Alston re-elected.

The meeting was well attended by approximately 30 delegates and we had the following speakers who talked about: Brian Baker - Milton Keynes County Council talked about Safety Training programs, course details and benefits to the industry. There has been a wide take up of these courses since they were launched last April Mike Jennings - Gilbarco VeederRoot gave a comprehensive update on his company and talked about remote Fuel monitoring and how this could effect site inspections in the future.

Harold Ross Ross Environmental Ltd another fascinating subject about bugs that eat oil from reclaimed cotton fibres.

The product absorbs oil based liquids and most chemicals while repelling water.

Rodney Carter - Petroman talked to us with great enthusiasm about the Acumulus valve used for fuel deliveries and retains vapour in the tank by putting the tank under negative pressure.

A big thank you goes to all the speakers who made it such an interesting event for the branch members and a special one to.

60

Mike Jennings for giving us extra of his time as Ian Taylor of Hytek unfortunately had pulled his back.

We wish him a speedy recovery.

The APEA name came up as a subject in moving with the times there should be a redefining of it under the banner of the APEA.with a recognition of the environment From Eastern branch came the view that aims and objectives should be clearly agreed first.

North West The format of NW Branch meetings is a morning meeting concluded with lunch and an opportunity to network.

During 2002 the NW Branch held two meetings. The first, on 21st March was the AGM and Technical meeting, held in Skelmersdale, Lancashire. The topics which were presented ranged from: •

Anton Martiniussen Branch Secretary • Midlands Dear all After another successful meeting which was held by the Midland Branch on the 28th January at BMW, Hams Hall, with the attendance of 31 members.

After a number of entertaining speakers we held the Midlands Branch AGM which elected the following people: Tom Hocking Chairman Jeannie O'Beirne Secretary Rex Wheeler Treasurer And last but not least myself Richard Quarmby Branch Rep 'Sorry the same old group as last year.’

•

With over 40 members in attendance a lively discussion ensued prior to the buffet lunch.

In November we held a joint meeting in association with the Institute of Petroleum at the Holiday Inn, Haydock entitled The Cost of Loss. Another well attended event, topics covered many aspects of business loss including: • •

Committee Members: • Rob Tunnicliff Peter Godfrey Jeff Cumiskey

• •

We are planning to hold two further meetings of which one will be on 21st May,venue in Malvern TBA . However, near enough for the Welsh branch members to attend.

Secondly also again I'm afraid venue TBA in August.

Richard Quarmby Branch Representative

North East Nothing to report at present

DEFRA Code of Practice for Groundwater Protection at Petrol Stations Control of Pollution (Oil Storage) (England) Regulations 2001 The IP "Guidelines for Soil, groundwater and surface water protection and vapour emission control at Petrol Filling Stations etc.

•

Minimising losses by embracing energy efficiency The Underwriters point of view An early warning system with Wetstock Management The changing scene of Legislative factors Can it happen to you, theft in the workplace Lost time in the workplace, how much can accidents cost

An added feature of this event was an exhibition with a number of member companies taking exhibition space We kicked off the 2003 season with another dynamic AGM and Technical Meeting on 20th March.

Topics presented this year were: •

Meantime to corrosion failure techniques and tank farm cathodic protection

Branches • •

Forecourt Pressure Systems Tank Gauging and the 4tec system

Further details of these interesting presentations can be viewed on the APEA Website.

Our next meeting is scheduled for 18th September 2003 when the topics under discussion will be Petroleum Legislation and DSEAR. As usual we anticipate a good turnout from branch members and visitors.

Bob Conlin Branch Secretary Scotland The Scottish Branch held its most successful AGM and meeting to date at Stirling Council Chambers on April 2003.

All the office bearers resigned and were re-elected without change.

There followed six presentations with a buffet lunch attended by 48 members who contributed £20 each to help pay for the buffet and hire of the venue.

The speakers and topics were as follows: Ian Hillier on the new Dangerous Substances and Explosives Atmospheres Regulations; Lloyd Roberts on problems associated with building new petrol filling stations; Joan Fortieth on the role of SEPA at petrol filling stations; Gareth Bourhill on electrical installation problems; Wally Brooks on Pressure Systems; And finally Phil Monger on the problems currently experienced by petrol retailers.

The event ended at 3:30 pm with a presentation to all the speakers.

Ian Hillier Chairman and Branch Representative

Southern The APEA Southern branch is enjoying an interesting array of events this year.

On the 6th May we held our AGM and a Branch Meeting at the Red House Hotel at Cholderton near Andover. As well as the excellent hospitality provided, interesting presentations from Customs & Excise on the illegal use of tax free fuels and talks on revolutionary nozzles and the new talking nozzle were much appreciated by the members.

Our summer meeting will be held at the Tank Museum at Bovington in Dorset on 3rd July. We will be enjoying a display of tanks in action and hearing from various speakers on subjects all related to storage tanks, pipework and valves.

For our autumn meeting we are hoping to link up with the South West Regional Forecourt Show at Axbridge on the 16th October to present an interesting meeting with the added bonus of a visit to the exhibition.

The Southern Branch continues to enjoy an average of 50 members to Branch Meetings, any extras would be gladly welcomed!

Please contact David Sommers on 07718 146033 or david.sommers@hants.gov.uk for more information.

David Sommers Branch Secretary

Branch Representative Contact Details Ian Taylor - Eastern Hytek (GB) Ltd, Delta House, Green Street, Elsenham, Bishops Stortford, Herts CM22 6DS United Kingdom Tel: 01279 815600 Fax: 01279 812978 iantaylor@hytekgb.com Richard Quarmby - Midlands 28 Franklin Way Whestone Leicester LE8 6QY Tel: 01787 220730 Fax: 01878 220044 rjq@quarmby.com Mike Silmon - North East W O Silmon Ltd Industry Road, Heaton, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear. NE6 5XB. United Kingdom Tel: 0191 224 0777 Fax: 0191 224 0707 associationtreasurer@apea.org.uk Geoff Oldham - North West Branch representative North West Suresite Ltd, Slaters Barn, Whittingham Lane, Goosnargh, Preston. PR3 2JJ Tel: 01772 861400 Fax: 01772 861600 Geoff.oldham@surasite.co.uk Ian Hillier - Scottish Inverclyde Council Inverclyde Council Trading Standards, 40 West Stewart Street, Greenock, Renfrewshire, PA15 1YA. United Kingdom Tel: 01475 714200 Fax: 01475 714221 ian.hiller@inverclyde.gov.uk

Yorkshire & Humberside The next Branch/AGM, meeting will take place on the 22nd May 2003 commencing 10.30 am.

Venue/details to follow. Any agenda items or enquiries to Branch Sec. D.Buffy on 01482 396179 or C. Evers on 01904 551545. Look forward to seeing every one.

Clive Evers Branch Chairman and representative

Philip Monger - Southern Petrol Retailers Association Meadowside, West End, Sherbourne St John, Basingstoke, Hants. RG24 9LE. United Kingdom Tel: 01256 850164 Fax: 01256 851273 philmongerpra@ukonline.co.uk Clive Evers Yorkshire & Humberside City of York Council Trading Standards Service, Exhibition Square, York. YO1 7EH. United Kingdom.

Tel: 01904 613161 Fax: 01904 551511 clive.evers@york.gov.uk

61

62

Training

Training Course dates Detailed below are the current course dates organised for 2003: PFS; Construction & Environmental Awareness 20 May 2003 to 21 May 2003 Portadown (N.I.) (Full) 22 May 2003 to 23 May 2003 Portadown (N.I.) 10 Jun 2003 to 11 Jun 2003

Derby

17 Jun 2003 to 18 Jun 2003

Dublin

8 Jul 2003 to 9 Jul 2003

Stoke on Trent

23 Sep 2003 to 24 Sep 2003

Bournemouth

4 Nov 2003 to 5 Nov 2003

Ipswich

18 Nov 2003 to 19 Nov 2003

Basingstoke

Electrical Installations An Awareness

that attendees have access to this document during courses.

Bespoke courses can be made available provided the minimum number of Delegates is 8. This offers a discount. For details of this and any other training enquiry, please contact: Brian Baker, APEA Training Course Co-ordinator 1 Brookside, Hodge Lea, Milton Keynes MK12 6JW Tel: 01908 252332 Mobile: 07932 785 166 Fax: 01908 252319 e-mail: brian@bpbaker.fsnet.co.uk

Training Course Sponsors The APEA would like to thank the following companies that have added to the ever growing list by choosing to send delegates to APEA training courses:

24 June 2003

Portadown (NI)

26 Jun 2003

Ipswich

24 Jul 2003

Stoke on Trent

25 Sep 2003

Kegworth

23 Oct 2003

Cardiff

BP Bovis Alliance Taylor Woodrow Co Ltd Blackburn & Darwen Council Flintshire County Council Statoil (Ireland)Ltd Dungannon & South Tyrone Council (N.I.)

Stoke on Trent

This makes 132 organisations that sponsor APEA Training courses, without your support it would not be possible.

LPG Installations (Autogas) 2 Jun 2003 8 Sep 2003

Kegworth

29 Sep 2003

Basingstoke

1 Dec 2003

Portadown (NI)

PFS; Audit and Inspection 14 Jun 2003 to 15 Jun 2003

Durham

21 Jun 2003 to 22 Jun 2003

Ipswich

1 Jul 2003 to 2 Jul 2003

Chester

17 Jul 2003 to 18 Jul 2003

Basingstoke

7 Oct 2003 to 8 Oct 2003

Portadown(NI)

9 Oct 2003 to 10 Oct 2003

Portadown (NI)

21 Oct 2003 to 22 Oct 2003

Glasgow

25 Nov 2003 to 26 Nov 2003

Bournemouth

9 Dec 2003 to 10 Dec 2003

Stoke on Trent

Wet Stock Monitoring 10 Jun 2003

Stoke on Trent

17 Jun 2003

Durham

8 Jul 2003

Ipswich

1 Sep 2003

Durham

13 Oct 2003

Portsmouth

10 Nov 2003

Portsmouth

Worcester Electrical Services New Colour 1/4 page ad

Please note: Courses will be designed around the new TCB Document, Design and Construction of Service Stations.

Non-members can purchase copies through either the Association Administrator or at course venues at £90.00 each or £30.00 each to APEA members. It is strongly recommended

63

Training

BP Bovis Alliance attend APEA Training Course On 18/19 March 2003, the Association for Petroleum & Explosives Administration (APEA) ran a two day training course on Petrol Filling Stations; Construction & Environmental Awareness, where 15 members of the BP/Bovis Alliance attended.

Delegates were taken through the methods and techniques of constructing the modern day Filling Station within the legal framework and current guidance.

From Left to Right: Paul Craven APEA Trainer (Suffolk County Council), Nigel Griffith, Jamie Davis, David Rose, Karl Meakins, Lee Lawrence, Darren Hill, Mark Goldsworthy, Jason Reynolds, Tony Maddison, Mark Tasker, Mike Ellinger, Richard Standring and Laurie Burn (Global Alliance Manager) Not in Picture: Martin Rackley, Andy Arthur and Brian Baker APEA Trainer (Milton Keynes Council)

All areas were covered that included Site Planning & Layout, Hazardous Properties of Fuels, Hazardous Area Classification, Storage Tanks, Dispensers, Pipe work systems, Drainage, Vapour control systems, Canopies, Shop Buildings, Repairs and Decommissioning.

STOP PRESS STOP PRESS Work is being finalised on two further courses to add to the increasing range of training topics in the APEA's Portfolio.

The first is a purpose designed 2 day course for Forecourt Managers that covers the following subjects: The Law Governing Petrol Filling Stations Licensing Conditions The Forecourt Installation & Equipment Guide An Introduction to LPG Installations A Site Visit to a Modern Filling Station An Introduction to Wet Stock Monitoring Maintaining Legal Compliance The Site Register; What Documents should I keep?

HS (G) 146 Risk Assessment and Desk Top Exercise Enforcement Practice; When the Inspector Calls How Filling Stations are Built The Leak Investigation Process Taking In Deliveries This course will provide a useful understanding to Filling Station Operators supported with useful Hand Out Notes that can be referred to time again. This course is available May 2003.

The second course is currently under discussion but to address several enquiries received, the APEA are 64

Although intense with a test paper thrown in, the delegate’s response was very positive indeed and all received a course certificate that provides for 12 hours Continued Professional Development.

Plans are being made for further courses later in 2003

looking to make available a 2 day Contractor Safety Passport Course that is recognised by UKPIA. More and more instances are occurring that require all Contractors that undertake work on a Forecourt MUST have a passport to demonstrate they are competent and aware of the risks on a Forecourt.

Projected to be Available July 2003

APEA Training in the Emerald Isle On the 13 May 2003 in Dublin, the APEA delivered its first course 'overseas' to Statoil (Ireland) Ltd for 16 delegates who attended Course No.5 Wet Stock Monitoring.

Lead by Bob Conlin of Fairbanks Environmental, the course proved very successful and there is every intention of returning in the near future for more training from the APEA's Portfolio.

APEA provide training for UK BP/Bovis Alliance On the 18/19 March 2003, Paul Craven & Brian Baker staged a 2 day course on Petrol Filling Stations; Construction & Environmental Awareness for which 15 Project Managers attended. The feedback was tremendous and plans are being made to run similar course for the European BP Bovis Project Teams later in the year.