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
