Stainless tanks for Maastank

KEEP IT CLEAN

CONSTRUCTION • GPI TANKS HAS WON A NUMBER OF RECENT TANK BUILDING CONTRACTS, DEMONSTRATING ITS EXPERTISE IN WORKING WITH STAINLESS STEEL

GPI TANKS XL has received a significant order from Maastank for nine stainless steel tanks for its terminal in Botlek, Rotterdam. The tanks will be of varying sizes from 1,620 m³ to 2,150 m³ and constructed from a combination of 316L and Duplex 2205 stainless steels. Installation of the new tanks, scheduled for second quarter 2021, will add 16,700 m³ of new capacity at the site.

Production of the new tanks will take place at Gpi Tanks’ facility in Westdorpe and, on completion, they will move by water to their final destination.

The new tanks are part of a bigger plan for Maastank; its owner, Dekker Group, has recently extended its lease on the site by 25 years and has also acquired an adjacent plot. Its long-term aim is to double its storage capacity to 140,000 m³ for the storage and transhipment of vegoils, fats, specialty chemicals, oleochemicals and biofuels.

Maastank is one of four Dekker Group facilities in Europe, all of which play a part in the company’s core business of processing, storing and transporting liquid edible oils, fats and biofuels. It has a fleet of 100 road tankers and facilities for the cleaning of those tank trailers and tank containers. In total, it has more than 100,000 m³ of stainless steel tank storage, 30,000 m² of warehouse space for solid and liquid product and a workforce of some 260 people.

GPI TANKS IS BUILDING 15 STORAGE TANKS RANGE OF CAPABILITIES The contract is one of a number of recent wins for Gpi Tanks, which specialises in smaller stainless steel tanks, both shop-built and site-fabricated. Earlier this year its Polish wing, Gpi Tanks Poland, won an order for 15 tanks for the storage of glycerine and ‘green’ glycol from Orlen Południe, which is developing an organic glycol production facility in Trzebinia that will supply threequarters of glycol demand in Poland once it is commissioned next year. Seven of the tanks are being built on location and the other eight at Gpi Tanks’ factory. All are designed to maintain the temperature of the stored substances, a key requirement.

Gpi Tanks has also recently installed a 2,000-m³ storage tank for ED&F Man in Dublin, Ireland for the storage of vegoils and molasses. This tank was built on-site using a specially designed coil building system; the entire process took nine weeks. The tank shell is manufactured from lean Duplex and the flanges, pipes and supports from 304L stainless steel.

Gpi Tanks has, over the past 25 years, developed its expertise in tank construction through innovation in technology, process and collaboration. It serves customers in the food processing, chemical, pharmaceutical and cosmetics sectors and, in total, has some 200 employees.

All the projects reported in this article are being carried out in accordance with the local application of the EN 14015 standard; a recently completed project for a chemical industry customer in the Netherlands also had to comply with the national PGS29 directive. Two tanks were built, both fitted with a double bottom under a light vacuum, with a leak detection sensor fitted, along with access ladder and top railing. gpi-tanksxl.com