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WELDED BLISS
Page 56
Page 57
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Cohn Barnett visits Ledbury Welding, where they know a thing or two about fuel tanks.
For years, Commercial Motor:s. Welsh test route for distribution vehicles has negotiated the Ledbury bypass without us having any idea that just behind Homebase can be found one of the major players in the world of fuel storage.
Ledbury Welding and Engineering hasn't always been based there, however. Malcolm Sutherland. today's chairman and joint MD, started making domestic fuel oil tanks as Berrow Welding in Ledbury station yard in 1963, but the firm soon outgrew those premises and moved to a larger site in Hereford. In 1999 the need for still larger premises inspired a return to Ledbury, where it now makes up to 600 tanks a year.
You might not consider the humble fuel storage tank a fashion victim, b ut times and rules change, and many of today's buyers want their fuel tank to have aesthetic as well as functional appeal.
Time was when a fuel tank was a simple boxshape in a corner of the year, probably perched on a pile of blocks.Then came environmental awareness and the idea that a few thousand gallons of diesel escaping into the watercourse was probably not a good thing.
The answer was to install a bund -at first a simple walled enclosure around the pile of blocks; later came the integrated open steel bund. But while this did the job. it allowed everything from rainwater to leaves and dead cats to accumulate in it, and the water drains were frequently left open, defeating the object.
The next step, which is broadly where we are today, came when Ledbury developed the totally enclosed DERV pack a steel tank within a steel outer bund skin, with a minimum 120mm void between the two.Tanks are finished in anti-corrosion primer and enamelled in the buyer's chosen colour; a higher spec is available for extreme environments.
The tanks are welded throughout apart from a curved roof panel, which can be removed for inspection and maintenance. They can be made with separate compartments allowing diesel and red gas oil, for example, to be dispensed at the same site. Cabinets for dispensing kit are built in, in a location customised to individual needs. Other refinements can include weather shelters,lighting, pressure washing and dispensers for engine oiLwater,compressed air and soon.
The smallest tank holds 2,500 litres; the size of the biggest available has gradually crept up from 90,000 litres to 200,0(X)litres,although the largest one Ledbury has sold so far is 150,000 litres.
Limited by bridges
The only real limit on size is the height of any motorway bridges between Ledbury and the buyer's location.A typical 100,000lit tank would cost in the region of £23,000 and systems can be arranged to create multi-island fuel stations with remote dispensers Although Ledbury doesn't make pumping and monitoring equipment, it does offer this kit in a one-stop package that can also include filling and delivery fittings, installation and commissioning. Each buyer will have different needs it is possible to spend more than £3,000 just on a pump— but generally all the buyer needs to provide is a concrete surface and a power supply point.As a registered waste carrier. Ledhury can also remove and dispose of old tanks and their contents.
Gravity discharge tanks have all but disappeared, although some pumps do have a complementary manual capability in case the electricity supply fails.
One recent job was the installation of seven 140,000-litre tanks at a new fuel-oil distribution depot for Watson's Petroleum in Wisbech.And aesthetics proved to be a significant issue at another recent installation. Conscious that the fuel outlet would form the first view of its new depot, Fagan & Whalley went to considerable lengths to ensure that the large tank unit was pleasing to the eye, as well as efficient.
Although most tanks are now designed for above-ground installation, there is still a market for cylindrical underground tanks. although the concept has changed in one major detail. In place of single-skin tanks embedded in concrete, modern double-skin tanks are set in pea shingle, giving greater environmental protection as well being more easily removed.
The growing demand for above-ground petrol storage is met by the Supervault, a US design built in Ledbury.The self-contained cylindrical steel tank has two skins separated by a .150mm void filled with an inert concrete-based substance that provides impact and penetration resistance,even to bullets,and will withstand being enveloped in fire for up to four hours.
One little known area of fuel storage is fuel recovery from rental vehicles.With most companies requiring vehicles to leave and return with full tanks, the cost of installing suction equipment and storage tanks to allow tanks to he emptied before vehicle disposal can be recouped in just six months.
Projects in the pipeline
Among the projects that Ledbury Welding and Engineering's 48-strong workforce are working on is bio-fuel storage.The firm is trialling a set-up with a household name logistics company to handle used cooking oil from a chain of pub restaurants.
Then, of course, there's AdBlue storage. Ledbury has identified a market for 5,000-litre tanks from those operators who have already outgrown the usual 1 XXX)-litre IBC tan ks.The design is being finalised, but it is likely to incorporate a stainless-steel inner tank within a mild steel bund. •