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Clean-up time within hazardous oil areas
20
Applications
WORLD PUMPS
March 2014
Oil & Gas
Clean-up time within hazardous oil areas More stringent monitoring regulations of tank storage oil terminals – particularly in Europe – has led to one of Germany’s providers of pump solutions for petrochemical and other spills reporting an increased level of enquiries for its air-operated double-diaphragm pumps. World Pumps looks at what Crane can deliver and speaks to a specialist applications engineer on the use of AODD pumps in such areas of use.
he challenge of safely and economically dealing with rainwater and petrochemical spills in areas of risk, or ATEX Zone 0 areas, is growing, particularly in European countries, as more stringent monitoring controls come into place for tank storage terminals.
T
ucts for fluid handling applications worldwide, is reporting an increasing number of enquiries for its DEPA air-operated double -diaphragm (AODD) pumps (they are certified for ATEX Zone 0 use by PhysikalischTechnische Bundesanstalt, also in Germany).
Certain ATEX Zone I areas within these terminals have been re-defined as ATEX Zone 0 areas, requiring a review of their risk assessment but also providing an opportunity for pump manufacturers.
The pumps, which can be air or nitrogen powered eliminating the requirement for monitoring control systems, are proving particularly suitable for tank storage terminals, reports Crane.
Dusseldorf-based Crane Process Flow Technologies, the provider of engineered prod-
One of the main applications is their use on the “movable rooftops” of huge gas tanks
(See Figure 2, [1]). The defined area above the rooftop is an ATEX Zone 0 area, as inflammable gases could occur. The self-priming AODD pump can evacuate the rainwater and any fluid spills very easily in a safe manner, as the pump has a Tx classification. The pumps are designed to deliver a 7-bar head pressure, can handle running dry and with the 25m continuously changing altitude as the tanks empty and are refilled. Another recently identified area that requires ATEX Zone 0 certification is underneath tanks where a sump collects both rain water and any waste liquid from spills (See Figure 2 [2]). With the possibility of inflammable gases occurring in both the sump and collecting vessel, both areas are designated ATEX Zone 0 with existing submersible centrifugal pumps shut down due to non-conformity to ATEX regulations. DEPA engineers have recently demonstrated the range of AODD pumps which conformed to ATEX zone 0 regulations. Nevertheless, during technical discussions with one tank farm operator, it became apparent that the AODDs’ ability to self-prime meant the pumps could be located in a more easily accessible location, adjacent to the tanks, but still in an ATEX zone 1 environment (See Figure 2 [3]). Thomas Walbroehl, specialist applications engineer at DEPA, said: “Because AODD pumps can self-prime, it simply wasn’t necessary to locate them under the tanks in the
Figure 1: The movable roofs of gas tanks are one area where DEPA AODD ATEX certified pumps are cleaning up.
www.worldpumps.com
WORLD PUMPS
Applications March 2014
Zone 0 environment, even though we have pumps for such applications. “It made far more sense to locate them where they are easily accessible in the less stringent zone 1 environments. In addition, we were also able to offer a variety of housing materials including stainless steel, ductile iron and aluminium, as they would be dealing with non-corrosive liquid, although, again, housings for corrosive liquids would not have presented a problem.
35 m
Gas / Vapour
Zone 0
Gas / Vapour
1
Waste water treatment final disposal vessel tank truck
Zone 1
25 m
Zone 0
movable rooftop Tank with Oil/Chemicals and other dangerous fluids
3 Zone 1
“Previous tests had revealed that the old valves and impellers of EPDM (synthetic rubber) had failed due to oil content in the product. It was also, therefore, the inclusion of our ‘nopped’ E4 diaphragms within the pumps that impressed the customer’s engineers as these offered a high chemical compatibility and provides an extended lifetime, thereby meeting ATEX requirements for a high safety level of the process. The purchase of the DEPA pumps has saved the customer about €25,000 for each pump installation against the previously installed very expensive Zone 0 vertical centrifugal pumps.” The terminal had been temporarily shut down last year because of safety issues in the
2
2m
Zone 0
4
Application in petrochemical industry Figure 2: A typical “moving rooftop” of a gas tank.
EX-area but now fulfils all ATEX requirements whilst also saving on running costs. Colin Simpson, business development director of Crane’s UK distributors, Tomlinson Hall, said: “The DEPA E4 Diaphragm is stateof-the-art technology which gives four benefits for end-users – increased life span,
improved safety, increased efficiency, and an ultra-clean working mechanism. Sales so far have exceeded our most optimistic forecasts and the feedback from users is very positive with the diaphragms usually available for next day delivery in the UK.” www.depapumps.co.uk
www.worldpumps.com
21
Applications
WORLD PUMPS
March 2014
Oil & Gas
Clean-up time within hazardous oil areas More stringent monitoring regulations of tank storage oil terminals – particularly in Europe – has led to one of Germany’s providers of pump solutions for petrochemical and other spills reporting an increased level of enquiries for its air-operated double-diaphragm pumps. World Pumps looks at what Crane can deliver and speaks to a specialist applications engineer on the use of AODD pumps in such areas of use.
he challenge of safely and economically dealing with rainwater and petrochemical spills in areas of risk, or ATEX Zone 0 areas, is growing, particularly in European countries, as more stringent monitoring controls come into place for tank storage terminals.
T
ucts for fluid handling applications worldwide, is reporting an increasing number of enquiries for its DEPA air-operated double -diaphragm (AODD) pumps (they are certified for ATEX Zone 0 use by PhysikalischTechnische Bundesanstalt, also in Germany).
Certain ATEX Zone I areas within these terminals have been re-defined as ATEX Zone 0 areas, requiring a review of their risk assessment but also providing an opportunity for pump manufacturers.
The pumps, which can be air or nitrogen powered eliminating the requirement for monitoring control systems, are proving particularly suitable for tank storage terminals, reports Crane.
Dusseldorf-based Crane Process Flow Technologies, the provider of engineered prod-
One of the main applications is their use on the “movable rooftops” of huge gas tanks
(See Figure 2, [1]). The defined area above the rooftop is an ATEX Zone 0 area, as inflammable gases could occur. The self-priming AODD pump can evacuate the rainwater and any fluid spills very easily in a safe manner, as the pump has a Tx classification. The pumps are designed to deliver a 7-bar head pressure, can handle running dry and with the 25m continuously changing altitude as the tanks empty and are refilled. Another recently identified area that requires ATEX Zone 0 certification is underneath tanks where a sump collects both rain water and any waste liquid from spills (See Figure 2 [2]). With the possibility of inflammable gases occurring in both the sump and collecting vessel, both areas are designated ATEX Zone 0 with existing submersible centrifugal pumps shut down due to non-conformity to ATEX regulations. DEPA engineers have recently demonstrated the range of AODD pumps which conformed to ATEX zone 0 regulations. Nevertheless, during technical discussions with one tank farm operator, it became apparent that the AODDs’ ability to self-prime meant the pumps could be located in a more easily accessible location, adjacent to the tanks, but still in an ATEX zone 1 environment (See Figure 2 [3]). Thomas Walbroehl, specialist applications engineer at DEPA, said: “Because AODD pumps can self-prime, it simply wasn’t necessary to locate them under the tanks in the
Figure 1: The movable roofs of gas tanks are one area where DEPA AODD ATEX certified pumps are cleaning up.
www.worldpumps.com
WORLD PUMPS
Applications March 2014
Zone 0 environment, even though we have pumps for such applications. “It made far more sense to locate them where they are easily accessible in the less stringent zone 1 environments. In addition, we were also able to offer a variety of housing materials including stainless steel, ductile iron and aluminium, as they would be dealing with non-corrosive liquid, although, again, housings for corrosive liquids would not have presented a problem.
35 m
Gas / Vapour
Zone 0
Gas / Vapour
1
Waste water treatment final disposal vessel tank truck
Zone 1
25 m
Zone 0
movable rooftop Tank with Oil/Chemicals and other dangerous fluids
3 Zone 1
“Previous tests had revealed that the old valves and impellers of EPDM (synthetic rubber) had failed due to oil content in the product. It was also, therefore, the inclusion of our ‘nopped’ E4 diaphragms within the pumps that impressed the customer’s engineers as these offered a high chemical compatibility and provides an extended lifetime, thereby meeting ATEX requirements for a high safety level of the process. The purchase of the DEPA pumps has saved the customer about €25,000 for each pump installation against the previously installed very expensive Zone 0 vertical centrifugal pumps.” The terminal had been temporarily shut down last year because of safety issues in the
2
2m
Zone 0
4
Application in petrochemical industry Figure 2: A typical “moving rooftop” of a gas tank.
EX-area but now fulfils all ATEX requirements whilst also saving on running costs. Colin Simpson, business development director of Crane’s UK distributors, Tomlinson Hall, said: “The DEPA E4 Diaphragm is stateof-the-art technology which gives four benefits for end-users – increased life span,
improved safety, increased efficiency, and an ultra-clean working mechanism. Sales so far have exceeded our most optimistic forecasts and the feedback from users is very positive with the diaphragms usually available for next day delivery in the UK.” www.depapumps.co.uk
www.worldpumps.com
21