Project Synopsis
Provide consulting regarding spill containment issues and process engineering support for a pipeline operator’s truck loading station expansion.
Project Summary
TANK TRUCK LOADING STATION EXPANSION DESIGN ASSISTANCE
The client, an engineering company, was asked by the ultimate client, a pipeline operating company, to design an expansion of a truck loading station at a sweet crude oil storage facility in the Western U.S. The client, in turn, asked Process Engineering Associates, LLC (PROCESS) to facilitate their design effort by determining the applicable federal and state regulations that address secondary containment requirements for the new truck loading spots. In addition, the client asked PROCESS to evaluate the impact that the new truck loading spots would have on the existing vent header at the facility.
After researching the applicable federal and state regulations and interviewing a representative from the state’s Department of Health, PROCESS concluded that the only regulation for secondary containment that the client needed to follow was Part 112.7 of the EPA’s Title 40, Code of Federal Regulations. Part 112.7 requires that the secondary containment for the new truck loading spots hold at least the maximum capacity of any single compartment for the largest tank truck expected to service the facility. To further comply with Part 112.7, PROCESS recommended that the facility implement an interlock system or a physical barrier at their new truck loading spots to help prevent trucks from driving away while they are still connected to the loading station.
PROCESS evaluated the impact of the new truck loading spots on the existing vent header at the facility by utilizing commercial computer process simulation software to model the hydraulics of the modified vent header network that included the new vent piping. The displaced gases during the truck loading process vent back to the sweet crude oil storage tanks. PROCESS concluded that the size and routing of the new vent piping and the existing vent header produced very little back pressure on the tank trucks. PROCESS did, however, recommend that the ultimate client reduce the set pressures of the weighted manways on the sweet crude oil storage tanks in order to maintain an acceptable backpressure on the tank trucks (less than 1 psig) during the loading process.
PROCESS provided a letter report to the client presenting the results of the evaluation and also provided documentation of the full simulation results for the client’s records.
Industry Type
- Pipeline Operations
- Detail Engineering
Utilized Skills
- Hydraulics evaluation
- Regulatory compliance consulting