Oil storage safety still lacking
27 Aug 2013
Many oil and gas storage sites around the UK have yet to upgrade their safety systems, nearly eight years after the Buncefield explosion.
According to an investigation by Process Engineering, many sites are still using the same old outdated technology they had prior to the devastating blast at the Buncefield fuel depot in Hertfordshire in December 2005.
The explosion was essentially caused by a huge overfill, linked to the failure of a level-monitoring device on an oil storage tank. In 2008 the Health and Safety Executive (HSE)’s Major Incident Investigation Board (MIIB) set a mandatory requirement that overfill be prevented by “independent and automatic means” and so not rely on human intervention.
However, despite this, upgrades of level-monitoring equipment and installation of safety systems that can automatically cut off pipelines before tanks overfill is at best patchy across UK sites.
This is because the firms operating the storage plants have been allowed to wait to include installation of the safety upgrades as part of their overall site upgrade plans.
Many sites are still relying on old equipment
Endress+Hauser level product specialist Chris Brennan
“Many sites have now installed automatic overfill protection systems,” said Peter Davidson, safety director for commercial and projects at the UK Petroleum Industry Association (UKPIA), which represents the UK’s main refining and marketing companies – BP, Essar, Esso, Murco, Petroineos, Phillips 66, Shell, Total and Valero.
“The reason not all sites [including those of non-UKPIA companies] will be complete yet is because the work needs to be scheduled to take account of factors such as other upgrade/improvement works, tank outages [and] scheduling work with equipment suppliers.”
This means that many sites are operating without the automated systems mandated by the HSE, said Endress+Hauser level product specialist Chris Brennan.
“Many sites are still relying on old equipment that could and perhaps should be replaced by more modern technology,” said Brennan.
The problem seems to be particularly acute at smaller storage sites, and those run by operators that are not members of trade body the Tank Storage Association (TSA).
TSA executive director Dr Hugh Bray said: “All member companies with in?scope gasoline tanks are now understood to comply with the MIIB’s recommendation regarding level measurement and control.”
This article is taken from a feature on level measure to appear in the next issue of Process Engineering.
