Tank Gauging Overfill Protection
Bulk storage tank overfills are a common cause of product release and pollution at tank farms, terminals and refineries. Some overfills are small and easily contained, but the accumulation of product from repeated overfills or a single large spill can cause significant soil and ground water contamination or could result in a safety hazard, such as a facility fire. Rod Baker explains:
Throughout the bulk liquid storage industry, it is becoming increasingly viewed as “good practice” to provide some form of overfill protection on above ground storage tanks. Worldwide government regulations and requirements that companies must follow differ and a few companies put tighter regulations into practice on a voluntary basis. For those companies, it is all about safety and environmental issues. A spill which leads to a fire may potentially cause facility damage, operational downtime, loss of life, ground and air pollution and irrevocable damage to the way the local community perceives the company that operates the facility. In the U.S., a small spill alone could cost a tank farm or terminal $3-4 million in clean up fees and fines. For this price, new level alarm devices could be placed on a few hundred tanks for independent overfill protection to ensure safety.
