Tank Trouble Tuesday

Lose your keys? Did you check your tank?

As this week's #TankTroubleTuesday shows, one of the many benefits of a TankCam visual inspection is the identification of any objects that are out of place--  like the tank bottom protector,  or don't belong-- like the keys, and no fuel removal is required.  


TankCam is patent pending.

Tank Trouble Tuesday

Our TankCam and PetroScope services are frequently utilized for remote video inspections of older tanks, but we also inspect brand new tanks.

Tank inspections after construction, but prior to the first fuel drop, verify that no tools or landscaping/ construction/ backfill materials are left behind in the tank. Inspections also check for anomalies in the tank walls, changes in overall tank shape, and anything else that may have gone wrong, like the interstitial brine leak below.

For more details on inspections prior to an initial fuel drop, check out a case study from Tanknology Australia.

Watch for more “tank troubles” Tuesdays on our social media pages.

TankCam is patent pending.

Tank Trouble Tuesday

The statistics from the EPA’s recent study on diesel corrosion are staggering, and the video footage is just as striking. 

This week’s #TankTroubleTuesday features a GIF from that study’s fieldwork of severe corrosion found with TankCam in a riser for a ULSD tank.

The corrosion was even too severe for the TankCam to enter through this riser, noticeable as scraped off corrosion nodules fall into view.

Watch for more “tank troubles” Tuesdays on our Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and blog pages, or at #TankTroubleTuesday.

TankCam is patent pending.

Tank Trouble Tuesday

Tanknology is excited to launch our new social media series “Tank Trouble Tuesday.”

We will feature some of our most interesting findings in tanks around the world from footage captured by our Petroscope^® and TankCam^® video inspection services.

Watch for more “tank troubles” Tuesdays on our Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and blog pages, or at^O#TankTroubleTuesday. 

TankCam is patent pending.

                 

Headed to next week's NACS Show? Visit us -- and see actual video from the EPA's Diesel Corrosion Study

Corrosion in diesel USTs has become a hot topic since the EPA issued the report in July showing that 83% of tank systems in the US contain moderate to severe levels of corrosion. 

Visit us at PEI at the NACS Show in Atlanta next week -- Booth # 5115 in the Fuel Equipment and Services Hall -- and see actual video from that study!

We performed the field work for that EPA study, and have hours of video and hundreds of photos, showing just how bad this corrosion can become.

Our Brad Hoffman, Vice President of R&D, and the leader of this project for Tanknology, has said, "I have never in my life seen corrosion of this magnitude in a fueling system."

Stop by and see us in Atlanta -- and take a look for yourself.

For more information about the corrosion problem so prevalent in diesel UST systems, visit this page on our website.


To learn more about our TankCam Remote Video Inspection Service, which captured all the video for this study -- or any of our tank inspection or testing services, visit our website or call us at 1-800-964-1250.



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The inside story on field work performed for the EPA's recent study on Diesel UST Corrosion

The EPA's recent report on corrosion levels found in diesel underground storage tank (UST) systems has become a major topic of conversation and concern across the retail and commercial fueling markets.

Moderate-to-severe corrosion was found in 83 percent of UST systems containing Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD). Of the tanks exhibiting the corrosion, 75 percent of the owner/operators did not know it was happening.

Our team at Tanknology conducted the field work for this study, under the direction of Brad Hoffman, Tanknology's Vice President of R&D.

In the current issue of Fuel Marketer News, Brad describes the field work his team conducted for this project. The internal tank video images were captured using Tanknology's TankCam(TM) Remote Video Inspection Service. Brad said the images are unlike anything he's ever seen.

"I have been an engineer in the petroleum industry for my entire career, first with Exxon and for the last 23 years with Tanknology," Brad
said. "I have never in my life seen corrosion of this magnitude in a fueling system."

In the Fuel Marketer News article, Brad discusses the findings, what operators can do to investigate whether it's a problem -- and what they can do about it.

You can find that article here.

To see more images like you see here, which were captured during the survey, or learn more about the issue of corrosion in UST systems, visit the Diesel Corrosion page on our website, where you can also find a copy of the EPA's report and other helpful resources.

For more information about our TankCam remote video inspection service, or any of our tank inspection or testing services, visit our website or call us at 1-800-964-1250.

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Tanknology Regulatory Insights Featured in Fuel Marketer News Vender View

Today's edition of the  Fuel Marketer News Vendor View column featured some new insights by Tanknology's Kevin Keegan on topical issues related to the new EPA UST regulations.

Specifically, Kevin addresses under-dispenser secondary containment testing and whether the OPW FlexWorks system meets a key standard.

Related to sump inspection requirements in the 2015 revision to the regulations, Kevin also discusses an approach that could potentially offer marketers a significant cost savings strategy.

You can read Kevin's thoughts on these hot regulatory topics, here at Fuel Marketer News online. 

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EPA Study: 83% of diesel tanks have moderate to severe levels of corrosion

The EPA has released the results of the largest survey to-date on corrosion levels in underground storage tanks (USTs) containing diesel fuel -- and the results are staggering.

The research showed that 83 percent of the USTs studied exhibit moderate to severe corrosion.

Worse, only 25 percent of the owners of those tanks with corrosion were aware of it prior to the study.

That, according to Carolyn Hoskinson, Director of the EPA’s Office of Underground Storage Tanks (OUST) is troubling – because that corrosion “could result in an increased chance of releases of fuel to the environment and subsequent groundwater contamination.” Every UST operator’s nightmare.

The results of the survey, conducted by the renowned Battelle research institute, were not a surprise to us at Tanknology, as we performed all the fieldwork for this study as a partner of Battelle. Among other services, our TankCam® remote video inspection service provided the high-resolution images used in the analysis and the EPA’s final report.

In addition to the prevalence of corrosion in the diesel tanks inspected and the lack of awareness by owners, some ‘key takeaways’ the EPA identified include:

• Severe corrosion is not limited to the tanks themselves, but also prevalent in all the metal components of the fueling system. This is true in steel as well as fiberglass tanks.
• The condition is widespread – affecting diesel fueling systems in multiple regions of the country.
• There are approximately 100,000 federally-regulated diesel tanks in use in the US, according to PEI.
• Ethanol was present in 90 percent of the 42 tanks sampled, “suggesting cross contamination of diesel fuel with ethanol is likely the norm.”
• Tanknology technicians collected fuel samples from each tank system in the study and Battelle's testing against several fuel specifications and guidelines indicated that "many UST systems may be storing fuel that is less clean and dry" than those standards intend.
  
• The presence of particulates and water in the fuel were “closest to being statistically predictive factors for metal corrosion,” though the EPA said the findings don’t necessarily signal causation.

What EPA OUST recommends:

• Visual inspection of fuel filters and tank system access points for signs of corrosion.
• Utilizing a UST service company (such as Tanknology) to further evaluate the extent of corrosion in the tank system. Tanknology could employ the same TankCam remote visual inspection service used in the EPA study to provide a clear look inside your tank system, capturing potential corrosion on video for further assessment.
• Repairing or replacing equipment to ensure proper functionality.

A PDF copy of the EPA study can be viewed and downloaded here, from our website, in the section, 'Learn More.'

For more information about our TankCam remote video inspection service, or any of our tank inspection or testing services, visit our website or call us at 1-800-964-1250.

Visit us next week in Stuttgart at the UNITI Expo

The second UNITI expo kicks off in Stuttgart, Germany next week and we will once again be participating with an exhibit in the trade show.

If you visit the show, please be sure to stop by and visit with our
International Team, lead by Vice President of International Operations, Ignacio Allende. You will find our exhibit in Hall 3, A02.

UNITI expo is the leading trade fair for the retail petroleum and car wash industries in Europe. It's akin to a, 'PEI at the NACS show" for Europe and the Middle East. Prior to the UNITI expo's inception in 2014, the primary trade show for the petroleum and car wash industries in this region was Automechanika, the Frankfurt trade fair for the automobile aftermarket industry.

With 16,000 exhibitors and more than a half million visitors at Automechanika, it was difficult and costly for the retail petroleum and car wash industries to compete for attention at such a massive trade fair focused on so many aspects of automobiles. So the UNITI expo was created to focus on our specific niche.

Registration for the UNITI expo trade show is free for industry professionals. It's not too late to register online and attend on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday of next week. Hours are 10:00 am to 6 pm daily.

Wiedersehen in Stuttgart!

Be sure to see us in Austin next week if you're coming for the Southwest Fuel & Convenience Expo

The Southwest Fuel & Convenience Expo opens next week in downtown Austin, Texas -- also the home of Tanknology's headquarters!

We hope you will stop by the Expo and visit us. You'll find us in Booth #922.

We have some exciting new services to talk about that will help operators with older facilities and, in particular, older fiberglass USTs get a handle on the condition of their fueling systems and formulate their plans for the future.

Everywhere we go this year, the big topic on everyone's mind is the updated EPA regulations that were released last year. Do you have a plan for compliance at your facilities? Stop by and talk with us and we'll help you through the issues.

Austin is one of the finest cities in the country, with some of the best music and incredible food you'll find anywhere -- much of it within blocks of the Hilton Convention Center where the Expo is located. We hope you'll join us -- and we'll be happy to help you find some of that amazing Texas Barbecue that Austin is so famous for!

Heading to Las Vegas next week for WPMA? Be sure to stop and see us -- Booth #1007

If you're headed to Las Vegas next week for the Western Petroleum Marketers Association National Convention and Expo, be sure to stop by the trade show floor and pay us a visit at Booth #1007.

Among the hot topics we'll be talking about this year are the newly updated EPA UST regulations and the substantial changes which were announced last year. Do you have a plan for compliance?

We'll also be talking about a new program for helping operators assess and prioritize tank repairs and/or replacements in response to the new regulations.

Compliance is a major industry topic of late, so be sure to stop by and visit with us -- we can help you ensure you have a plan to keep your sites safe and fully compliant.

"How Can My UST System be Leaking?" Don't miss a new PEI Journal article by our Brad Hoffman

In the first quarter issue of the PEI Journal, which just hit the streets, Tanknology's Brad Hoffman authored a feature article titled, "How Can My UST System be Leaking When I Have Leak Protection?"

Here is a clip from the article:

"Having worked with underground storage tanks (USTs) for more than 25 years, I've seen many industry improvements. Hundreds of thousands of old tanks have been taken out of service, upgraded or replaced with new systems and leak detection. Nearly 20 years ago, regulations required all USTs to be upgraded with spill and overfill protection, corrosion protection and leak detection systems. Today, you would think USTs wouldn't leak. Nevertheless, some USTs do leak and cause contamination. . . ."

Brad goes on to detail how leaks happen, talks about the regulations created over the past 20 years that are designed to prevent them, and provides recommendations for operators to avoid the potentially enormous costs and associated regulatory violations resulting from a leak.

Read the entire article online at the PEI Journal site here.