Live test with a new foam proportioner at Tank Storage Verbeke
Tank Storage Verbeke is a service provider for the chemical and petrochemical industry: storage, transport, drumming and blending. The terminal is strategically located along the most important shipping routes of Antwerp and Brussels, which can also be reached via rail and highway.
In 2016, the Hemiksem site was expanded with six new storage tanks. The tanks are in a tank pit and are connected to the loading station for trucks and a jetty. There are two challenges that Tank Storage Verbeke had to deal with.
Saving time is a must
There was an insufficient amount of extinguishing water available for the fire extinguishing system of the new tank pit to enable the required flexibility. In addition, the fire department on site had to activate the fire extinguishing system, which needed to use the fire truck. The fire truck mixed the extinguishing foam concentrate with the water. Connecting the hoses to the manifold of the extinguishing foam system took too long, so that an incident like a pit fire would be catastrophic.
Adding a foam proportioner
In the manifold of the existing extinguishing foam system a foam proportioner is installed with a small supply of extinguishing foam concentrate. This way the extinguishing foam system can be activated quickly and the tank pit can be covered in foam. The amount of foam available is sufficient to bridge the arrival and set-up time of the fire department. By using high-quality extinguishing foam, the desired flexibility can be achieved with a lower water flow rate. This way both challenges were addressed.
Fire truck
We were also asked to design the foam proportioning system for the fire truck on the Tank Opslag Verbeke site. The customer wanted to be able to use the truck for as many applications as possible on site. One of the challenges was the limited space on the vehicle. Together with our sister company Knowsley SK in Manchester, we have designed an installation and delivered a Midi and a Maxi Turbinator. This is a water-driven foam proportioner that is able to accurately mix foam concentrate with water. The truck can thus be used in every way on the Tank Storage Verbeke site.
Testing the system
The adjustments to the extinguishing foam system had to be verified. For this we have done a test in the presence of an inspection agency. During the test we measured the actual water flow and checked the operation of the Turbinator: the mixing ratio of the extinguishing foam with the water. All results were good, making it a successful test.
