Top 4 Spill Containment Berms for the Oil and Gas Industry
- By Dan Carver
- Dec 5, 2023
- 0 Comments
The oil and gas industry processes large volumes of flammable and hazardous materials. This industrial sector has stringent safety and environmental controls. But, incidents still occur. Refineries, drilling rigs, pipeline networks and dispensers must all be equipped and prepared to handle spills and releases.
News media often report the highest profile and visible incidents. But there are other small spills and releases that occur between major events. Maintaining vigilant standards helps prevent the larger events from taking place.
How Do Secondary Containment Requirements Affect the Oil and Gas Industry?
Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasures (SPCC) is part of the Clean Water Act. It is mandated to prevent oil spills from reaching navigable waters. One of the primary ways to achieve this goal is to use spill containment berms. These capture spills at the point of release before they cause any environmental damage.
It is not only hydrocarbon spills that have severe consequences. The oil and gas industry also uses hazardous chemicals like sulfuric acid, caustic soda and hydrofluoric acid.BCI supplies spill and oil containment berms for a wide variety of spill risks in the industry.
Secondary Containment Applications for Oil and Gas
1. Oil Containment for Loading and Unloading Trucks
Trucks arrive and depart continuously on oil and gas sites. A single truck contains as much as 5,000 gallons of product. Unloading and loading is a high-risk activity. Valve or hose failures, human error, and over pressurization all have the potential to cause a significant spill and environmental disaster.
Rigid-Lock Fail-Safe® QuickBerms® with ground mat and track mat accessories are ideal for truck loading zones. The ground mat prevents sharp objects from piercing the spill containment berm from below. At the same time, the track mat prevents sharp objects caught in tire treads from piercing it from above.
The QuickBerm itself provides a containment area sized according to the truck volumes. They have a robust construction and seamless welded joins. The Fail-Safe flotation device on entry and exit walls enable easy drive-through use. In an event of a spill, the self-erecting Fail-Safe rises as the fluid rises.
2. Oil Containment for Temporary Storage and Staging Areas
Standard Rigid-Lock QuickBerms deploy quickly without the need for assembly. The single-piece construction is compact, and relocation is easy from one point to another. Patented Rigid-Lock wall-support system locks the walls at a full 90 degrees to provide unobstructed work space.
3. Spill Containment Berms for Removing Pumps for Maintenance
Maintenance requires removing equipment from the operation and transporting it to a workshop. But, pumps and other equipment in service contain product. There is a chance of spills when removing and dismantling.
The QuickBerm Lite is a suitable secondary containment solution for these applications. These berms are light and compact. Move them from one maintenance activity to another easily, as needed. Their low-profile design enables use even in tight spaces.
4. Secondary Containment for Hazmat Decontamination
The oil and gas industry uses toxic materials like sulfuric acid, HF acid and NaOH. There are strict procedures for entering and exiting areas containing these hazardous chemicals. But worker and emergency responders may still be exposed. If an incident occurs, emergency responders set up a protocol for decontamination.
Use Decon QuickBerms for washing down hazmat workers. They prevent any toxic materials from leaving the contaminated zone. These berms feature one, two or three sumps for segregating the decontamination process into steps.
Contact BCI for Secondary Containment Berms for the Oil and Gas Industry
BCI supplies secondary containment solutions to help oil and gas customers comply with SPCC regulations. Our fuel containment berms can help your jobsite avoid or lessen potential disasters to local ecosystems and local economies. Browse our product range here or contact us to request a quote.
