CDOIF Guidance

Safety and environmental standards for fuel storage sites

Final report

115 Appendix 5 sets out detailed guidance on improving safety of fuel transfers. Dutyholders and

all other parties involved in the transfer of fuel should:

adopt the principles for safe management of fuel transfer;

■

where more than one party is involved in the transfer operation, ensure that fuel is only

■

transferred in accordance with consignment transfer agreements consistent with those

principles;

ensure that suitable ‘job factors’ are considered and incorporated into systems and

■

procedures to facilitate safe fuel transfer;

for inter-business transfers, agree on the nomenclature to be used for their product types;

■

for ship transfers, carry out a site-specific review to ensure compliance with the

■

International

Safety Guide for Oil Tankers and Terminals (ISGOTT)

;

for receiving sites, develop procedures for transfer planning and review them with their

■

senders and appropriate intermediates; and

ensure that written procedures are in place and consistent with current good practice for

■

safety-critical operating activities in the transfer and storage of fuel.

Improved level instrumentation components and systems

116 When selecting components and systems for level measurement or overfill protection systems

designers should ensure adequate testability and maintainability to support the required reliability

and take account of the safety benefits available in modern components and systems, such as

diagnostics. Designers should also take account of the potential advantages of the use of non-

invasive systems compared with systems using components inside the tank. Data retrieval and

display systems with software features which assist operator monitoring during tank filling should

be considered.

Overflow detection

117 Overflow detection is a mitigation layer and not a preventative layer and hence is of

secondary priority to overflow prevention. Examples of detecting a loss of containment at a fuel

storage installation are by operator detection directly or by monitoring CCTV display screens.

118 There are currently no standards for use of gas detectors for fuel storage installations and

no fuel storage installations within the UK where gas detectors are installed. Gas detectors are

available but the dispersion of gasoline vapour is complicated and hence effective detection by gas

detectors is subject to many uncertainties. Open path detection devices are available and could

provide boundary detection at bund walls or around tanks. Liquid hydrocarbon detectors, however,

may offer effective detection because it is easier to predict where escaping liquid will collect and

travel. There are a number of installations where liquid hydrocarbon detectors are installed. Typical

locations would be in a bund drain, gutter or sump where sensors can detect oil on water using

conductivity measurement. The detection system may be subject to failures or spurious trips

MIIB Recommendation 8

The sector, including its supply chain of equipment manufacturers and suppliers, should review

and report without delay on the scope to develop improved components and systems, including

but not limited to the following:

(a) Alternative means of ultimate high level detection for overfill prevention that do not rely on

components internal to the storage tank, with the emphasis on ease of inspection, testing,

reliability and maintenance.

(b) Increased dependability of tank level gauging systems through improved validation of

measurements and trends, allowing warning of faults and through using modern sensors with

increased diagnostic capability.