The Bulletin – July 1967

Quarterly Journal of The Association for Petroleum Acts Administration

E. V. BEEBY J. BEER J. BIRKS R. L.BLOOR 1. W. FRID H. GRIFFITHS D. HALL

THE ASSOCIATION FOR PETROLEUM ACTS ADMINISTRATION

Chairman: C. R. PESKETT Vice-Chairman: C.T. PEACOCK

Rugby R.D.C. Worcester City Chesterfield B. Kidderminster B. Cambridge City Walsall C.B. Newcastle-under-Lyme B.

Hon. Secretary/Treasurer:

Council: Officers:

G. H. HARVEY J. W. HEWISON T.KERR R. E. J. RODEN J. SHORT B. W. C. THACKER

Dudley C.B. Havant and Waterloo U.D.C. Glanford Brigg R.D.C. Birmingham City Paisley Burgh Middlesbrough C.B.

Hon.

The Bulletin

Published quarterly by the Association for Petroleum Acts Administration

Opinions expressed in this journal are not necessarily the views of the Association

Editor: R. P. HOLDAWAY WEIGHTS AND MEASURES DEPT GUILDHALL, SHREWSBURY

Subscription: 30s. per annum

CONTENTS

TALKING POINT 46 NOTES AND NEWS 46 LETTERS 47

FASTER SERVICE ON THE PETROL STATION FORECOURT.. 49

BY WIDENING YOUR EXPERIENCE-J. H. B. HORNBY 52

ATTINGHAM, 1967-W. H. D. RUNDLE 58 A MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN 59 FIRE IN CRUDE OIL FRACTIONATING UNIT, NORTH TEES SITE-J. w. SMITH 60

PETROLEUM FLASH DISTILLATE-S. GASCOIGNE 62 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING-SOLIHULL 69 COUNCIL MEETING-WORCESTER 70

BRANCH MEETINGS

SOUTH EAST MIDLAND-HEMEL HEMPSTEAD YORKSHIRE-SHEFFIELD SCOTTISH-PAISLEY .. EAST MIDLAND-DERBY IN PARLIAMENT THROUGH THE PIPELINE Chairman: C. R. PESKETT Honorary Secretary/Treasurer: L. A. CAVE

talking point

UNATTENDED SELF-SERVICE

We make no apologies for returning to this subject. The recent visit to Hamburg, a lecture and demonstration at Attingham School, and the lengthy letter from a correspondent in this issue of The Bulletin, is good enough reason for once again referring to this controversial question.

If any petroleum officer has doubts as to the safe keeping of petroleum spirit under such conditions then it is his duty to recommend his Council to refuse any application for this form of service. This is a simple decision. If, however, the petroleum officer after careful consideration and acting with imagination recommends acceptance, and a licensing authority after undoubtedly considerable debate agrees, then a progressive outlook has prevailed and it remains for all concerned to ensure responsible conduct.

It is not our intention to discuss the merits of selfservice in this article, enough has been written and seen for a licensing authority to make up its own mind. We do suggest, however, that the sole criterion is the safety of persons and premises, and we must not be side-tracked by other considerations. Neither must we fall into the trap of accusing industry of having a vested interest and then by the same token deny this natural development.

Kirkcudbright Lanark Port Glasgow Stirling Sunderland West Lothian Yorkshire (W.R.) J. A. J. Thompson

New Associate Members

c.c. c.c. Burgh Burgh C.B.C. c.c. c.c. G.L.C.

notes and news

The Chairman

Mr. C. R. Peskett commenced his Local Government career in 1939 as a Pupil Inspector with the Littlehampton Urban District Council. Service with this Authority was broken by four years service in the Royal Navy (Combined Operations Branch) mostly in the Mediterranean Theatre of War. Following a brief return to Littlehampton in the immediate post-war period he moved to Portsmouth County Borough as a District Inspector and thence to Godalming Municipal Borough as Additional Public Health Inspector, being promoted in 1960 to his present position of Chief Public Health Inspector to that Authority.

New Members

Baldock U.D.C. Herts H. Braintree and Bocking U.D.C. Essex S. British Transport Docks Board Grangemouth H.A. Cuckfield U.D.C. East Sussex s. Dartford M.B.C. Kent H. Dumfries c.c. W.M. Godstone R.D.C. Surrey H.

Durham

W.M. F. s. W.M. F. W.M. F.

J. A. Black, Avery Hardoll Ltd., Bramhope, Nr. Leeds. R. J. Montague, Engineer, Pump and Tank Dept., Esso Petroleum Co., Ltd., Beckenham.

C. J. Wareham, Construction Superviser, Shell Mex & BP Ltd., Leicester.

Retirements

Mr. A. Bedford (Associate), Director/General Manager, Filling Station Mechanics, Ltd., Barnsley.

Mr. W. E. C. Bird, Borough Surveyor, Cheltenham.

Mr. N. Green, Senior Public Health Inspector and Engineer, Petworth R.D.C.

Mr. R. Noble, Chief Fire Officer, Newcastle and Gateshead Fire Brigade.

We wish these gentlemen a long and happy retirement.

Appointments

Mr. N. J. G. Eveleigh, Deputy City Surveyor, Kingstonupon-Hull, succeeds Mr. Bird at Cheltenham.

Mr. T. P. J. Hendry, Mexborough U.D.C., has appointed Public Health Inspector to Meltham U.D.C. in succession to Mr. N. Sykes, now Chief Public Health Inspector, Stourport U.D.C.

Mr. M. C. Leal, District Public Health Inspector, Cuckfield R.D.C., succeeds Mr. Green at Petworth.

Mr. P. Watters, Firemaster, Fifeshire Fire Brigade, succeeds Mr. Noble at Newcastle.

Mr. G. S. Webb, Deputy Engineer and Surveyor, Braintree and Bocking U.D.C., has been promoted to Engineer and Surveyor in succession to Mr. M. R. Richards, now Deputy Borough Engineer, Rugby.

Mr. H. W. Winterbottom, Coatbridge, Burgh, has been appointed District Inspector of Weights and Measures, Reading.

Congratulations

Alderman C. F. Bowmer, Derby, has been awarded the O.B.E. in the Queen's Birthday Honours List.

Obituary

It is with deep regret we report the sudden death of Mr. F. W. Cartwright, Chief Inspector of Weights and Measures, Cambridge.

H.M. Inspectors of Explosives Annual Report 1965 obtainable from any bookseller or H M S O : 4/ ' excluding postage. . .. , pnce -,

First Gas

First gas from the North Sea has been brought ashore by BP the 16 inch pipeline linking the West Sole field with the terminal at Easington, Yorkshire.

Commissioning of the pipeline began on 4th March 'Yhen gas from the West Sole field started to flow into the lme, the water with which it had been filled. The water is cleared by inserting a plastic sphere which is then pushed along by the pressure of gas to the shore end. This stage of the operation has now been completed.

. BP was the first to make a commercial discovery of gas 111 .sea eighteen months ago. Since then produc!I?n fac1hties and the pipeline have been completed and add1t1onal wells drilled. This has been carried out with a speed probably unique in offshore operations.

OFF SET FILLING

I believe that there is in existence a combination shut off valve and dipstick opening, for placing in a filling pipeline, within the pit enclosure. This type of fitting obviates the danger of petroleum spirit being discharged into the pit enclosure whilst the dipping opening is in use, or has been left unsealed.

I am anxious to obtain more details of this type of fitting, and would be grateful if any member could supply me with the address of any manufacturers who produce this fitting.

Darlington, C.B.

lettersPITCH FIBRE DRAIN PIPES

One of the Local Authority members of the Tees-side .has been approached to allow the use of pitch fibre PIJ?es on a petroleum station forecourt. As this is t e rst Instance of the use of such pipes in this area no member of the Branch has been able to get 'any a vice. regarding their use. It was felt that information reg~rdmg the use of pitch fibre drain pipes on petroleum stfathion forecourts might be obtained from other members o t e A · · h ssoc1at10n t rough the medium of The Bulletin.

Secretary, Tees-side Branch B. W. C. THACKER

LATCHED AUTOMATIC CUT-OFF NOZZLES

1 I very much hope that just because the Home Office amended the Model Code to provide for the use of t e above, Petroleum Inspectors will not hurriedly be p~rsuaded to approve these nozzles until they have been t oroughly tested under all circumstances.

E As wa_s very clearly shown at a Meeting of the Southast Midland Branch of this Association at Herne! Hempstead arranged to demonstrate this type of apparatus, under certain circumstances a dangerous spillage can occur from latched -!1ozzles, which in my view cannot be regar?ed as safe until they have been designed to prevent fi th1 e of petrol unless the nozzle is inserted in the 11 pipe of the vehicle.

Epping and Ongar R.D.C. R. A. T. KEMP

W.R. GOLDING

Mr. S. Duncan of the Council of British Manufacturers of Petroleum Equipment supplies the following information: "A unit fitting your enquirer's description is produced by Brian D. Collins (Distributors) Ltd., of 1 Cambridge Park, Wanstead, London, E.11, and is called a "Combination Dip and Fill Unit".

* * *

TESTING OF OLD UNDERGROUND STORAGE TANKS

I have received a number of enquiries following my article in the last issue of The Bulletin on the testing of old underground petroleum storage tanks.

In the example quoted, the tanks filled with P.F.A. were quite small, 250/500 gallons. After the top pla!es were removed, dry material was mixed with on site and filled into the tanks as a slurry. A poker vibrator was then used to consolidate the material, which is self setting. It was necessary to return the next day to "top-up" the tanks after settlement. They were then sealed with concrete.

Costs appear to be very reasonable. For this job they amounted to £38, consisting of £11 for matenal and plant hire and £27 for labour. Jn general terms the cost would appear to be between £20 and £25 a tank. Pumping out water and difficulties in removing rusted top flanges can increase costs to a small extent.

P.F.A. should be readily available in most areas. Further enquiries can be made from the Regional P.F.A. Marketing Officer.

The actual costs of nitrogen pressure tests have been considerably lower than the estimate quoted, being about £5 to £10 a tank according to circumstances.

It would, therefore, not be unreaso:'1able for nitrogen pressure tests to be demanded at the mtervals suggested in the Model Licence Conditions.

One correspondent expressed the view that having regard to the fact that the ullage test was the only one specifically recommended i-!1 the Model. of Principles of Construct10n and L1censmg Cond1tJons, a local authority might have to be satisfied with that test if that was all a licensee was prepared to undertake.

Herne Bay U.D.C.

W. F. WELLER

UNATIENDED SELF-SERVICE

The last issue of The Bulletin contains two reports of the recent visit to Germany to see unattended self-service of petrol at first hand, the first a detailed report by R. P. Thompson, and the second a report to Tees-side Branch by its secretary. Since it is obvious that the oil companies will, after a suitable interval, expect some tangible return in the form of a more tolerant attitude towards unattended self-service, let us consider what has actually been learned from the visit. Apart from the statistics, and details of the equipment, we learn that fire equipment is left out all night and is not interfered with, and that as a general rule motorists using the stations put out cigarettes and switch off their engines. How lucky the German authorities are to have such an honest, well-behaved populace ! Is it seriously suggested that although extinguishers cannot, in this country, be left in unattended car-parks, or in garages attached to large blocks of flats, and although it is difficult to find an undamaged telephone kiosk, extinguishers left on unattended :filling-stations would remain untouched ? The behaviour of the public on unattended sites is of course the main argument against unattended self-service, and the argument which the oil companies are doing their best to play down, even to the extent of claiming that smoking is more prevalent on attended sites than on unattended sites. I note, however, that care is taken to avoid categorical and unequivocal claims-"in a survey . . . there was no instance of smoking by customers reported"-"there seemed to be more smoking on attended forecourts than on self-service stations"-"a motor trader had no instances of smoking while customers filled their vehicles with petrol". (If the site was unattended, how would he know?). These arguments have no merit in them and serve only to emphasise the absence of valid reasons why local authorities could safely dispense with supervision on forecourts.

I think it should be stressed that in recent years there has been no issue quite so fundamentally important as this question of unattended forecourts .. Various concessions have been sought and won, vanous rules and practices have been modified in the face of argument from the industry, and this is quite right. However, to concede the handling of petrol by the public, without supervision by the licensee or his representative, undermines the very structure of petroleum licensing in this country. Concede this issue, and there will be no logical argument for retaining much of the Model Code.

So far only a handful of local authorities have accepted unattended self-service stations, and no great harm has been done. If, however, the Home Office recommends acceptance, or if the Greater London Council allows _even one experimental station in its area, the flood-gates will be open. Before the oil companies step up the we should consider the fact that 1t 1s as recent as Apnl, 1965 that the first unattended self-service station was open'ed, and that there are now 20 or so local ties which accept this type of reta1lmg. I suggest that this is an adequate number for experimental purposes, and that in order to determine just how much public there is for unattended self-service, and whether 1t 1s m the general interest to yield to this hypothetical demand, we need more than the two years which have first station was opened, and we need expenence m this

country, not Germany or anywhere else. If the Home Office and/or the G.L.C. would issue a statement that the question of unattended self-service will be looked at again in, say, April, 1969, we should all be given breathing space, and nobody would be the losers: the oil companies would not have been finally rejected, and the large authorities would not prematurely have conceded a vital principle. There would still be sufficient independently-minded authorities prepared to take on unattended self-service on their own judgement, and this would allow the oil companies some further expansion even in the standstill period. On the other hand, those authorities which still have doubts about the wisdom of this practice would have the excuse they need for refusing applications for the time being.

To avoid misunderstanding about my own position, I should explain that in the G.L.C. major policy decisions are not taken by the inspectorate. The G.L.C. is not a member of the Association, and the views which I have expressed are my own. I am sure that I am not alone in having misgivings at the way in which the move for unattended self-service is gaining momentum, and the way in which opposition is giving way to resignation, and "whether" is becoming "when".

G.L.C.

J. R. DoMONEY

* * *

I was most interested in the last lecture at the Residential Mid-Week School, Attingham Park, on "Self-Service Petrol Retailing" and drove off with "Munz Tank, Automatic, Computerised, Note Accepter, Coin Operat?r, Marketing Methods, etc., etc., revolving in slow dazzhng circles in my mind. The possibilities outlined for a fully automated future in the late 1960's and 1970's crowding my thoughts.

An hour's drive from the delightful surroundings of Attingham found me in need of re-fuelling my car. I approached a wayside filling station ready to be served at the usual pace of the conventional garage, but this was no ordinary garage. I sat there in the car as usual and asked the attendant for five gallons, and he duly di_sappeared behind my car. "Could you hold the nozzle ID your tank, please sir", I was asked. Nonplussed I climbed out of the car to comply, and ask why ? Then the became all too apparent-the pumps were the old electncally operated type, but with one cunning addition, they had handles at the rear which were for hand use. "Power cut", I remarked, "No", said the attendant blithely"We don't have electricity". He then went on to hand me the nozzle to place into the tank whilst he pumped to and fro. This nozzle proved to be a type I personally have never seen. It was conical in shape with a brass wing at the end which served as the tap to allow the spmt through. Ten minutes later my tank was full and I drove off, slowly returning through the looking glass to the 1960's and the "Switched On", Computerised", "Psychedelic" world we live in.

Skegness U.D.C.

Faster Service on the Petrol Station Forecourt

There are three main types of self-service petrol-filling station, though each can have a number of variations. First comes the kind where the motorist serves himself, but where there is an attendant to collect the money. One stage closer to automation is the type where the motorist from a coin-in-the-slot pump, though there 1s aga10 an attendant on the premises. Third is the unmanned filling station where the motorist serves himself from a coin-operated pump without supervision.

In the attended petrol station, where the motorist serves himself but pays the attendant, there may be a remote control system which allows the amount of petrol taken at each pump to be registered at a central kiosk. The attendant in the kiosk can then supervise a number of at the same time and accept payment without leav10g the kiosk. There must, of course, be an attendant on duty throughout the time the filling station is open.

One example of this kind of filling station has recently been opened in Leicester. The motorist drives up to the puml? island, lifts the required pump nozzle, froi:n. its hous10g and turns an operating lever to the 'on pos1tio!1· The p_ump reading is returned to zero by the controller 111 k1<;>sk, the motorist puts how much petrol he wants 10to his car-the amount being registered on the pump. When he puts the nozzle back, the amount of petrol _taken a?d the price are registered on the control console 111 kiosk, and he goes there to pay. Each individual pump is fitted with two-way communication which allows the operator to speak to the motorist from the kiosk if any difficulty arises in following the instructions on the pump.

Extra safety conditions

Another manned self-service petrol station has recently been opened in Bristol, where the following additions have been made to the conditions of the licence:

(a) During the whole time that the filling station is open at least two attendants must be on duty.

(b) The pumps must be so sited that each is clearly visible to the attendant whose duty it is to operate the remote control panel.

(c) A master switch should be incorporated in the master control panel and should enable the to cut off the electricity supply to all pumps without moving from the control panel.

(d) A sufficient number of microphones should be provided at the pumps to enable the. operator the control panel to determine that engmes are switched off before allowing delivery to be made.

(e) A loud-speaker system should be installed and should enable the operator at the coi;itrol panel. to broadcast instructions to customers without leavmg the control panel.

(f) Adequate devices should be i_ncorporated in the design of each pump to prevent. (i) overfilling of vehicle fuel tanks, (ii) operation of the pump till such time !ls the discharge nozzle is properly located 10 the vehicle filling pipe orifice, (iii) a blow-back of petroleum spirit due to a up of pressure in a vehicle tank. A rehef valve should be incorporated 10 the nozzle.

(g) For each group of two pumps, one two-ga!lon .foam extinguisher, or one IOlb. dry powder ext10gms.her, and one bucket of clean dry sand should be and positioned on the pump island to the satisfaction of the fire authority.

(h) Prominent signs stating NO SMOKING-SWITCH OFF ENGINE should be displayed on each pump island sufficient in number to that each person serving himself with petrol can be 10 no doubt as to the need to observe these conditions.

This Article is taken from the F.P.A. Journal of April, 1967 and reproduced by permission of the Fire Protection Association

The type of nozzle used to satisfy section (ii) of condition (f) above has also been undergoing tests by the Greater London Council. With the conventional type of delivery nozzle there is always the danger that it may be accidentally removed from the filler pipe while petrol is still flowing-if the man filling the car turns to look at the pump meter reading, for example. This safety nozzle is similar to the conventional type, but has an additional on/off device that allows petrol to flow only when it is pressing on the lip of the vehicle's filler pipe. If the nozzle is removed from the pipe during delivery the petrol flow cuts off. While this works satisfactorily on most cars, the position of the filler pipe on some models can make it difficult to operate. Devices such as this, a useful additional safety measure at conventional filling stations, are especially of value at self-service sites where the man filling the car is inexperienced and more prone to make mistakes.

Coin-in-the-slot pumps

The attended filling station with coin-operated pumps has many features in c?mmon with the type just described, but coins have to be mserted before petrol is dispensed. The pump is operated by two coins (usually half-crowns) and delivers petrol up to the value of these coins, rather than in exact multiples of a gallon.

Two of the first coin-operated self-service stations in this country are at Southampton and Plymouth. In both cases control staff are required to be in attendance during the hours of business. The City of Southampton makes the conditions that:

'While the premises are open for the sale of liquid fuel there shall, at all times while the pumps are remotely controlled for the self service, be at least one person in addition to the person in charge of the control room available on the premises for assistance on the forecourt.

Self service of liquid fuels can only be allowed into the tanks of motor vehicles.

Deliveries into cans or other receptacles shall only be made by an attendant authorized by the licensee.

Each self-service pump shall be fitted with a limiting device at eleven gallons and an automatic shut-off nozzle.'

The approach which licensing authorities have adopted, of granting licences for coin-or note-operated self-service pumps in a limited number of locations at manned petrol stations appears entirely reasonable, and is similar to the practice recommended in the United States by the National Fire Protection Association. Its Standard No. 30 Flammable and Combustible Liquids--1966/7, Chapter VII, Service Stations, states under the heading of 'Special type Dispensers':

'Approved special dispensing devices such as, but not limited to, coin-operated, card-operated, and remote preset types are permitted at service stations provided that dispensing of class I liquids (those having flash points at or below 20°F.) is under the observation and control of a competent attendant at all times and provided that emergency controls are installed at a location

acceptable to the authority having jurisdiction. Instructions for operating of dispensing devices shall be conspicuously posted'.

Experiments with unmanned filling stations

A completely unmanned self-service petrol station can present a higher fire risk than either of the types described so far, and licensing authorities in general are awaiting a lead, either in the form of an amendment to the Model Code or in some other way, before granting licences for petrol dispensing on unattended premises. The majority of applications for a licence for this type of station are to allow for the sale of petrol outside normal sales hours, and there are considerable difficulties in the way of devising adequate safeguards.

On an unmanned station it is difficult to ensure that appropriate action is taken in the event of an accident, or if the equipment should leak or function incorrectly. It would be unrealistic, for example, to expect members of the public to be familiar with the operation and position of the isolating switches for the pumps. Then there is the danger of vandalism and damage to the pumps and equipment, and the difficulty of ensuring that petrol is delivered only into a motor car tank or approved type of container, or that children do not serve themselves with petrol. The rule forbidding smoking within 20ft. of the delivery point could not be enforced, nor would there be any guarantee that car engines were switched off before filling began. The fire-extinguishing appliances on the site could easily be removed or damaged by tampering. Delivery of bulk petrol supplies to an unmanned station-and ensuring that proper precautions were taken during delivery-eould also be a problem; under present law, such deliveries would be illegal.

Some of the difficulties outlined here might be overcome by mechanical or safeguard devices fitted to the pumps, but even with these it seems inevitable that the fire risk would be higher than at a manned filling station. And there is another difficulty: if licensing authorities did generally accept unmanned installations, relaxing some of the existing licensing conditions to do so, it might be difficult to convince operators of conventional filling stations that the existing licensing conditions were fair to them.

However, trials have been made with a number of pumps licensed for unattended use. One of these was at a filling station at Elbridge, near Bognar Regis, West Sussex. This was in an isolated country location, and while the pump was used in the conventional way during the day, the proprietor could switch it over to coin operation with a key at night. The proprietor slept on the premises, so the pump was only unattended to this extent. If he had to leave the premises for any length of time he disconnected the installation and rendered it inoperative.

Use of this pump was regarded as an experimental trial only, and for this reason the licensing authority did not impose any additional conditions. The idea was to gain operating experience, in the light of which the normal licensing conditions could be amended or supplemented later.

From the fire safety point of view, experience with this pump was quite encouraging. There were no reports of that could have endangered safety, and at no time were children seen tampering with the installation. At the same time, it was reported that a number of motorists had difficulty in returning the hose and nozzle into the pump housing and sometimes left it lying on the forecourt, which might possibly have increased the risk of and meant that dirt and grit could find their way mto the petrol tanks of other vehicles.

From the point of view of the operator, though, the system proved to have a number of disadvantages, chief of which was the noise factor. Two out of three customers could use the facilities with reasonable sense, but there was always the third who made an excessive amount of noise by slamming car doors or playing radios too loudly. Some would disturb the proprietor to get him to demonstrate how the pump worked, or merely to ask him for change for the pump. Night-time petrol sales were not sufficient to outweigh these disadvantages, and the service was abandoned after eighteen months.

An automatic pump unit has recently been introduced at a Pulborough, West Sussex, filling station and licensed for unattended machine will accept monetary n?tes, and can d1stmgmsh between genuine notes from pieces paper or during the day the pump can be use? m the "'.ay. The licensing conditions for .this pump mclude reqmrements for the 'switch off engmes' and 'no smoking' notices to be illuminated and normal. They cover the provision of fire extmgmshers sand, and s!ipulate that the pump must ha".e al_l automatic cut-out which operates after it has been dehvenng petrol for three minutes and also stops the flow when the nozzle of the pistol grip becomes immersed in petrol.

. Whether unmanned filling stations are likely to come mto more common use in this country in the near future is still a matter and many people feel that some of superv1s10n will always be desirable where Is dispensed. But there are situations where a cert::im amount of supervision could be exercised without havmg a man permanently on the forecourt. For example, there are many petrol stations with pumps on both sides road where an attendant on one side would be able, dun!1g periods at least, to keep an eye on a selfserv1ce mstallation on the other side.

Other ways of speeding up petrol service

the motorist to serve himself is only one of the ways m which technical developments are cutting down on requirements at the petrol station. A number of devices are coming into use in this country which enable the filling process to be speeded up.

The conventional petrol pump delivery nozzle in this country has a sprung release trigger which has to be held open _by hand while the vehicle tank is being filled. On the Contment and in America, however, latched nozzles with an cut-<;>ut !ire widely used at attended phetrol stations. With this device the nozzle is inserted into t e fil_ler. pipe of the vehicle and petrol flows when the is h_fted. The nozzle remains fixed to the filler pipe delivery is taking place, and the attendant can leave it to serve another car. Petrol keeps flowing until the preset

amount on the pump is reached, or the automatic cut-out stops the flow when the tank is full. With this device the attendant can deal with two or three vehicles at the same time, collecting money from the first while the others are still being filled.

Other ways of speeding up petrol service

There are three main dangers that could arise with the use of latched pumps, and these are overcome by built-in safety devices. First there is the risk that the nozzle might fall out of the tank and spill petrol on the forecourt; to guard against this the latch has an impact device which trips the mechanism and stops the flow of petrol if it falls on the ground. Then there is the danger that the motorist might drive away with the nozzle still in the filling pipe, so a shearing device of soft section is incorproated in the nozzle and will cut off the. petrol if it is sheared. Third, with a wide range of different cars to be dealt with, the pump must be prevented from dispensing petrol faster than the particular type of filler pipe will take it, otherwise blow-backs and spillages would occur. The protective device used here is a flow control for the speed of delivery which can be preset by the attendant before the nozzle is put in the car filler pipe. Until recently this type of nozzle was not permitted in licensed filling stations in this country. But one result of the review of the Model Code that is currently being undertaken has been the circulation to licensing authorities of an amendment permitting the use of automatic latched cut-off nozzles, under certain conditions, at licensed filling stations.

One example of a modern filling station

A pump with an in-built system ca_n deliver petrol of a number of different octane ratmgs 1s another development that offers the filling station operator greater flexibility and at the same time reduces the number of pumps he needs. A pump which can serve four diffe_rent grades of petrol via the same hose is one of the innovatl<;>ns introduced by a major petrol company at a petrol near Slough. The pump is situated on a trianguI::ir island which can accommodate three cars at the same time, and the hose is mounted on a boom arm that can be rotated through 360°. Since it is not necessary for one car to be driven away before the next is served, one attendant can deal with a greater number of cars in a given time.

At this filling station a number of other devices on the pump also help to speed up the service. It has a latched nozzle, and the amount to be delivered can be set in advance by a lever graduated in five shilling increments, allowing up to fifty shillings' worth of any grade to be delivered.

The grade of petrol is selected by a quick turn of the lever at the end of the boom arm, and a pneumaticallyoperated cash register which delivers a printed bill relating to all forecourt sales is provided, thus allowing all payments to be made on the island.

The company operating this site has made studies which show that one attendant can deal with about thirty cars an hour during peak periods on an island with three conventional pumps, but at least forty-eight an hour using this new pump on the triangular island. Further installations of this type are planned in the near future in the south of England.

·by widening your experience .. .'

A Paper on the petroleum scene in the United States and Canada

by J. H. B. HORNBY, D.M.A., D.S.A.A., M.l.W.M.A. Deputy Chief Inspector of Weights and Measures, City of Oxford

In introducing his paper, Mr. Hornby referred to the Churchill Trust, which had enabled him to make a lengthy visit to the North American Continent. A fund was set up after the death of Sir Winston Churchill as a tribute to his memory, and donations to this fund enabled some 60 or 70 persons in all walks of life to visit foreign countries to further their education and to bring back something of value to their own country.

Mr. Hornby said that his own fellowship was connected with Consumer Protection matters and, of course, Consumer Safety is a part of Consumer Protection. He said that you might well think that six months is a long time to devote to a subject like Consumer Protection, but its width was still not fully realised by many. Also there were constant distractions. With a magic place like San Francisco, say, an hour away, one's thoughts were hardly on "how they install their tanks" or "the intricacies of their consumer protection services". It was necessary to restrict one's sightseeing to the first day and get down to the hard work later on.

It was a question, therefore, of ''fighting the clock" and he thought the best thing to do would be to look at the current problems concerning us as petroleum officers and see what the Americans and Canadians were doing, and so he looked at the points he thought would be of special interest to members of this Association ; these are enumerated in the paper.

Mr. Hornby commented on the problems of diversity, inasmuch as it is extremely difficult to go into a large Continent and at the same time trying to see what is done in the various authorities. The size of the country gives rise to the tremendous range of practices and this was illustrated when he flew into Kennedy Airport on the first day of the airline strike in July, and the scene, as many thousands of people were milling around trying to get to different parts of America, can well be imagined. His objective was Denver. Eventually he was found a seat on a plane to Pheonix which, on a large map of America, looked a comparatively short distance of, say, about J20 miles, which appeared to be reasonably satisfactory. During the flight Mr. Hornby wondered just how far Pheonix was from Denver. On getting his map out he reconsidered it may be as far as 300 miles. When he did get to Pheonix it was rather hot, being 106°, and it was then to his horror that he found the actual distance was 826 miles.

His second experience was in Los Angeles. He was in his hotel in the middle of the town, and having nothing special to do in the evening decided to take a walk down to the waterfront. Having had the experience of the distance between Pheonix and Denver, he decided to first check the distance and found it was 23 miles! Los Angeles is 50 miles across in any direction and Chicago 30 miles by 10.

These experiences Mr. Hornby described as 'typical American distance shocks', which show the size of the country and particularly illustrate the reason for difficulty in obtaining uniformity of administration.

Petroleum officers, however, have some excellent guidance from eminent bodies concerned with this type of administration in the United States and Mr. Hornby would like to see some sort of regular cornmunication with these people from this Association.

Mr. Hornby, in his final remarks, stated that he had obtained numerous pamphlets and information on all aspects of Consumer Protection and Safety and that, ({there were any points dealt with in his paper or introduction that members were interested in, it was possible that he had something in printed form which he would be willing to pass on to any interested member.

Presented at the Annual General Meeting of the Association for Petroleum Acts Administration, held at Solihull, 1Bth April, 1967

"By widening your experience you will be able to give more to this country on your return".

Such is the stated outlook of the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust towards its travelling Fellows; and the money so freely given by the British people towards this fund is being used almost exclusively to serve its Fellows and Nation in this way. My own experience was to be widened. in consumer protection which, these days, commonly mcludes consumer safety. The very existence of the Association for Petroleum Acts Administration is because of the concern for the safety of the consumer of petroleum products and, therefore, the work of the petroleum officer.

My duties as such in Oxford involve me daily with work of kind, I felt that during my travels I should, if possible, find time to take a look at the North American petroleum scene.

Six months, at that time, seemed to be enough-but I had set myself a lot to do. Some things had to be missed, course, and the most profitable allocation of available time was a big problem and something which had to be kept in mind. So I took a look at the objects of this Association to see how, in some small way, I could help to further them. These are:

(a) The of .scientific, and legal knowledge requued m the admmistration of the Petroleum Acts and associated legislation.

(b) The supply and interchange of information relative to (a).

(c) To s.o far as is practicable, uniformity in the adm1mstrat10n of the Petroleum Acts and associated legislation.

(d) To promote the formation of Branches.

(e) 1:0 .co-operate with other bodies having objects s1mllar to those of the Association or concerned with the safe handling, storage, or distribution of substances falling within the purview of the Petroleum Acts and Associated legislation.

Those which really were appropriate were (a) and (b), and probably (e).

The advancement of scientific and technical knowledge was the object with which I felt I could do the most. The U.S.A. :particular!y accepted as being well ahead in the application of scientific and technical knowledge and it was ;riot unreasonable to assume that they would be in our particular field. My plan then was to take some of our Problems and see how the North Americans deal wI them, and this paper will set out some of the things 1ound.

I will take first that topical subject-·

Latched Nozzles

The introduction of the latched nozzle is probably the most important development of concern to us for many they into use in the U.S.A. ten years g · Durmg my VlSlt I never saw one conventional nozzle and the position now is that all States accept t happily alth<?ugh some did not in the early stages of theu There still may be a few hesitant authorities but even if their laws do prohibit latched nozzles they not

enforced. Both the National Fire Protection Association of America and the Canadian Authorities allow their use only where the pumps are operated by a service station attendant, and they are expressly prohibited on selfservice dispensers. In Ontario too "constant immediate attendance" is required where the latched nozzle is used.

I travelled comparatively few miles by car, probably about 4,000 mainly as a passenger, but I did hire cars on two occasions. I made a special point of asking about latched nozzles whenever the cars were filled, and this was in a wide variety of places often many hundreds of miles apart. Attendants seem genuinely amazed when I told them they were not in use in England. I would estimate that I asked a dozen attendants if they had ever had trouble with the device, and only once was there a positive reply-"It jumped out once, but shut off when it hit the ground".

I think these will now come in quickly, and the particular advantages I noticed are:

1. Several vehicles can be safely dealt with at one time -something I watched with considerable anxiety at first.

2. If the filling station is not too busy, the attendant invariably occupies himself cleaning the car's screen, windows, mirrors and lights, something which is bound to contribute to general road safety. The American driver shows no surprise when oil, water and battery are checked without asking.

3. Having seen them in action, I think they are no less safe than the conventional nozzle. If the driver is smoking, for example, the attendant is free to go to him and ask for his co-operation. There is less danger on a busy day because the attendant has more time to look for hazards. "Fill her up" service will probably be with us soon, and this should mean less visits to the filling station.

I feel that the Association must do everything in its power to ensure that it recommends only the nozzles which have been proved to be satisfactory over the years in other countries. The pioneering has been done for use, and we should be prepared to copy.

Underground car parks

Underground car parks are not so numerous as I expected. For one thing, people are happier to build up rather than down. A recent Chicago apartment develop-. ment does not start the living accommodation until the 18th floor-the first 17 being for car parking. Outside the city centres, there is so much space that cars are parked at ground level in the open. Dwelling house developments and supermarket areas invariably have ample surrounding space.

Where there are underground car parks the approach to safety is not unlike our own.

If there is any uniformity in the North American Petroleum scene it is certainly not to be found in the construction of basement car parks. Requirements vary not only from State to State, but from City to City, and most building codes in the U.S.A. do not distinguish between garages used exclusively for the parking of cars and those used for other related activities. To further complicate the position there are various recommended Codes of Building

practices and the general feeling is that the fire hazard of parking garages is very low In a booklet "Fire Safety in the Atomic Age" the National Fire Protection Association states, in relation to this type of garage:

"The principal combustible material is the gasoline in the tanks of automobiles, plus a smaller, almost negligible, amount of combustible upholstery . The total fuel in the contents of the building can be easily calculated by assuming an average number of gallons of gasoline in each tank and multiplying this by the number of autos for which there is floor space. Even if you neglect upholstery and take each tank as twenty gallons full, you have about 130 pounds of gasoline per tank at 20,000 British Thermal Units per pound, or 2,600,000 units per car, which at 200 square feet per car is only 13,000 units per square foot, a very low fire loading. Actually the fire loading is much less if you consider the entire storage area".

This is not, of course, quite the same as the explosion risk , but nonetheless, this authoritative opinion seems to encourage a not too severe approach.

As to whether or not a garage should be treated as subbasement for our own purposes, the usual American definition of an open parking garage might help-these " are structures having not Jess than 50 per cent of two sides of the structure open at each storey "

Enclosed parking garages (our basement or sub-basement garages) are usually regulated when they are built to hold more than 20 cars. In such cases mechanical ventilation is always required, and its capability is specified in a somewhat different way from ours it must simply di s charge ! cubic foot of air per minute for each square foot

of floor area. Automatic sprinklers are required in basement garages with a floor area exceeding 5,000 square feet (parallel to this Association's recommendation) and looked upon as desirable in all enclosed garages exceeding a height of 65 feet. I know of no rules for ramp gradients. Provisions on alarms, exits, fire resistance of the structure are similar to our own.

An underground car park in Columbus, Ohio, is dealt with in some detail (page 38) in the April, 1967, issue of The Bulletin, and the main features here are: 1. the public address system, 2. the powerful ventilators, 3. the outside traffic accumulation, and 4 the fault of smooth concrete.

Self-Service

I did not get very far with my investigations into this problem. The reason is simply that it was prohibited in all the places where enquiries were made. Both Los Angeles and Ontario have specific prohibitive sections in their laws, at any rate for Class I or Class II liquids. In its 1966 Code, the N.F.P.A. does allow self-service, provided that dispensing of gasoline is under the observation and control of a competent attendant at all times. Emergency controls are required too, and clear operating instructions

The reasons for this lack of self-service are in no way obvious , and my own view is that the greater tank capacity of American vehicles, and the widespread competitive night service, all contribute. There are very few motor scooters in the U.S.A.

Filling Stations

The only filling stations I examined in detail were in California, and the observations are dealt with in an article on page 97 of the October, 1966 Bulletin. The most significant points here concern the installation of tanks without concrete or special backfill (except in dock areas), the leaving open of vent pipes at the top and the ban on the use of liquids for cleaning or any other purpose where their flash point is less than 100°F. The other points are closely associated with the particular circumstances of climate and the American tradition, and do not really affect us.

My overall impression of the American Filling Station is that a lesser concern for safety is balanced (from the customer's point of view) by a greater interest in good service. Warning notices are not, in general, as prominent as ours, and advertising is always the first eye-catcher.

There is a proliferation of small two-pump service stations.

Installation of underground tanks

I have got into the habit of classifying things found as "big surprises'', "small surprises'', and "that which was expected", and the big surprise in petroleum matters was that our ideas of tank installation are quite different from those of authoritative bodies both in Canada and the U.S.A. Although there are those who like the brick vault and the concrete shell, the majority consider them unnecessarily complicated and expensive-and, and this is !he point-no-one seemed satisfied that they helped much m the fight against corrosion.

In the City of Los Angeles, one of America's foremost petroleum safety authorities, all that is required is well tamped earth, with sufficient strength at the surface to take the stresses it will be subject to. If this is vehicular traffic, a slab is specified. Only in their Pacific waterfront reg10n IS a concrete chamber (note not a shell) required. The conditions of Canada's Dominion Fire Commissioner require well tamped soft earth or sand; with a minimum t<;>P covering of 2ft. of earth, or alternatively lft. with a 4u;i. concrete slab. Where vehicles pass over the top, these are roughly doubled. "Solid, well-packed Is all that the new Ontario Gasoline Handling Act reqmres.

The august American Petroleum Institute goes further than most in recommending "proper backfilling of the tank on all sides with a minimum of 6 inches of washed sand". Unlike Los Angeles, they suggest that the tank be strapped on top of two concrete beams where there are sub-surface water conditions.

Nobody seemed convinced that either the vault or the shell were justified. Neither, it was felt, would hep petrol in or moisture out, and although there was a c ance of less corrosion, it was remote, and, once there was a leak in a concreted tank, the problems were enormous_. I was asked many questions about this British "Does concrete stop corrosion ? Will the shell a leak ? Is concrete inexpensive ? Is it used mstead of the bituminous coating ? " When my answers were ."No'', I began to re-think very seriously the whole question of the use of concrete.

Consequently I am now uncertain myself and although I was very much a concrete advocate before I crossed the Atlantic, I am not now !

I would like to think that the Association is in line with the Home Office and more sure of concrete than I am ; and that we are not all making one awful mistake which will leave a great headache for the petroleum officers of the 1980's and 90's. I do hope that I leave this meeting once more re-assured.

Cathodic protection for underground tanks (January Bulletin, page 9; April Bulletin, page 40) could profitably be given more consideration. The fibre-glass reinforced plastic tank was dealt with in January, page 8.

Classification of hazardous liquids

The principle of classifying dangerous liquids, which is common to both the U.S.A. and Canada is an appealing practice. Here again the unfortunate thing is that the classification varies from place to place, and uniformity is lost. Sometimes such liquids are called class A, B, C and D; sometimes I, II, III, IV and so on; sometimes they are further subdivided, sometimes not. To illustrate the point this extract from the Canadian Gasoline Handling Act will serve:

"flammable liquid" means any gasoline or associated product having a flash point within one of the ranges described under the following product classes:

(i) Class I products, having flash points and include such products as automotive aviation gasoline, naphtha and alcohol-based antifreezes,

(ii) Class II products having flash points from 73°F. to 150°F., inclusive, and include such as Type l, 2, 4 and 5 fuel oil, diesel fuel, kerosme, brake fluid and cleaning fluid,

(iii) Class III products, having flash po_ints . above l 50°F., and include Type 6 fuel oil, engme gear oil, automotive greases, shock absorber flmd and glycol-based anti-freezes.

This classification does not, however, extend to nonpetroleum products, but does .Pro_vide a greater over oils and paraffins. Regulat10n IS sound, and accordmg to the likely hazard.

The word FLAMMABLE

This word of warning is used universally in North America and our "inflammable" is never seen. Canada remarked that there were enough immigrant problems, without having to explain that "highly inflammable" means "very easy to set on fire" ! In the English language the prefix "in" usually denotes "not", and it would be interesting to find out how the word "inflammable" came to mean "flammable" in the first place.

In the U.S.A. the N.F.P.A. code recommends, for example, the words FLAMMABLE KEEP FIRE A WAY as a warning on storage cabinets. I like this very much. EXTREMELY FLAMMABLE is recommended for cans by the A.P.I. Ontario requires FLAMMABLE on any vehicle carrying gasoline or associated products in any quantities.

Fowler of "English Usage", states that "Flammable" is now rare, and goes on to say that when it does appear it is in the form "non-flammable". Before we go on to "non-inflammable" I think we should endeavour to go back to ":flammable" and recommend its use always.

Abandoned cars

I soon grew tired of asking about abandoned cars, because there seems to be no safety problem. With these unbelievable scrap car gobblers in the wreckers' yards, proper disposal is encouraged and is easy. No-one knew of any accident in which a child was injured (The big problem, incidentally, is abandoned refrigerators, into which small children climb, only to suffocate when the door closes on them. All refrigerators are now required to have doors which also open from the inside).

Highway transportation

North America's control of vehicles engaged in the transport of gasoline did not seem to be as stringent as ours. For example, nowhere did I find a requirement for the exhaust system to be in front of a protective shield. Los Angeles required, however, a metal shield adequate to prevent contact between the muffler or the piping and the fuel carried. The Ontario Act requires the exhaust run to be clear of combustible materials, and to be terminated in such a position that fumes or heat from it shall not create a hazard to the tank contents or to a filling or discharging facility.

Some authorities require tankers to carry wheel chocks, and to use them at all times when loading or unloading. This has both advantages and disadvantages.

I noticed in many places completely unprotected exhaust systems running up the back of the cab, and I raised the matter with a tanker manufacturer just west of Toronto. His view was that if gasoline did contact the hot exhaust there was a definite hazard, but he felt the chances were so remote that additional protection was going too far. I did not agree wi tb thjs view but did not press the point,

because I wanted to improve rather than disturb Anglo/ Canadian relations !

This was the main point on tankers. Another was that I could find no equivalent of our written certification that a tank will accept the quantity to be delivered. Electrical requirements, fire extinguishers and vehicle construction were similar to English requirements. Tank trailers (called pups) were very common

Looking back now through what I have written, it does seem to be a strange disjointed selection, but I hope there is something in it for everybody.

If these few points will serve as food for members' thoughts, particularly those with special interests in them; and if they lead to a few re-considerations by those who know the subjects well, then I shall be satisfied that my Fellowship obligations are, at least in part, fulfilled.

I confess to great difficulty in coping with the variety of practices found. There are so many in this huge continent, and this, whilst understandable, is a big problem to a travelling observer. It was rather like visiting a dozen countries rather than just two !

It would have helped if I could have found an equivalent of this Association, but this was not possible. Nonetheless, there is excellent guidance for the North American petroleum officer from a large number of eminent bodies , and I discovered four in my limited enquiries. They were the American Petroleum Institute, the National Fire Protection Association, the Automotive Safety Foundation, and the Domjnion Fire Commissioner for Canada.

I would welcome the fostering of friendship with these bodies, and a healthy interchange of ideas, because I am convinced that our countries have a lot to learn from each other and, in a shrinking world, such co-operation can do nothing but good.

Many of the things I learned were, for me, a real widening of experience, and that now I have returned I can "give a little more".

questions

Mr. G. Ashley-Wayne Tank & Pump Co. Ltd.

Mr. Ashley asked whether it would be more correct to use a term "latch-open automatic nozzles" to avoid confusion for traders who had no previous experience with such equipment.

Mr. Hornby agreed and thought it important, particularly m the early stages of the use of a device of this kind. * * *

Mr. G. Balshaw-Shrewsbury

What control if any, is exercised in the U.S.A. concerning L.P.G. and have the Americans progressed as the French have recently done, to underground filling stations?

I am afraid I did not investigate L:P.G.jrom the petroleum angle and did not see or hear of any underground filling stations. * * *

Mr. J. Beer-Worcester

Is it true to say that the type of latch-open automatic nozzle used in the States can be used on every type of car, because I have heard that certain types of nozzles which may be introduced into this country will just not work on some car and what is their approach as far as general hcence conditions are concerned to this sort of thing ?

:i:-es, there were nozzles of this type used in the U.S.A. which were so designed as to operate in any type of car.

Some general discussion on this point followed, with Mr . .W· C.R. Dale-G.L.C. pointing out that additional reqmrements over our American counterparts made by the H?me Office required the addition of an inertia device be mcorporated in the nozzle, which, in fact, prevented of spirit when the nozzle was in a horizontal position.

Mr. D. Hall-Newcastle-under-Lyme

Wit_h regard to the phrase "constant and immediate used in the Ontario Gas Act, what is the posit10n of an attendant who latches a nozzle, must he remain and watch it fill ? If so, then in my opinion, this would defeat the object of using this type of equipment.

"Constant and immediate attention" in my view is a very nebulous phrase, and as far as I could gather provided the attendant busied himself round the vehicle and did not enter any premises, e.g. kiosks, then no objection was taken.

* * *

Mr. D. W. Johnson-Slough

Mr. Johnson brought up discussion he had had with the Concrete Manufacturers Research Organisation, who were of the opinion that with regard to swimming pools, concrete less than 6ins. thick did not provide an efficient

liquid seal, and secondly that the installation of tanks in excess of 1,000 gallons was an engineering job as opposed to that of a builder. However, they felt that to encase larger tanks with less than 9ins. of concrete would create further problems. They suggested that a better installation method would be to construct shuttered concrete vaults either encased in a plastic membrane, or with the membrane sealed to the inside walls.

* * *

Mr. K. C. Hughes-Stafford, told the meeting that in his experience where tanks had been installed directly into the ground in his area, corrosion had occurred within ten to twelve years due to fillings of ashes and clinker, together with the effiuent from salt workings in the area.

In answer to this, Mr. Hornby agreed that much depended on local circumstances and that the criticism which ll'as heard at the American Petroleum Institute was concerned largely with the expansion and contraction of the tank in the concrete which gave rise to space between the ends and sides, perhaps as much as iin., which they said was a good collecting point for moisture, which once there would in all probability remain, and if the bitumastic coating was damaged in any way and coincided with one of these spaces, a leak would soon result. He mentioned that very often a filling station was built alongside a new highway on virgin ground, and in these circumstances cathodic protection is easy and there would be little corrosion material in the earth in any case. He agreed that concrete came into its own where, as is so typical in the English scene, buildings had previously existed and the ground might be long impregnated with all kinds of alien substances-clinker, lime, and soon. But to insist 011 concrete always might be unwise and unnecessarily expensive.

Still on the question of concrete surrounds, Mr. Beer said that theory was alright, but facts and figures were what mattered to him; and the fact remained that he had never known a leak in a concrete encased tank, and they have been put in this way for over thirty years now. Surely this was the finest possible justification ?

Mr. Hornby then asked the meeting, through the chair, if anyone present had known such a leak. When no-one had, Mr. Hornby said that this was just the reassurance he was seeking.

* * *

Mr. S. Brown-Manchester

Mr. Brown enquired whether or not petroleum mixtures were controlled in the United States ?

This question is covered by the classification of liquids as outlined in my paper, petroleum mixtures coming within type I classification.

On cathodic protection, Mr. Dale said he hoped that members would not go round putting cathodic protection in here and there, because in built-up areas there were many snags. Pipes and foundations could be eaten away which had nothing at all to do with the petroleum installation.

Attingham 1967

Personal Impressions

of the Residential Mid-Week School held at the Shropshire Adult College Attingham Park

Shrewsbury

byW.H.D.RUNDLE Cert. S.I.B., M.A.P .H.J. Chief Public Health Inspector and Surveyor Cirencester Rural District Council

Forty-eight hours • Shropshire

"Something strange happens to time here", said Sir George Trevelyan , Bart., M.A. , the Warden of Attingham Park Adult College, in his address of welcome to the 1967 Residential Mid-Week School of the Association held there from the 8th to IOth of May.

The tranquil surroundings and the friendly atmosphere introduced by Sir George's welcome , and ever present throughout the course, made one feel so at home th at at the end it seemed incredible that less than 48 hour s had passed since arrival. This "e longated" time was, however, all too short for most students to absorb and discuss the many facets of Petroleum Administration, as was evidenced by the fact th at "question time" was invariably and inevitably gui ll otined to conform to the tight schedule.

Fortunately, the admirab ly efficient dinin g room and licen.sed Common Room gave opportunities for the di s cussions to be continued whilst satisfying the "inner man".

Attingham Park, an Eighteenth Century Co untry House Ill the grand manner with an impressive portico and coloru;iaded win gs is a fitting setting for the exciting experiment ID Adult Education which it nurtures an d even the met aph?rical. scent of petroleum vapour assoc iated with ?ehberat1on s could do nothing to d etract from the d1gmfied beauty of its interior so affectionately de scribed by the Warden.

T he course !tse lf followed the weJI proven pattern of its m providing a refresher in a ll the basic essentia ls of the subject for petroleum officers, the majority of whom have numerou s other responsibilities in their daily work. I am sure that anyone ass ociated with the

administration of Petroleum Legislation owes it to himself and his a uthority to attend one of these courses which so admirably succeed in their object.

W. M. Lewis, F.R.I.C., City Analyst , City of Coventry, made the organic chemistry of petroleum products so easy in his talk on "The Nature of Petroleum Spmt and its Hazards" that the whole family of hydrocarbons are more familiar to me than ever before.

The controversies raised by the case of " G ran di v. Milburn" were arg ued in masterly fashion by C. S. McDonald, M.A., D .M .A. , Senior Assistant Solicitor, County Borough of Solihull, in his paper on "Petroleum Law" which underlined difficulties in interpretation and the importance of proper definitions in legal matters.

"Planning and the Petroleum Officer" by W C.R. A.F.Jnst.Pet., Principal Administration Officer, Licen smg Dep artmen t, Greater London Council, was. a reasoned exposition of the principles and practice of lay mg out petrol installations an d not concerned with the Tc;iwn and Country Planning implications which the title have led one to expect. Thi s was a most mformat1ve session given by an obvious master of his subject.

"Heath Robin son" apparatus (providing its own so und effects), a great enthusiasm for his subject, and a tive presentation made "The Te sting of New and Existmg Petroleum Spirit Underground Storage Tanks " by J. Beer, M.1.W.M.A ., Chief Inspector of Weights and Measures , City of Worcester, a li ve ly and enjoyable session, . the echoes of which resounded well beyond the lect ure penod.

On Wednesday morning proceedings opened with a most useful contribution from K. Sherwood, A.F.Inst.Pet., Senior Pump and Tank Engineer, Essa Petroleum Co. Ltd. on "The Installation of Underground Tanks". His talk on this subject illustrated the approach of the responsible practical man working from basic principles and when, in his very pleasant way, he questioned the need for some requirement, it was usually difficult to disagree with his point of view. He also unveiled some of the possibilities of the anticipated new Code of Practice.

"Electrical Requirements at Petrol Filling Stations" by J. A. Sharp, A.l.E.E., Senior Assistant Engineer, Midlands Electricity Board, was another relaxed contribution from an obvious expert. He too crystal gazed into the possibilities of the new Home Office Code.

The final session was a pleasant introduction to "Self Service Petrol Retailing" by G. M. Steer, Merchandise Executive, Shell Mex and B.P. Limited, and M. T. R. Bowen, M.A., Marketing Executive, B.P. Trading Ltd., which was largely commercial in content.

The technical thunder on this topical subject had been stolen at an informal demonstration, the previous evening, by F. G. Ashley of Wayne Pumps Ltd., at which he was bombarded with questions about the Pound Note Accepter and Blender Pump which were on view.

Proceedings closed with a vote of thanks to all concerned by H. Beckingham, Chief Fire Officer of Warrington, and I am privileged to support, in print, all he had to say. All persons responsible for these courses, both from the Association and from Attingham Park, deserve the gratitude- of all who attend and, I am sure, get it.

A Message from the Chairman

As the Chairman of the Association for the current year I have been asked to contribute to The Bulletin and would firstly take the opportunity of thanking members for electing me to this office.

Since formation, the Association has made steady progress both in numerical strength, activities, and status. Membership of the Association is approaching the 500 mark. Branches have been formed in seven areas so far, East, West, and South-West Midlands, South Eastern counties, Tees-side, Yorkshire and Scotland. One of my first duties as Chairman was to represent the Association at the inaugural meeting of the Scottish Branch in April. Although our seven branches cover the majority of the country, large gaps appear in the West and South-West of England, Wales, and the North, and North-Western counties. May I appeal to members in those areas to collaborate with colleagues and form branches ? The Council of the Asssociation will give every possible help in branch formation, will bear the cost of inaugural meetings, and thereafter give the branch an annual capitation fee of 5/- a member.

It is often easier to form an organisation than it is to sustain and maintain it through the years. is aptly summed up in the quotation "it is not in the beginning, but in the continuing of the same un.tll it be thoroughly finished that Heth the true glory". The Association must ensure that the early enthusiasm and impetus is not lost; nothing less than a virile organisation with active and fully participating branches and members throughout the country together with proper representation at the highest level will suffice.

The Association is still growing, and in so doing gains strength and recognition. The National Council and Branch Secretaries act as clearing houses for day to day queries that arise in connection with members' duties. The Bulletin provides a forum for letters, controversial matters, articles and contributions from all sources; branch meetings are a means of exchanging information, knowledge, and experience, as well as providing a platform for speakers both from our own membership, from industry, government departments and elsewhere. The three-day residential schools held at Attingham each year are always oversubscribed and therefore well attended, proving the success of this venture and subscribing to the quality of the programme, lecturers and discussions.

To conclude, I would make brief reference to two topical subjects affecting all Petroleum Inspectors.

The revised Model Code is, I understand, now in draft form, and its early publication would be very much welcomed. Self-service petrol filling stations are very much under discussion; post payment attended stations are operating in many areas, but unattended self-service has yet to be generally accepted in this co_untry. There is, however, every indication that the pressure is mounting to secure official approval for this type of operation. I feel we must be constructive in our approach and must be careful not to be over, taken by events. The Association have these, and other matters, in mind and the Council will be consideringas a matter of urgency, the need to make available to members Model Conditions for self-service installations.

Fire in Crude Oil Fractionating Unit

Phillips Imperial Petroleum, Ltd., l.C.I.

North Tees Site, Billingham

This report has

been

supplied by .J. W. SMITH Chief Fire Officer, Durham County Fire Brigade

The North Tees Site is still in course of development. At present the complex comprises refinery units, storage tanks and three jetties, covering about 120 acres, with a river frontage of about 2, 700 feet to a depth of about 2,300 feet. As all processes and storages involve inflammable materials ranging from crude oil to liquid ethylene the whole complex is properly fenced and "de-matched".

The part involved in the fire was No. 2 Crude Fractionating Tower, IOOft. high, situated within two contiguous crude fractionating units measuring collectively 600ft. by I 50ft.

No. I unit has been in operation since I 963. No. 2 unit was brought into operation in September, 1966.

The nearest storage tanks to the fire were as follows:

120ft. from No. 2 unit and 200ft. from the affected tower, one tank measuring I 86ft. diameter, 54ft. high, 40,000 tons capacity, and containing I 6,000 tons of crude oil.

120ft. from No. 1 unit, two tanks measuring 7lft. diameter, 54ft. high, 6,000 tons capacity and each containing 4,000 tons of kerosene.

The development complex is covered by hydrants at adequate distances sited on interconnected IOin. and Sin. mains supplied at 150 p.s.i. by one fire pump of 1,600 g.p.m. and two 1,000 g.p.m. fire pumps from the River Tees.

The supposed cause of fire has been returned as ignition of gas oil leaking from pump.

The initial call was received at Stockton Fire Station by private wire from the Imperial Chemical Industries, Ltd., Billingham, at 1542 hours, indicating that fire had

occurred in No. 2 Crude Unit at the North Tees Refinery. The initial attendance of three Water Tenders, Emergency Tender, Foam Tender, and Utility Van with a Station Officer in charge responded.

At 1550 hours, while still approximately one mile from the Site, the Officer in Charge of the first appliance sent back a message by wireless "Make Pumps 10". On receipt of this both the Chief Officer and Divisional Officer left for the incident.

On arrival of the first appliance it was seen that a major fire had developed and involved a IOOft. high Fractionating Column. Evacuation of employees had taken place and the Officer in Charge was informed that at least one man was unaccounted for but a roll call was being initiated.

The Officer in Charge gave instruction for six cooling jets to be brought to bear on the immediate structure, nearby floating-roof oil tanks and pipe bridge, in addition to the four jets already in use and manned by the works Fire Brigade. The drencher systems of nearby tanks were also put into operation.

At 1558 hours a "Major Fire" message was sent by the Station Officer, requesting extra foam supplies and Super Foam Monitor. This message was intercepted by the Chief Officer en route, who directed Brigade Control to put into operation the Major Oil Plan for large incidents.

The Major Oil Plan prescribes mobilising of appliances and equipment for dealing with an incident involving large capacity oil storage tanks and equivalents, and Durham County Fire Brigade Control immediately put into effect the pre-determined mobilisation of appliances and equipment to deal with the equivalent of a 200ft. diameter tank.

As the appliances arrived further cooling jets were brought into use to cool the structural steel work around the column in an attempt to prevent spread of fire and collapse.

The Divisional Officer arrived at 1623 hours and took charge of the incident. After consultation with the Station Officer he decided to institute a Water Relay from the river to supplement the water being drawn from the fire mains. A request was then sent for the attendance of the site Super Foam Monitor. This, and the Monitor from I.C.I., Billingham, were used as water monitors on the south and west sides respectively.

The Chief Officer arrived at 1627 hours and took command. Whilst en route he had ordered on ground monitors, which, as they arrived, were used in substitution for branches held by firemen. Prior to this, branch men had been working under arduous conditions which necessitated frequent reliefs.

At 1634 hours the Chief Officer requested a portable dam, to be used at the termination of the water relay, and ordered additional ground monitors to be dispatched to to the fireground.

Structural steelwork was observed to be failing, causing th.e already leaning column to move to a dangerous angle every indication that it would collapse. Additional Jets were got to work from the water supply now being supplemented from the river, making a total at this stage of ten jets plus two Super Foam Monitors using water jet only.

It was now known that two men were reported missing and that a third man, who was reported as having been last seen working on the column above ground, was probably still unaccounted for. Due to the intensity of the fire, searching was initially confined to a small area around the perimeter, but the area was extended as the fire diminished and eventually the remains of two men were found partially buried in the rubble beneath the co.lumn. By this time it was firmly established the tlurd man was missing, but a further search failed to locate him.

At 1653 hours a further message from the Chief Officer indicated that 16 jets were now in use. The A_ssistant Chief Officer and additional Senior Officers were m attendance at this time and the Chief Officer gave a to .all Officers on the plan of operation, as agreed with Semor Management.

A further informative message from the Chief Officer at 1735 hours stated that 16 jets were surrounding the fire area, which now appeared to be contained, water being supplemented by relay from River 'fees; that one man was unaccounted for search bemg contmued; and that the fire would continue for a considerable period due to the fracture of pipe line from overhead oil storage but was being allowed to burn off at pressure, as a precaution against spread of the oil to adjacent plant and flash back. The necessary reliefs were arranged.

At 1737 hours the Brigade Control Unit arrived at the incident and was established at the south-east corner of the site with an Assistant Divisional Officer in charge.

At approximately 1830 hours the Chief Officer was informed that the oil separators were now unable to cope with the water feeding into them and that oil and water were flooding the pipe corridors. Bunding of the affected area was at this time taking place, using chalk and earth. Instructions were given for two pumps to proceed to the oil separator to assist in keeping the levels down and a foam blanket to be laid over all exposed areas as necessary. At 2400 hours the monitors were reduced to eight and crews kept out of the area so far as possible, a careful watch being kept bya theodolite on the angle of the column which by now was in a dangerous condition.

During the course of the early hours of the following morning, Tuesday, l 7th, the pumps were reduced to four and at 0900 hours further reduced to three, in addition to the special appliances still on the fireground. At approximately 2045 hours on the second day, the fire had the stage where it had become a lazy cussion with the Management it was decided to extmgu1sh the fire, as allowing the contents to burn out might have resulted in leaving a highly dangerous vapour space. In order to achieve this a foam blanket was laid round the whole area, and the flame was extinguished at approximately 2223 hours.

At 2223 hours the stop message for this was sent to Brigade Control, indicating that a crude 011 fractionating unit had been severely damaged by fire; two adult workmen killed and one still unaccounted for; three appliances and crews standing by until cooling had been effected as a precaution against re-ignition.

Due to the extreme danger still existing in consequence of the liquids and vapours escaping from fractured _joints it was necessary to maintain a careful watch on the mstallation, and two appliances were continuously on duty during the whole of the following day (Wednesday,_ 18th). During this period a continual search of the 'Yas being carried out in an attempt to locate the person. Due to the complexity of the area 1t was anttcpated this might take days. '

During the course of the following three days it was possible to reduce the standby attendance to one pump. At 1442 hours on Sunday, 22nd, the body of an unidentified person was recovered from the debris.

Due to the large quantity of residual oil, etc., still in the fractionating column it was decided to attempt to drain off and remove. This process was continued on Monday and Tuesday, 23rd and 24th respectively, and at 1613 hours the last appliance left the scene of the disaster.

Chief Officer Smith states that previous visits, liaison, exercises and pre-planning of mobilising all contributed to the rapid build up of appliances and equipment. North Riding, Middlesbrough, West Hartlepool, Darlington and Sunderland Brigades provided appliances and equipment in accordance with the pre-planned arrangements and all personnel comported themselves well during operations.

Mr. Smith pays tribute to the officials of Phillips Imperial and Imperial Chemical Industries for their continued availability to afford consultation and technical assistance as required, and the arrangements they made for the feeding and general welfare of the personnel which eased the problem of providing reliefs.

Petroleum Flash Distillate

In 1960 the East Midlands Gas Board had a Gasworks at Barrow Road, Sheffield, which was producing 10 million cubic feet of gas per day, from two Water Gas Plants using a feed stock of Gas Oil and Coke.

By using Petroleum Flash Distil!ate instead of <?ii, the output of this plant could be mcreased to 12 mtlhon cu. ft. per day, without any alteration in the gas producing plant. The Gas Board approached my department as P.F.D. is a low flash point product (-40°F) and they wanted to store ten days supply. This storage had to be licensed by the department, and it is stored in one aboveground tank of 150,000 gallons capacity.

In 1962, a similar conversion was carried out at their Neepsend Gasworks, Parkside Road, where three water gas plants were producing 11 million cu. ft. of gas per day, and the use of P.F.D. instead of Gasoil increased this output to 13 million cu. ft. per day. This again entailed a licensed storage to accommodate approximately ten days supply to P.F.D., and it was housed in one storage tank of 300,000 gallons capacity but this time it was stored below ground.

The actual increase in production depended mainly on the quality and size of the coke used, but averaged around 12%.

SINGLE TANK INSTALLATIONS

150, OOO gal Ions to 1,000,000 gallons

The advantage of having this increase in output without any increase in staff or gas producing equipment is obvious, but they were also able to produce gas, from gas oil and coke in time of low demand to keep the output down, and then use P.F.D. in times of high demand and obtain an immediate 12 % increase in output. A further advantage is that P.F.D. is cheaper than gas oil, and the gas produced is therefore cheaper. At Neepsend, the Board installed 100 tons of liquified Butane Gas to meet these sudden increases in demand, gas can be produced direct from Butane without being processed, at a rate of 1 million cu. ft. of gas for every 10 tons of Butane used.

A paper presented by

S. GASCOIGNE Deputy Chief

Inspector of Weights and Measures City of Sheffield at a meeting of the Yorkshire Branch

In 1962 the Gas Board decided to demolish their Effingham Street premises except for the Gasholders. These were premises used merely as a gas storage and pumping station and ancillary duties. On the land thus provided a gas producing works was to be constructed which produced gas direct from P.F.D., the use of coke, gas oil, etc., was thus avoided. The gas produced was a lean gas, having a calorific value less than 500 B.T.U's per cubic foot (300 B.T.U's), the statutory value stated by the Board. It has to be enriched therefore by using Methane obtained from the National Pipe Line, supplied with Sahara Gas from Canvey Island or North Sea Gas from Easington. As a reserve to cover the periods when Methane supplies cannot be drawn from the National Pipe Line, e.g. during the seamen's strike, a store of 600 tons of liquified butane is kept, which would be three days supply if fully used. The reason for this completely new development was the demand for more gas in the area, and (a) the land used was much less than a conventional plant, there wasn't enough land at Effingham to construct any other type of plant ; (b) the capital cost is only one-fifth that of an ordinary plant; (c) the manpower is 60 as against 400-500 for the ordinary plant; (d) the output is of standard quality instead of depending on the quality of the coke used; (e) the output is more flexible, the plant can be run at 30% maximum output; (f) it produces gas

at high pressure which can be fed into the high pressure gas mains without pumping. At Effingham Street this gas is used to drive turbines to produce electricity before the gas is run into street mains, this is used at the works and exported to Y.E.B.; (g) the gas is non toxic. The Gas Board constructed a tank to contain ten days supply which meant a tank of one million gallons capacity and again it was underground. Unlike the other two sites the P.F.D. in this tank must be used if the works is producing gas, and means that 25 tankers have to be unloaded at the plant each day seven days a week to meet normal demand, and if Butane is used (not often) 20 tankers of Butane are needed per day.

The plant was constructed to produce 56 million cubic feet of gas per day, but has been modified since first installed and now produces 61! million cu. ft. of gas per day, and the million gallon tank is only nine days supply.

This output overshadows the other two sites, and has meant that the P.F.D. at Neepsend and Meadowhall is not in constant use as it was at first, but despite this great output the land used is much Jess than either of the other two sites.

The experience I had with the installation ofthes.e tanks, and the difficulties which had to be overcome will form the basis of my talk, because I believe the Gas Board in your areas may decide or have decided to carry out conversions similar to those m Sheffield.

These sites were not constructed as originally planned but were altered either because of our objections or to suit the Gas Board I shall deal only with the installations as completed I shall not have time to go into all the details of the initial discussions.

Construction of the first tank at Meadowhall started in August, 1960, and six later in Februar>', 1961. The tank is a vertical cylmdncal tank 30 feet m diameter and 35 feet high, contained within a rectangular concrete bund, 70ft. x 60ft. The base of the bund and the walls are all lft. thick except where the bund forms a base for the tank where it is 3ft. thick. The walls are 6ft. 6ins. high, which gives a bund of 170,000 gallons; we insisted on the usual tank plus 10%. We also insisted that the tank be a diameter from any buildings occupied by the Gas Board, and 50 ft. any other buildings or carriage ways. This is by the outer edge of the tank being 35 feet from two adjacent buildings, and these are 20 feet from the of the b_und. The front of the tank is 86 feet from an mternal camageway, and the back of the tank is 67 feet from the boundary wall. Despite these large distances, we insisted that walls in buildings adjacent to the tank be made sohd (originally they had ventilation openings in them) and we persuaded the Board to remove a welding shop from one of the adjacent buildings to another by the Board. Our insistence on these safety distances mfluenced the Board in the construction of the further two tanks to place them underground as there was not sufficient space on the sites to give adequate safety distances.

The construction is similar to any large above-ground tank with the following differences:

The tank is vented, not to the atmosphere, but by an Sin. pipe to a gasholder, so that the free space in the tank is occupied by gas. There is never at any time any oxygen

in this space, and in theory, therefore, no fire can occur in this space. The gas from the gasholder enters the tank when P.F.D. is withdrawn, and is forced from the tank to the gasholder when P.F.D. is being delivered.

The tank is provided with a pressure gauge, and a special adapter from which samples of the gas can be taken from the top of the tank. These samples are tested and when the gas at the top of the tank becomes too impregnated with oxygen (2 % or above) gas is pumped through a 2in. gas purge connection, which forces the gas out of the top of the t;mk and into the gasholder, and a fresh supply of gas takes its place. By this means the vented space above the P.F.D. is fully controlled.

One off-loading bay is provided with three connections which can be attached to compartments of the tanker. The tanker has to be emptied by means of a 7! h.p. motor driving a pump, to a 6in. mainfold and 8in pipe, the flow is controlled to less than 3ft./sec. by a hm1ter valve to prevent static electridty.

This pipe of course must have a non-return valve and because it is drawing from a tanker, a large alf eliminator is provided within the bund walls.

Although the P.F.D. in the tank can have a head of 35ft., a valve is fitted to contain the P.F.D. in the tank up to this pressure. The output is then drawn from the tank and delivered to the gas producing plant by one .of two 15 h.p. motors driving a pump to a .4m. pipe. There is no by pass on this l?ump but 1s provided by means of a lin. bore return pipe fitted with a pressure release valve.

As an indication of quantity in the tank two depth gauges are fitted. A float level indicator a board down the outside of the tank, with a pomter attached to a wire which goes over pulleys to a float in the tank. A 'U' trap is provided to prevent any escape of gas. This indication is automatic, and the measurement indicated can be converted to gallons by reference to a table.

A further depth indicator is provided which is a 6in. S. & J. slot dipping device. There is a special shaped .hole in the top of the device, which takes a boss with. a steel tape running through it and a brass weight below 1t. This is fixed in position and the boss seals .the hole. A is then turned which allows the brass weight to drop mto the tank through a dipping tube, and as it falls it draws from an ordinary leather case the rest of the steel tape; prior to the movement of this lever, the interior of the was sealed. An indication of the depth of the P.F.D. m the tank is obtained by means of ullage paste on the steel tape. This special device is necessary as the space above the P.F.D. contains gas and this cannot be allowed to escape.

The bund is solid and is drained to a surrounding channel lft. x lft. and then to a 2ft. x 2ft. sump, the offloading bay is sloped to a 2ft. x 2ft. sump and is surrounded by a lft. high lft. thick concrete wall. These.sumps designed to be drained by means an electncally dnven pump to an interceptor of 4,000 capacity but the amount of soot and .gnme. dep?s1ted m the bund caused the pump to become 111effic1ent 111 a very short time. This drainage is now carried out by me.ans of a venturian pump, worked by steam produced 111 the

works; and has proved very efficient. Drainage takes place whenever the weather makes it necessary or fire fighting practice has been carried out.

The tank is earthed by an 8ft. deep earth band going the full height of the tank, and all pipe flanges are connected by bands to make them electrically continuou,s, and the tankers are earthed by means of an earthing dip. : Static electricity due to pumping from the t;lnl<er is-l).voided by having an 8in. input pipe, and the valve,

The main difficulty during construction was the testing of the tank, but I will deal 'with this later with regard to all the tanks. The tank was of course constructed on.site, and has internal girders to strengthen it. It has an external entirely separate staircase 2ft. 6ins. wide with side guard rails, and an offshoot to inside the bund whilst the tank top is provided with guard rails. A safety ladder attached to the tank is provided from the roof of the tank with escape over the bund wall opposite the staircase. This ladder is vertical and lft. 6ins. wide.

A foam house is provided adjacent to the internal carriageway in front of the tank and opposite the offloading bay. From this house run five fixed 3in. pipes, two can inject foam into the tank through foam connections at the top of the tank (I O!in. below roof), that is into the gas space above the P.F.D., two can inject foam into the bund from fixed foam ejectors so arranged that the whole of the bund can be covered in foam. The fifth pipe serves a portable hose kept in a box; it is already connected and just needs running out to the position desired, and can serve the off-loading bay. A 35 h.p. pump delivers water from a 5,000 gallon tank to any of the five outlets chosen, a wheel valve has to be opened to allow an outlet to be used. As the water passes through the pump house it draws foam making liquid from a 300 gallon tank and mixes it in proportion to the number of outlets desired; this is set by a proportioning valve. Foam can be delivered at approximately 400 gallons per minute, and dispensing starts within one minute of the operator commencing the firefighting procedure. The fire alarm is manually operated and rings the works fire alarm and contacts fire brigade headquarters automatically, portable fire extinguishers are also provided.

The tank top contains two portholes 3ins. in diameter, !Otins. below the roof, which are sealed by glass of sufficient strength to seal the tank and prevent the gas escaping in normal circumstances, but when hit by the jet of water and foam from the foam house, the glass shatters and allows the foam to enter the tank, and place a blanket of foam on the P.F.D. contained in the tank. These portholes are positioned so that liquid never reaches them on the inside of the tank.

In addition to the 300 gallons of foam making liquid kept in the tank a stock is kept in tins to replenish the tank.

The electric motor in the foam house is provided with two separate electricity supplies, so that the second one can be used if the first one fails.

An inlet connection is provided in the carriageway outside the foam house for the fire brigade, who can use the fixed foam ejector equipment but bypass the pump and the internal water and foam supply. A fire hydrant is situated near the foam house, and a fire tender can supply all the power necessary for the fire fighting. A

trough is provided in the foam house into which the fire brigade can place their own foam making liquid when they are bypassing the Gas Board's foam making machinery.

Foarri is delivered into the bund every three months: This means two or three times in one week so that all shift men can have practice. Fire drill with water delivered into the bund is carried out every week.

The tank at Neepsend was completed in six months April to November, 1962, and is 63ft. in diameter and 16ft. deep, that is in the shape of a' flat cylinder, or pudding tin shape. It is laid on a 4ft. 6in. heavily reinforced concrete base, with a 1{in. layer of bitumen rock asphalt below this, and a screed below this to keep the asphalt in place. The base extends lft. 6in. to 2ft. beyond the tank on all sides. The sides of the tank are covered with lft. of reinforced concrete, the reinforcing being tied into the base, and this lft. wall is coated with !in. to lin. layer of asphalt. The asphalt has a 4Mn. wall all round it to keep it in place. The top of the tank has a lft. cover of concrete, with a covering of !Mn. of asphalt, and a 3m. concrete screed to keep the asphalt in place. The asphalt was all laid in three coats. The tank is therefore in a concrete surround at least lft. thick, then a surround of asphalt, and finally a surround of brick or concrete to keep the asphalt in place.

Around the circumference at the bottom of the tank, a! the base level is laid a porous concrete pipe 12ins. in diameter by rubble which is taken to ground level. This forms a land drain, which is sloped to a manhole where the water can be withdrawn. This is done automatically by a pump, which is switched on when the water level rises to a fixed level and off when it falls to another fixed level, operated by a float hanging on a wire. More important the liquid withdrawn can be tested, and any leakage from the tank would be detected. This manh<;>le is of than 16ft. deep, and is provided with step irons, and 1s 24ins. wide so that a man can climb down easily.

There two off-loading bays, the whole is 60ft. long by 30ft. wide, and has a 9in. reinforced concrete base; are provided on three sides 9ins. thick and lft. high, with a 5ft. kerb between the bays. The fourth side has a wall long and l lft. 6ins. high separating the P.F.D. bay the butane off-loading bay. They are dramed an mterceptor of approximately 5,500 gallons capacity.

P.F.D. tank,.off-loading bay, butane tanks and offloadmg bay are all m a separate locked compound within the works, and the works are protected by a wall 20 to 25ft. high.

The of a hole this size presented some problems, 1t had t? be approximately 75ft. in diameter and 2lft. deep. had to be driven into the ground around the excavation before work commenced. These were forced into the ground by means of a pneumatic hammer hung from a crane hook which hammered the piles .vertical!Y the wound. The piles are shaped to mto their pile, and on completion you have a circle ?f steel piles all locked together so that if all the ground is taken from the inside they cannot move. This is alright provided the piles remain a certain depth below the ground at the bottom of the excavation. In this case

when the required depth was reached the ground was just a sea of mud, or slurry which couldn't be moved by an excavator bucket. To overcome thi s difficulty a further set of piles had to be driven into the ground inside the first set, and men had to go into the excavation and scrape the bottom with buckets and shovels and place the slurry into a la rge skip on the end of a crane hook which was removed when full. It was a situation many children would have enjoyed, but caused the constructors many headaches When the work was complete the piles were extracted by reversing the action of the pneumatic hammer which hammered the piles out of the ground. The noise of two of these working together has to be experienced to be believed , and it is a long process as each blow only dri ves the pile in a fraction of an inch and the piles were at least 30ft. long.

reached. In this tank 21 steel pillars are fixed vertically inside the tank , and welded to the base plates , girders are then laid between these pillars until the top of the tank is a series of squares of girders , these girders are originally bolted to the vertical pillars but finally welded. The top plates are then laid on this lattice of girders, they overlap again and are welded inside and outside, a nd then these plates are welded to the girders. As each stage is built the bolts are removed which held the plate s together, and then these holes are welded over, and tills also welds the plate s together.

The excavation h a d to be taken deeper until solid ground was reached which meant that the concrete base was built on top' of a large layer .o f concrete laid to bring the base back to the required level. This should have been avoided by taking test bore hole s, and three were taken , none of which reve a led this ground fault. Th e three were originally placed on the circumference of the tank, but during the planning stage the tank was moved a few feet inside the work s, but this small movement meant that only one of the test bore holes came within the new excavation.

A tank of this size is fabricated o n site, the plate s of ,i-in. carbon stee l are s upplied ready cut to shape, and the sides are a lso bent to form the circumference of the cylinder. The base plate s are laid on the concrete base and each plate overlaps its neighbour, and the whole circular base overlaps the cylindrical s ide s . When these ba se plate s h ave been la id they are welded together by electric arc welding. The first row of side plates are then fixed and bolted together in a ve rtical position until a complete circle is m a de. The bolt ho le s a re already in the plates. Again the plates overlap each and a re se t inside the circle of the base plates. When tl1JS low er layer has been fixed, th ey are welded to the base pl ates both inside and outside the tank , and the overlapped pl a te s a re welded on the inside and o ut side. A further lay er of s ide plates are fixed to thj s l ower layer by bolts, and ove rlap the lower layer , and ove rlap each other. Once this laye r has been lai d the plates are welded inside a nd outside the overlap s T hi s carrie s on until the top of the tank is

How do we test this tank. It cannot be tested by subjecting it to a pressure of 10 lb. per square inch for 24 hour s, for the thrust on the top of the tan k would be just in excess of 2 OOO tons a thrust the tank cannot be expected to The base of the tank is tested by means of a vacuum box test. This is a rectan g ular box with a glass window in the top, the base bas rubber a ll round it. The box is constructed to be airtight and h as two connections at the top. One contains a stop valv_e, and other is connected to an exhaustion pwnp a nd 1s supplied with a stop valve. Jn practice approximately 2ft. ofwelde_d base is coated with a soap sol ution. The vacuum box is placed over it, the cock to the exhaust pump left open and the other closed the rubber around the box now form s an ai rtight fit of' the box to the plate. The air the box is exhausted by the pump , a nd none can get mto th e box by any other mean s If there is a hole in the weld , however, air will be drawn from under the wel? through the soap solution an d into the box and bubble s will appear. When exhausted the cock to the exhaust pump is closed a nd a watch is kept on the 2ft. of weld through the window in the box If no leak appears , the secon d cock 1s opened allowing air to enter the bo x which can then be removed to another portion of weld and the process whole of the welds in the b ase plates were tested 111 thi s m a nner , with every other test portion overlapping the previous test porti o n to ensure that all part s of the ba s.e welds were t ested. This h as to be clone , even though it is a very laboriou s and exacting process , to clear the base pl ates from any dan ger of leaks. If on the seco nd te s t of filling the t a nk with liquid , a leak a ppeared from beneath the tank, you could not po ssib ly know the source of the leak , beca u se the appearance of the hq u1d would depend only on the contour of the conc rete ba se and not the position of the leak. In thi s case, I witne sse d the whole

of this test being performed by the makers of the tank, along with a Gas Board employee. This took a complete day, and I was not sorry when the day ended, even though no leak had been revealed. You have to realise that this was done when the tank is completed, so you have to work in a metal dungeon with only the light from a manhole to assist you and an electric hand lamp over the testing box. Entrance being by means of a none too safe wooden ladder.

Ten magnetic crack tests are carried out on the bottom seams, and 10 spot radiographic tests are carried out on the sides. The points where these were done were chosen by myself and a representative of the Board, and the results in every case proved satisfactory. The places were picked where the welding appeared most likely to contain defects.

Once these tests are completed the tank is then filled with water to a height approximately 6ins. below the roof. This means that the tank is subjected to an overload test of at least one-third, as the S.G. of P.F.D. is around .75 (.645 to .73) and the tank would never be filled to this level when in use. This sounds a simple process, but 300,000 gallons of water takes some time to pour into the tank and you have ample opportunity to watch for leaks . as it is being filled. This took about four days to fill. Once full, it is left in this state for some time so you have opportunity of examining the sides for leaks, and I am glad to say none were found. The roof is then tested by subjecting it to a pressure of 24in. water gauge. The tank is sealed and a pressure gauge placed on the roof; in this case and the tank at Meadowhall one gauge you could read direct and another an automatic one which showed the variations in pressure for a period of 24 hours on a circular graph marked with times were fitted. In both these cases the graph was left on for more than 24 hours, around 36 hours, and although the pressure varied it could be compared with the difference in temperatures according to the time of day. This revealed no leaks, but in the case of Neepsend it revealed that the tank top had not been welded correctly to the lattice of girders because the top bowed and bellied and when you walked on it it gave under your feet in parts. This meant the tank had to be unsealed, the tank emptied, the top welded to the lattice of girders and the whole process repeated.

This tank is served by two off-loading bays, which serve one 8in. filling line; there are three hose connections per off-loading bay, which connect to 6in. manifolds. Each bay has a seal pot device or pressure stabilising device, which maintains pressure in these 6in. manifolds at the same pressure as in the tank. A limiter valve is placed in the line to limit the speed of delivery to 3ft./sec. to prevent static electricity.

Venting is again to a gasholder by an 8in. pipe and there is a 2in. purge connection.

There are two pumps serving 3in. supply lines. Now because of the depth of the tank, these have to be submersible pumps driven by 15 h.p. electric motors on top of the tank, but the pump is driven by a shaft inserted in a 14in. square trunking lined with wood, which prevents sparks when the pump is extracted. The pump works at 2,900 revs, and delivers 70 gallons per minute at 75 lb. per sq. in. The pump is an eight-stage pump which means that liquid is passed from one stage to a second stage a 66

little higher in the pump and the pressure is increased; this is repeated eight times to obtain the required pressure and delivery. The pump to do this in one stage could be provided but would be too large to be inserted in the aperture in the tank. The liquid comes up a hollow tube surrounding the drive shaft from the electric motor.

Again there is a lin. bypass pipe for each pump, with appropriate valve.

Another difficulty experienced on .this site was that the tank was within a separate compound within the works, but this site contained only two very large gasholders, the gas producing plant was across Parkwood Road in a separate premises. We allowed the supply pipe to go across this road on a bridge already in existence which carried a 24in. gas main supplying the gas from the plant to the gasholders, and which gave a 24ft. 6in. clearance of the road below. The supply pipe was placed in a sleeve, the sleeve being taken five yards beyond the boundary on either side of the bridge, the bridge rails on one side, and the gas main on the other side form a protection for the pipe. Valves were fitted at each end of the pipe where it entered the sleeve, which are hydraulically operated, so that if a leak occurs there will be a reduction in pressure of oil placed under pressure in an external pipe, then these valves will close automatically. It was thought that the worst that could happen if the bridge was hit, was the deposit of the P.F.D. contained in the pipe on the roadway; the height of the bridge and the protection of the pipe would make fracture unlikely even if the bridge was hit.

Depth indicators on this tank take the form of two 6in. bore S. & J. manually dipping devices, the same as the one described at Meadowhall and one automatic tank device. This works on a float attached to a tape which is wound on a drum within the device, and the portion of the tape approximate to the depth of the P.F.D. is visible through a small window, the exact reading is indicated by a pointer on the window. A pressure gauge with a means of taking samples of the gas in the tank is incorporated in this device. The size of the tank demanded more than one depth indication, and the three are situated at the three corners of a triangle.

The fire fighting equipment is similar to that at Meadowhall, except that no fire protection is provided for the tank, just two fixed foam installations to the off-loading bays and one to a portable hose.

In this case there is a water test of the equipment every month and a foam test every year.

The water tank is of 2,000 gallons capacity and was specially built for this purpose and is a concrete tank on top of the foam house. It is replenished by means of a 6in. water main.

Although this tank is within the works compound, and is underground we insisted that a window in the adjacent building works, which was supposed to provide light to a joiners' shop should be bricked up. The owners of the adjoining property would not agree to this but the glass was replaced by armoured glass.

The Butane tanks at this site and other sites in Sheffield are not licensed by the department, but we supervised their construction if we thought that they would endanger the petroleum storage site. In this case we had a fireproof

wall built separating the two sites, which is 60ft. long and l lft. 6ins. high. The tanks are horizontal cylindrical tank s, supported on concrete saddles and the ground is sloped to a catchment pit. There is an automatic spray fire protection to the tanks, and the supply for this comes over the bridge in the road containing the P.F.D. supply pipe.

We also decided on this site and at Effingham Street that once the P.F.D had gone over the road into the Gas Works it ceased to be stored and we did not supervise the construction of the whole gas producing pipe lines and equipment, etc.

We insisted that the supply pipes on all sites should have a fall from the gas making plant to the tank of at least one inch in ten feet, to prevent any siphoning effects upon the tanks.

The tank at Effingham Stri;:et was commenced in November, 1962, but was not completed until December, 1963. This is not entirely a true statement as the tank was completed and awaiting the rest of the plant's completion before December, I 963.

The con struction of the tank was similar to Neepsend in that it was surrounded by a minimum of lft. of concrete , three coats of asphalt which was held in place by bricks or a screed of concrete. The tank was of course much bigger, being similar in shape but IOOft. in diameter and 2lft. ?eep (as against 63 and 16).

The excavation in this case hit rock at a depth far above that originally planned for the base of the tank. As at first planned the tank was to be totally buried in the existing ground, and the supply pipes taken through a tunnel already existing under Sussex Street. When this rock was encountered it was decided to lift the base of the tank so that the top of the tank would be just below Sussex Street ground level but the Effingham Road end would be above ground; the tank would be above ground within the compound. The ground level of the whole area be raised so that the tank was well below ground at all pomts. This meant that (a) the supply pipes had to be taken over a pipe bridge specially constructed; (b) the outer wall had to become a very strong retaining and we insisted that this wall should be taken to a height of 12 feet from either the inside or outside level , whichever was the highest. The tank almost completely occupied a plot of land surrounded on two sides by roads , but on the other two sides by adjoining firms T!1e ground had to be on these two sides, so the ex1stmg walls were coated with asphalt, a retaining wall built shutting to this asphalt to keep it in position and this wall taken to a height such that it was 12 feet above the level of the a djacent yard level. This meant a very high wall in the P .F. D. compound.

This also meant a very high wall on the Effingham Road side, being 12 feet from internal level but approximately 27 feet from external level.

The size of the tank caused two other alterations to construction, (a) there were two to s urrounding land drain and porous concrete pipe with two autom atic pumps· (b) the input pipe a nd extraction pipes were taken to a 13ft. x 3ft. x lft. deep in the middle of the tank below the level of the main base of the tank, so that a liquid seal could be maintained on these pipes with a relative s mall quantity of P.F.D. contained in this sump,

instead of P.F.D. over the whole area of the base ; one inch depth of spirit in the main tank contains a pproximately 4,000 gallons of P.F.D. A similar sump was constructed at Neepsend but was only 3ft. x 3ft. by lft.

Another major departure from previous practice was necessary because of the lack of space in this compound. In this case three off-loading bays were provided and these were situated on top of the tank , on a heavily reinforced raft, but still on top of the tank. The tank therefore bad to be strengthened; the base on which the tank rested had to be also strengthened. The pillars in this tank were 69 in number as against 21 at Neepsend, and although the plates were the same thickness, the girder construction was far heavier and stronger. Each off-loading bay has five hose connections for the tanker and these connect to a IOin. filling line A spare IOin filling line is provided. Pressure stabilising devices are also provided , and the bays are drained to an interceptor of approximately 4 ,000 gallons capacity.

The bridge was specially constructed and acts as a means of escape from the compound by having a walkway over it into the gas works. The he a droom is I 8ft. 6in. and warning boards are displayed on outriggers so a large vehicle would hit the se first and would be pre-warned before hitting the bridge. It contains five pipes, a 6in. balance pipe to the gasholder, 2in. gas purge pipe ; 2 x 4in. supply pipes, 1 x 4in recycle pipe , and the electric s upply for the pumps. The supply pipes a re protected by sleeves and valves at Neepsend.

Four dipping device s are fitted to the tank , one of which is automatic. There are three pump s of 45 h. p. submersible , two connected to 4in. outputs, and they are 33 stage pumps supplying P . F.D. at 450 lb. / sq. in. These pumps are not supplied with a I in. b ypass pipe , becau se the pl a nt i s in continuous operation (the other two s it se were cyclic operation), but any P. F.D. not used is returned not from the pump but from the plant by m ea ns of a 4in. recy c le pipe.

The tank , off-loading b ays and a foam house are contained in a separate compound , which you e nt e r by double gates I 2 ft. high by 20ft. wide which we in s iste d on being solid except for an armoured g lass window, which allows a patrol man to check the comp0Lu1d at night without entering through the gates . The gates contain a per so nal doo r. Windows in surrounding property were protected by screens a nd armoured g lass , and netting bo xes were

placed over the windows, which were high to prevent objects being thrown into the compound.

The testing of this tank was similar to the other two, except that when the tank was pressurised the 24 hour test on the tank top was not considered good enough on a tank of this size. The tank was left full of water and pressurised for a long period and the pressure gauge checked, but in the early stages all the seams on top of the tank were tested by means of the application of soap solution, from a brush. This was even a worse job than testing the bottom plates. The weather was fine but the wind played havoc with the soap sunds, and I seemed to live on the tank top for two whole days. We found that the trunking which was made to contain the submersible pumps was lined with wood to prevent sparks when the pumps were extracted. This wood was fastened to the trunking by wood screws, and there was slight leaks from the heads of these screws. This was overcome by welding the screws to the plating of the trunking. I hope they never want the wood lining out, but at least the leaks were stopped. These small leaks were not revealed by the pressure gauge.

This tank was left full and pressurised whilst the concrete walls were constructed; this occupied a very long time, and I regularly, as indeed I did at Neepsend, inspected the plates for leaks on the outside. The advantage of this was that I was able to inspect the plates throughout the whole level of the tank as the staging was raised to erect another section of outer concrete.

Again no protection was provided on the tank. The off-loading bays are, however, provided with an automatic foam producing apparatus. Each off-loading bay has a detector, which upon detecting a rise in temperature above the normal air temperature, allows a reduction in pressure in an air pipe. This triggers off a device in the foam house which allows a weight to drop and puncture the opening of a carbon dioxide cylinder, and allows carbon dioxide under pressure to enter a pressure vessel containing 300 gallons of pre-mixed foam liquid. This foam is then forced out of the vessel along fixed pipes, is aerated and discharges into the appropriate off-loading bay. Each bay has a separate installation, detector and pressurised vessel. There is also a connection through the wall to allow the fire brigade to operate the pipe equipment independently.

When the equipment operates a fire warning is rung at Fire Brigade Headquarters. The works fire warning is operated, an indication is operated in the plant control room and operates an alarm system there.

When Effingham Street was first operated the Methane pipe had not been laid to the works, so that Butane was used to enrich the gas. When the Methane pipe was laid it went to Effingham Street, and also passed the entrance to Neepsend. Whilst the streets were being excavated to take the Methane pipe, the opportunity was taken to lay a 4in. transfer pipe from Effingham Street to Neepsend Gas Works, and valve work and pumps were altered at both sites so that in case of emergency P.F.D. could be transferred from Neepsend to Effingham Street direct from one tank to the other, or vice versa. This pipe caused the department quite a headache as to whether we were responsible for it or not. The idea was that the pipe line should be kept full of P.F.D. and the transfer could be

carried out immediately, so the liquid would be dormant in the pipe for long periods and only mobile whilst transferring was taking place. We wrote to the Home Office as to whether this pipe should be licensed or not, and in the meantime we agreed with the Board the safety factors we wanted incorporating in the pipe if it needed to be licensed. The Home Office replied to us when the pipe had been laid that it was not our responsibility and since it has been laid it has never been used. Now it has been disconnected at both ends, and the pipe may be used at some time for transferring gas or other liquids but not P.F.D.

The pipe line was 3,100 yards long and would contain approximately 5,000 gallons of P.F.D.

I am glad to say that no accidents have occurred involving the P.F.D. installations themselves. There have been no accidents of any description at Neepsend and Meadow hall.

At Effingham Street, there was a leak on the gas producing plant which allowed P.F.D. to escape which had been vapourised and heated. As soon as the vapour reached the air it ignited; this fire was estinguished by the Gas Board before the Fire Brigade arrived.

The other accident involved a tanker delivering P.F.D. to the compound, which was parked in Sussex Street and, whilst the driver was going to the doors to gain entrance, the tanker ran away backwards down the road, collided with a second tanker parked across the road, and crashed into the wall. The rear compartment of the tanker was punctured and the P.F.D. ran under the second tanker, and a third tanker just behind this, down the gutter and was ignited by a red lamp left near an excavation in the road. The fire was fierce and destroyed all the tyres on all three tankers, the cab of the second tanker, and partially damaged some of the buildings in the gas works. No further quantities of petrol were involved, and once the fire had been extinguished, the tankers cooled, the wheels on them were replaced and the P.F.D. discharged into the tank in the ordinary way. The plant never stopped operating, and the pipe bridge was not damaged.

To obviate this difficulty, a series of lights have been installed on the outside wall in Effingham Road which tells the tanker driver if an off-loading bay is available, and they do not enter Sussex Street unless one is available and the lights indicate this to them. Tankers do not now arrive in convoys.

Tankers have been known to drive away from the offloading bay before the hoses have been disconnected, and sometimes before the hoses have been drained. This is now prevented by a notice on a long arm dropping in front of the driver's cab, completely obliterating his view and stating do not drive away until hoses disconnected. This arm operates like the arm to some types of railway crossings, or the gateways to Army camps. It is moved out of the way by the Gas Board employee when all hoses are disconnected and drained.

No fires have been caused by driving away with the hoses attached, but it has meant the purchase of new hoses, and some spillage of P.F.D.

All these accidents have been away from the Licensed Installation, and I am pleased to say that all three licensed premises have been accident free since they have been in operation.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

held at Solihull on Tuesday, I Bth April, 1967

The Chairman, Mr. E. Y. Beeby, welcomed members to the ninth Annual General Meeting and introduced The Worshipful The Mayor of Solihull, W. M. Thomas, Esq., J.P., and invited him to open the proceedings.

His Worship in thanking the Association for the invitation, emphasised the importance of the work which had been and was being accomplished by the Association. He appreciated the tremendous value of this work to Local Authorities and Petroleum Officers. In conclusion His Worship made encouraging reference to The Bulletin and wished the meeting every success.

A vote of thanks to His Worship and the Town Clerk, Mr. D. W. Chapman, was ably proposed by Mr. H. Griffiths.

The Chairman then referred to the business portion of the Agenda.

Present

74 members; 9 Associate members and 3 Honorary members.

Apologies

161 were recorded.

Minutes

As there were no comments on the Minutes of the previous meeting or on the matters arising therefrom, the Chairman gave his report ol! the work carried by the Council and various Committees of the Association.

Chairman's Report

Mr. Beeby gave a brief of the previous work and spoke of the liaison between the Assoc1at10n and Branches. He made reference to the usefulness of the various Committees, to the Mid-Week School held at Attingham and to the work put in by the School Committee. He mentioned it had been hoped to hold a more advanced School in addition this year; unfortutunately circumstances prevented this being done, it. is recognised this is a matter to which further cons1derat10n must be given.

Commenting on The Bulletin he said this was most valuable and of great assistance to the Association and sincerely congratulated the Editor on its publication.

It was disappointing to report that the .Office were not able to appoint a member of the Association to the Standing Advisory Committee on Dangerous Substances, but a promise to consult the Association in connection with any amendment concerning petroleum legislation has been made.

With regard to self-service, he mentioned the possibility of an appropriate committee of the Association formulating a standard set of licence conditions relating to selfservice, possibly in conjunction with the Home Office and other interested bodies.

Finally Mr. Beeby thanked all members of the Council for their assistance which had rendered his term of office a happy one and urged all members to attend Branch meetings and contribute to the well being of the Association.

Hon. Secretary/Treasurer's Report

The Hon. Secretary/Treasurer submitted his report, which was agreed. Thanks were made to Mr. Cave for his excellent services.

Election of Chairman

Only one nomination being received, Mr. C. R. Peskett, Godalming M.B.C., was duly elected. Mr. Peskett having taken the Chair thanked members for his election and on behalf of the Association thanked Mr. Beeby for his services during the past year.

Election of Vice-Chairman

Again only one nomination having been received, Mr. C. T. Peacock, Hemsworth R.D.C., was duly elected.

Election of Officers

Honorary Secretary/Treasurer

Honorary Editor Honorary Legal Adviser Honorary Electrical Adviser Honorary Liaison Officer

Election of Council

Mr. L. A. Cave

Mr. R. P. Holdaway

Mr. P. D. Wadsworth

Mr. J. A. Sharp

Mr. G. N. Dean (also appointed Hon. Auditor)

The Chairman reminded the meeting that eight members ought to be elected at the Annual General Meeting and as only eight nominations had been received, the following members were duly elected:

Mr. E. V. Beeby Rugby R. D.C.

Mr. J. Beer Worcester City

Mr. R. L. Bloor Kidderminster M. B.C.

Mr. H. Griffiths Walsall C.B.C.

Mr. D. Hall Newcastle-under-Lyme M.B.C.

Mr. J. W. Hewison Havant & Waterloo U.D.C.

Mr. T. Kerr Glanford Brigg R. D.C.

Mr. R. E. J. Roden Birmingham City together with representatives to be nominated by Branches.

Membership

The Hon. Secretary reported that since the last Annual General Meeting 40 applications had been received. The total membership now being 481.

Any other business

Mr. M. L. Cox (E.C.A.), Associate Member, felt that the Constitution should be amended to allow Associate Members voting powers. Mr. R. P. Holdaway supported. After considerable discussion it was decided to refer the matter to the Council for consideration, but it was pointed out that a Notice of Motion should be submitted before the next Annual General Meeting.

Mr. F. L. Barker, Esher U.D.C., referred to unattended self-service and the Chairman's report, emphasising that the Council ought to consider this subject with a view to producing a Code of Practice for a uniform system of administration, and that the Home Office should be approached for their decision on the issue of a Model Code for self-service installation, and to look at the Model Code for distributing depots. Mr. W. C. R. Dale duly seconded the proposition, which was carried.

The Chairman proposed a vote of thanks to the past Chairman, Mr. Beeby, the Council and officers for their work during the past year, and in particular to the Hon. Secretary/Treasurer and proposed that the Honorarium of £50 previously granted be continued. He also referred Council

Report of

Meeting

Present

C. R. Peskett, Esq. (Chairman); with Messrs. E. V. Beeby, J. Beer, J. Birks, R. L. Bloor, G. N. Dean, J. W. Frid, D. Hall, G. H. Harvey, J. Hewison, R. P. Holdaway, R. E. J. Roden, J. Short and the Hon. Secretary.

Apologies were received from Messrs. T. Kerr, C. T. Peacock and B. W. C. Thacker.

Welcome to New Members

The Chairman welcomed to the Council-Messrs. J. Birks, J. W. Frid and J. Short.

Standing Orders and the Minutes of Previous Meeting

These were duly confirmed.

Matters Arising

Investment-The Honorary Secretary reported that an investment of £500 for five years at 6i % had been made with the Dudley Corporation.

Correspondence

Certain proposed amendments to Branch Rules were submitted by the Secretary of the East Midlands Branch. Resolved: That the amendments be agreed.

to the work of the Editor in preparing matter for The Bulletin and proposed an honorarium of £50 be granted to him. This was agreed unanimously.

He emphasised that upon the formation of new Branches the Council will give all the help possible, and upon request the Chairman or any other officer will be willing to visit the meeting at which a proposed Branch is to be formed.

Mr. H. Griffiths, Walsall, informed members that the final comments on multi-storey car parks having been received, the recommended code of practice would be ready in a short time.

The business then being concluded, the meeting adjourned for lunch.

The meeting re-assembled at 2.30 p.m. when th:e Chairman introduced Mr. J. H. B. Hornby, Deputy Chief Inspector of Weights and Measures for the City of Oxford, and invited him to give his account of the recent visit to North America and aspects of petroleum administration he encountered. (Mr. Hornby's paper is produced oh page 52).

Mr. W. C. R. Dale, G.L.C., proposed a vote of thanks to Mr. Hornby which was endorsed by all present. Thanks to the Solihull Council, to the Civil Defence Officer and Messrs. Forman and Dean, in making arrangements for the meeting, was proposed by Mr. F. L. Barker, Esher U.D.C.

Meeting

Requests that the subject of Self-Service at attended and unattended sites be treated as a matter of urgency were referred to the Reference and Legal Committee.

The subject of votes for Associate Members was referred to the Constitution and Rules Committee.

Election of Committees

(a) Finance and General-Chairman of the Standing Committees together with ex-officio members.

(b) Reference and Legal-Messrs. Birks, Frid, Griffiths, Harvey, Kerr and Roden.

(c) Education and Publication-Messrs. Bloor, Dean, Holdaway and Peacock.

(d) Constitution and Rules-Messrs. Beer, Hall, Hewison, Short and Thacker.

In discussing proceedings in Council emphasis was laid on the necessity for Committees to deal with the detail of matters referred to them as quickly as possible and to bring forward proper Reports to the Council where they could be received and adopted with or without debate or amendment, thus allowing the Council to devote its time to those functions which it should properly carry out rather than long discussions on matters of detail.

a

of the Council of the Association held at Worcester on Thursday, 8th June, 1967

Report of Hon. Treasurer

It was reported that there was a balance in the General Account of £721 and a balance of £834 in the School Account. The Council discussed the situation with regard to these balances and a motion to refer the matter to the Finance and General Purposes Committee. An amendment was then discussed proposing that a sum of £534 be transferred from the School Account to the General Fund. On being put to the vote this amendment was lost and the matter, therefore, stood referred to the Finance and General Purposes Committee.

Opinion was also expressed that the amount held in the Current Account was too large to meet day to day running expenses and an amount should be transferred to a Deposit Account. This matter was also referred to the Finance and General Purposes Committee.

The Council unanimously decided to allow travelling expenses to members attending meetings at First Class Rail Fare or Air Fare rate as from and including the present meeting.

The Treasurer reported on a list of members who were in arrears with their subscriptions and was asked to write to those members in arrears for 1966 and 1967 and ask for immediate payment with authority to strike off the members' list the names of those failing to pay.

Report of Hon. Secretary

The Secretary reported on new members and the current membership details, which were as follows: 8 Honorary and Retired Members 397 Local Authority Members 26 Officer Members 55 Associate Members 30 Bulletin Subscribers

516 Total

Report of Hon. Editor

The Editor reported on the progress of the Bulletin. He hoped it would be possible that two new speakers would be available for the 1968 Course so that their Papers could be included in the Bulletin.· Regarding copies of early issues of the Bulletin, the Editor was requested to refer the matter to the Education and Publications Committee.

Report of Finance and General Purposes Committee

The immediate past Chairman, Mr. Beeby, reported that no meetings of this Committee had been held.

Report of Reference and Legal Committee

The Chairman of this Committee, Mr. Roden, referred to two queries under consideration by his Committee, one of which was self-service (to be discussed later in this meeting) and the second referred to the use of flat ended tanks for underground petroleum storage. A considerable amount of work had been done on this particular question, which involved research into a number of British Standards and no decision had been reached by the Committee.

The matter would be further investigated and a report brought to the next meeting of the Council.

Report of Education and Publications Committee

The Chairman, Mr. Bloor, reported a further successful School at Attingham in May of this year. Accommodation for 1968 had been booked for the 27th, 28th and 29th May; Local Authorities would be circulated with regard to vacancies.

Mr. Hewison asked about an Advanced Course but was told the difficulties regarding Lecturers, etc., operated against the holding of an advanced or second course.

Report of Constitution and Rules Committee

The Chairman, Mr. Hall, stated that the Committee had considered the question of electing a President, VicePresidents, Fellows and Overseas members, and the Council agreed that a class of Fellows could be created and that it was desirable and in fact would soon become necessary for the Association to elect a President and a number of Vice-Presidents. A number of overseas persons had been of service to the Association and these could become Honorary Members (Overseas). These matters would require an amendment to the Constitution and Mr. Hall agreed to take these matters back to his Committee and bring forward a report and recommendation in due course.

Car Parks Sub-Committee

Mr. Griffiths stated that a final draft of the Car Park Conditions had been sent to the Home Office but that no reply had, as yet, been received. The Secretary was asked to circulate copies of the final draft to members of the Council and if no reply had been received to the letter to the Home Office within one month, to send a reminder to them.

Branch Reports

Reports of Branch formation and activities were presented by Messrs. C. R. Peskett, J. Short, J. W. Frid and J. Birks.

Self-Service

Discussion on this item deferred from the morning session was preceded by the circulation of a Home Office letter setting out various matters for Local Authorities to take into account when considering self-service. On a request from Esher U.D.C. and a resolution of the Annual General Meeting the Council of the Association had been asked to draw up a Model Code of Self-Service Conditions for the guidance of Local Authorities. The matter was discussed at some length and was referred to the Reference and Legal Committee, whose next meeting was to be held on 27th June, 1967, at Birmingham, at 10.30 a.m., when an invitation would be sent to all members of the Council to attend to discuss this important item.

Date, Time and Place of Next Meeting

It was agreed that the next meeting should be held at Solihull on a day and time to be decided by the Chairman and Secretary, if possible during the first week in October.

South-East Midland

The Annual General Meeting of the Branch was held at the Town Hall, Hemel Hempstead, on Thursday, the 20th April, 1967.

Forty-five members were welcomed by the Mayor and Bailiff, Alderman B. T. Barrett, J.P., who expressed his thanks for the work done by petroleum officers in their efforts to ensure greater public safety. He then conducted a short tour of the Civic Suite, and members were shown a fine example of modern architectural design in public buildings.

Minutes

The Minutes of the Meeting held at Bishop's Stortford on the 13th October, 1966, were read and confirmed.

Election of Officers

Branch Meetings

Yorkshire

The Annual General Meeting of the Branch was held at the City Hall, Sheffield, on Tuesday, 25th April, 1967. Present were the Chairman, Mr. R. M. Sample, and 17 members.

Apologies

Five apologies for absence were received.

Minutes

It was proposed that the Minutes of the Annual Meeting held at Scarborough on the 23rd May, 1966, which had been sent to each member before the meeting, be taken as read.

Matters Arising out of the Minutes

Mr. E. L. Darwin enquired as to the present position on plastic tanks. He was informed by the Hon. Secretary that no progress had been made.

M.B.C.

R. E. Dust, City of Oxford J. W. Frid, City of Cambridge

The following were elected: Chairman A. C. Horne, Herne! Hempstead Secretary Treasurer Auditor Executive Council

A. Wookey, Chesterton R.D.C. Representative J. W. Frid, City of Cambridge

The Secretary reported that he had had discussions with the Executive Council on the question of the responsibility of petroleum officers for heating and electrical appliances on licensed premises, but situated at some distance from the licensed store. The meeting agreed with the views expressed by the Executive Council that petroleum officers were not responsible for such appliances and that, in giving consideration to the matter, a distance of 20 feet was a good figure to bear in mind. Members were urged to maintain a close liaison with their local Factory Inspector on this matter.

Af!e.r lunch, which was enjoyed under very pleasant cond1t10ns at the Civic Centre, the meeting adjourned to a local filling station where a demonstrstion of latched was kindly given by P. T. Lucas, Esq., of the Nat10nal Benzole Company Limited.

A visit was then paid to the British Standards Institution at Herne! Hempstead, where members were given demonstrations of the work done by the department. These included tests on oil heaters, safety belts, and crash helmets.

Mr. Goode, of Bishop's Stortford, expressed the thanks of all members to Mr. Horne of Herne! Hempstead for the arrangements made for the meeting.

Chairman's Report

In presenting his report, Mr. Sample referred briefly to the activities of the Branch over the past two years. A number of interesting and informative lectures and demonstrations on various aspects of petroleum storage and administration had been given and were greatly appreciated. Mr. Sample felt that meetings of this nature were of great value in getting together to discuss points and individual problems and paid tribute to the publication of The Bulletin which was a great benefit to all members.

Branch membership had risen from the initial seven at the inaugural meeting to the present total of 22 and Mr. Sample stated that although numerically this was rather disappointing for an area the size of Yorkshire, it must be remembered that many of the authorities are spread out over a large agricultural area, but nevertheless he stated "We must still endeavour to awaken interest in the Branch at every opportunity".

Finally he paid tribute to the service of Mr. C. T. Peacock, Secretary/Treasurer and Branch representative on the Council.

Hon. Secretary/Treasurer's Report

A copy of Mr. Peacock's report and the balance sheet was passed to each member and approved with thanks.

Branch Representative's Report

Mr. Peacock gave a brief summary of the work done by the Council of the Assoication, pointing out that reports of each Council meeting had been given good coverage in The Bulletin. The Branch representative's report was approved with thanks for his services.

Election of Officers and Committee

The following were elected: Chairman S. Gascoigne, Sheffield Vice-Chairman F. Gledhill, Leeds Hon. Secretary/Treasurer C. T. Peacock, Hemsworth U.D.C. also appointed Branch representative Committee Members

H. Hepworth, Wakefield C.B.

E. L. Darwin, Huddersfield C.B.

P. Murray,West Riding C.C.

approaching 500. The quarterly journal of the Association known as The Bulletin contained much useful information a_nd was sufficient return in itself for the annual subscript10n.

Branch Formation

After some discussion, Mr. A. B. A. Campbell, Ayr C.C. prop<;>sed, seconded by Mr. D. Reid, Fife C.C., that a Scottish Branch shall be formed. After Mr. E. T. Senior, Dumfries C.C., had been assured that members who did not have a mandate from their Authorities would not be held to be committing their Authorities if they supported Branch formation, the motion was agreed to unanimously.

Other business

Arising out of the Association's Annual General Meeting it was proposed by Mr. Murray and seconded by Mr. Hendry that, while this Branch had no serious objection to Associate Members having a vote it was essential that it be obvious to outside bodies that public interest, not commercial interests, motivated the policy of the Association. The motion was passed unanimously.

A resolution requesting the General Council to give guidance as soon as possible, either by a Model Code or otherwise on self-service stations by Mr. Darwin was seconded by Mr. Wood. This motion was also passed unanimously. Mr. J. H. Wood, Doncaster, with the permission of the Chairman, demonstrated a latched nozzle, after which the meeting adjourned for lunch.

After lunch, the Chairman, Mr. S. Gascoigne, presented his paper entitled "Single Tank Installations-150,000 to 1,000,000 gallons" (this paper is reproduced on page 62).

A lively discussion then followed and a resolution proposed by Mr. Murray and seconded by Mr. Kay that Certificates of Maintenance be required annually was carried by 7 votes to 4.

Mr. Murray then proposed a vote of thanks to Mr. Gascoigne for his very excellent paper.

Scottish

The inaugural meeting of the Branch was at the Town Hall, Paisley, on Wednesday, 26th Apnl, 1967. Present were Mr. C. R. Peskett, Chairman of the Association, and 37 petroleum officers.

Mr. J. Short Paisley called the meeting to order and it was agreed Mr. Peskett should act as Chairman until a Branch Chairman was appointed.

Apologies

Ten apologies were received.

Chairman's Address

Mr. Peskett briefly outlined the aims and objects of the Association. He referred to various Codes of Practice had been published; Association policy on educat10n with special reference to the Residential School at Attingham Park· the classes of membership available and briefly the salient points in the Constitution. He indicated that six branches had already been formed and that the total membership of the Association was now

Election of Officers and Committee

Chairman T. Cairns, Glasgow

Vice-Chairman I. G. Forbes, Clackmannan c.c.

Hon. Secretary/Treasurer J. Short, Paisley Hon. Auditor R. McGill, Clydebank

A proposal by Mr. McGill, seconded by Mr. McLeod, that no Committee be formed was defeated by an Amendment moved Mr. Burrell and seconded by Mr. Donnelly, that a Committee of four be appointed.

The Committee elected was as follows: J. J. MacKellar, Perth G. A. Taylor, Perth and Kinross C.C. A. McK. Mitchell, Ayr R. F. Donnell, Kilmarnock

Mr. Short was appointed to representative the Branch on the Council of the Association.

Branch Constitution

The Secretary submitted Model Branch Constitution and Rules as approved by the Association, which were dealt with as follows:

Para. 1. It was agreed that the Branch be called the Scottish Branch.

4. Subscription. It was agreed that no Branch subscription be fixed meantime.

5. Meetings. It was noted that early April was favoured as the most suitable time for holding the Annual General Meeting.

6(c). It was agreed that four other members would be elected to form the Committee.

Mr. Reid proposed that the member(s) elected by the Branch to serve on the Council of the Association shall be a member(s) of the Committee and this was seconded by Mr. Brown. An amendment moved by Mr. Donnelly and seconded by Mr. MacKellar that all members of the Scottish Branch serving on the Council of the Association shall be members of the Committee was declared the finding of the meeting on a vote being taken.

The Constitution and Rules were otherwise approved.

Other business

The Secretary was instructed to circulate the Clerks of all Scottish Authorities who were not members of the Association and advise them of the formation of the Scottish Branch.

After lunch Mr. Peskett addressed the meeting on selfservice filling stations. During the discussion following Mr. Peskett's address he capably answered questions on various aspects of the subject which were put to him. The Secretary proposed a vote of thanks to Mr. Peskett for his most interesting talk.

The meeting was concluded by the Chairman thanking Mr. Short and his Authority for the arrangements made for the meeting.

East Midland

The Annual General Meeting of the Branch was held at the Council Chamber, Council House, Derby, on Tuesday, 2nd May, 1967.

Present were the Chairman, Mr. E. T. Crowe, and 16 members; 11 apologies were received.

The meeting was welcomed in the morning by Alderman C. F. Bowmer, J.P., Chairman of the Markets Committee, on behalf of the Mayor, who referred to the history of the the Association. He said it was important to have a national body and this could only function successfully with active branches. He welcomed the formation of the East Midland Branch and said that there was a great future in Petroleum Administration. Self-service stations had possibilities but he could also see the dangers from vandalism. He regretted that he had other business to do and hoped that the meeting was successful. The Chairman thanked Alderman Bowmer for his welcome, who then left the meeting.

It was then proposed by Mr. W. H. Matthews and seconded by Mr. J. C. Bird that the Minutes of the last meeting held at Worksop on the 29th September, 1966, be accepted. This was carried.

Matters arising from the Minutes

Mr. J. Birks informed the meeting that under the Constitution and Rules of the Branch there was some confusion as to the payment of the five shillings subscription by members and proposed that item 4 should read:

"The subscription of all branch members, other than local authority representatives not engaged in the administration of the Petroleum Acts, shall be five shillings on admission and thereafter on the lst January each year".

The proposal was seconded by Mr. J. A. F. Saville and carried.

Report of the Branch Representative

The Secretary, who attended the Annual General Meeting of the Association at Solihull on the I 8th April, 1967, in the capacity of temporary branch representative, then gave his report to members.

Election of Officers and Committee

The following Officers and Committee members were then elected:

Chairman Vice-Chairman Mr. E. T. Crowe, Mansfield Mr. G. C. Cartwright, Nottingham

Hon. Secretary/Treasurer Auditor Branch Representative

Committee:

Mr. J. Birks, Chesterfield Mr. J. Bantoft, Derby Mr. J. Birks, Chesterfield

Mr. K. Coleman, Leicester City Fire Brigade Mr. W. H. Matthews, Derby Mr. G. Popplewell, East Kesteven R.D.C. Mr. J. Staddon, Esso Petroleum Co., Ltd.

Installation of Chairman

Mr. E. T. Crowe was installed as Chairman for the first full year of the Branch. He thanked members for placing their confidence in him and said that there was much work to be done in the interests of uniform administration of the Acts and Regulations and the various technical problems involved. Mr. Matthews reminded members of all the pioneer work Mr. Crowe had done for the Association and the Branch, and he was pleased that he had accepted the office of Chairman for another year.

Any other business

There was some discussion on latched nozzles and their safety. Several members expressed their concern as to the making safe of underground tanks which had been put out of use or taken out of the ground. The procedures adopted by various members were given. Mr. Skinner sought the views of members regarding the filling of two underground tanks from opposite sides of a road tanker at the same time. He had been approached by a petrol company to allow this filling operation. Mr. Kerr said that this problem was under consideration by the Council. Mr. Skinner suggested that such a filling operation might be allowed provided the attendant could observe the discharge points and the road tanker at the same time. Mr. Matthews said that although underground tanks were subjected to periodical tests the electrical circuits were not and he thought that the time was approaching when periodical electrical test certificates should be requested.

Mr. Birks informed members that electrical certificates had been requested annually for some years in Chesterfield and no difficulties had been experienced in requesting such certificates.

The business meeting was then concluded and members adjourned for lunch.

At the afternoon session, which was attended by Mr. L. A. Cave, Hon. Secretary of the Association, the Chairman introduced Mr. J. A. Sharp, A.l.E.E., Electrical Adviser to the Association, who gave a most informative talk on the electrical installations of petrol pumps associated with the Home Office Model Code of Principles of Construction and Licensing Conditions. Mr. Sharp said that there was an urgent need to amend the Model Code and the Home Office was at present engaged in doing this. He went on to describe suggested amendments. He referred to the technicalities of switches, fuses, wiring, etc. the possible new hazard areas on petrol station forecourts and the classification and design of electrical equipment used in these areas.

The Chairman opened the discussion by saying that he was surprised that it had been recommended that water mains should not be used as an earth. Mr. Sharp replied

that more and more plastic pipes were being used and consequently an efficient earth could no longer be guaranteed by using a water pipe as an earth. Mr. Matthews wondered about the procedure for requesting electrical certificates and what minimum qualifications might be required from the persons issuing such certificates. Mr. Sharp said that a certificate might be issued as a yes/no form by a member of the E.C.A. or the N.I.C. or an officer of the Electricity Board at intervals of three years. He said that the Association should recommend a suitable period and reminded members that Chesterfield was already successfully operating annual requests for electrical certificates.

Mr. Cartwright asked about the use of double-pole fusing switches and secondary electricity supplies. Mr. Sharp then gave an explanation of the dangers associated

with double-pole fusing on high voltage circuits and the advantages of using circuit-breakers. He explained the grid-system and how electrical breakdowns were overcome. Further questions were asked on the electrical standards in this country and Mr. Sharp concluded that our standards were high and maintained by both welltrained officers of the Electricity Board and reputable private contractors.

Mr. Kerr then proposed a vote of thanks to Mr. Sharp, saying that his talk had been very technical and informative and had kept all members extremely interested.

The meeting concluded and members had tea at the kind invitation of the Mayor and Derby Corporation. A vote of thanks was given by Mr. Saville for the facilities and hospitality members had received.

In Parliament

Secondhand Oil Heaters

Mrs. Joyce Butler asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if in view of the number of cases recently of fires deaths caused by secondhand oil heaters, he will send a circular to local authorities drawing their attention again to their P?Wers to prosecute !hose who sell secondhand oil heaters m the course of busmess.

Miss Bacon: One effect of amending Regulations made last June is that the Oil Heaters Regulations, 1962, now apply to all oil heaters offered for sale, irrespective of their date of manufacture. Local authorities were informed at that time that this provision had been introduced to facilitate enforcement of the law, especially in the case of secondhand heaters. I do not think a reminder is needed at present.

Mrs. Butler: In view of the fact that the majority of accidents involving oil heaters appear to be by their lack of maintenance or improper use, such as them for cooking, there is value in drawing the att.ention. of local authorities to the kind of publicity campaign which the of Lambeth has introduced the hon. Lady think again about sei:dmg. a circular to remmd local authorities of their powers m this respect ?

Miss Bacon: If necessary, we shall do so. we have done this once and there has been a considerable amount. of publicity' through the Royal. Society f?r. the Prevention of Accidents the Fire Protect10n Assoc1at10n, the oil appliances local authorities and home safety committees. In a number of areas where there large immigrant populations, advice has been issued m languages such as Urdu, Greek and Turkish, so that a great deal has been done and is being done.

Dangerous Chemicals (Transport)

Sir R. Russell asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he proposed to introduce safety regulations governing the transport by road of dangerous chemicals such as phosgene and chlorine gases and liquid oxygen.

Mr. Roy Jenkins: On the recommendations of the Standing Advisory Committee on Dangerous Substances, regulations have been prepared dealing with the conveyance by road of over 200 inflammable liquids, and I hope to make these soon. There is a wide range of substances to be considered, and the Committee has found it necessary to deal with them in an order of priority. The need for controls over the carriage by road of liquid and compressed gases will be considered, but I cannot yet say when regulations dealing with them may be made.

Petrol Pumps (Model Code)

Mr. Gresham Cooke asked the Secretary of State, if following the lead given by the Greater London Council, he has now authorised the use of the automatic latched petrol nozzle in the model code on Dangerous Substances; and whether he will also include the use of self-service petrol pumps.

Miss Bacon: Licensing authorities were informed on January 12th of an amendment to the existing model code providing for the use of this device at attended filling stations. The appropriate technical committee, on which the licensing authorities and the oil industry are represented, has not yet completed its study of the use of self-service pumps.

Mr. Gresham Cooke: As some local authorities seem reluctant to follow the lead given by the Greater London Council in authorising the use of the latched nozzle, would the right hon. Lady say whether the circular which went to all local authorities was couched in clear terms ?

Miss Bacon: As far as I am aware, that is so. However, if the hon. Gentleman has any evidence which suggests that the contrary might have been the case, I hope that he will let me have it.

Through the Pipeline by OTTO

WHAT THE DEVIL !

In a crowded city one of the banes of a petroleum inspector's life is leakage of petrol and it is sad to relate that it is generally the comparatively small outflow from a hole in a pipeline rather than the larger leakage from a tank which causes the most trouble. In the words of the T.V. commercial ducts desire it, manholes manifest it and basements beg for it.

Experience has shown that the ducts which mostly desire it and the manholes which mainly manifest it are those owned by the G.P.O. It is pertinent to ask why this should be.

To attempt an answer one needs to look at the construction of the ducts through which the telephone and telegraph cables are threaded. The ducts comprise earthenware sections loosely fitted one to the other. From any given high point each length of duct is laid to fall to a sump in a manhole chamber. Water gathering in the sump is pumped out periodically.

The simplest way of describing the method of installaof the G.P.O. ducts and manholes is that they are laid like land drains. Is it therefore so surprising that they act like land drains in receiving sub-surface water and any contaminant such as petrol which may for the time being be in the ground ?

G.P.O. engineers are wont to become most irate when they find petrol in their manholes. But if, presumably for cheapness, they lay their ducts like land drains they must be prepared to accept minor inconvenience. After all he who sups with the devil needs to eat with a long spoon.

WHERE'S THE ATTRACTION?

If particles of paint are given a high electrical charge relative to earth, they will be attracted to earthed objects. This principle is used in electrostatic spraying. The article to be coated is earthed and the consequent attraction of paint to the article not only reduces overspray but aids wrap round to such an extent that more than one side may be coated at a time-a very useful achievement if one wants to paint both sides of a wire fence from one side only.

There are dangers, however, and the major one is of an incendive spark igniting an explosive concentration of paint vapour and air. Adequate ventilation should be provided to secure that an explosive concentration will not occur but this is not enough. Steps must also be taken to prevent incendive spark discharges.

The spout of the spray gun which is imparting the electrical charge to the issuing paint will have a high potential relative to earth. Thus a spark will occur whenever the spray gun spout is brought sufficiently close to an earthed object. Whether the spark is incendive or not will depend on the resistance of the circuit. In fact by the introduction of a limiting resistance or similar contrivance in the high voltage lead to the spray gun spout it is possible to ensure that the spark will never be incendive. In other words, it is possible to make the high voltage circuit intrinsically safe. Control circuits can also be similarly treated and the other electrical equipment associated with the electrostatic spray gun can either be housed in suitable flameproof or pressurised enclosures or otherwise be placed in "safe" locations.

Unfortunately there is another snag. Charged particles of paint may be deposited on unearthed objects or on objects which have had an insulating layer formed on them by previous spray deposits. These objects may acquire a high voltage as successive charged particles of paint impinge on them. When the voltage is high enough air insulation will break down and the consequent discharge to a nearby earthed object may result in the formation of an incendive spark.

The answer is to ensure that all objects, including the operator, are not only effectively earthed but are kept scrupulously clean.

This raises an interesting dilemma. Should the intrinsic safety of equipment be allowed to rest on an operational requirement? After all, operational requirements are the most difficult to enforce. Moreover, intrinsically safe equipment is certified for use in a Division 0 danger area and a Division 0 area is an area where an explosive concentration is always present, lacking only its incendive spark.