Oil Tank Removal at a Television Studio.
We were recently contracted to carry out an oil tank removal in order to dispose of two 28,000 gallon gas oil tanks used to feed both boilers and back up generators. The tanks were situated within a building at a television studios, which required the oil tank removal to be carried out with minimal disruption.
Due to the sensitive position of the tanks and the level of impact that noise would have on filming, it was decided that the work be carried out overnight.
In order to perform a safe oil tank removal, the first job is to empty and clean the tanks. In this particular case, there was approximately 10,000 litres of residual oil to remove prior to carrying out the oil tank cleaning. The oil that was removed from the tanks was sampled and found to be in a suitable condition for re-use, therefore the client was offered a credit for that oil. Once the tanks had been cleaned, a gas free certificate was issued following a successful atmospheric monitoring test.
Upon removal of the heavy fuel oil from site, our industrial tank cleaning team then set about gaining entry to the tanks. Being vertical in construction, the only available lids were on the tank top, but our cold cutting equipment allowed us to cut suitable entry points into the tanks. This ensured that safe access and egress was achievable throughout the process at ground level. Wherever possible, our methods will always try to avoid works at height, particularly for longer durations such as tank cleaning.
Although the tanks had been pumped out using the bottom outlet, a very thick layer of sludge and sediment remained in each tank, a by-product of heavy fuel oil being stored over long periods of time. Using a combination of hand scrapers, vacuum equipment and old-fashioned elbow grease, our industrial tank cleaning team were able to successfully clean all three tanks in preparation for their uplift and removal. The tanks were cleaned to a suitable standard that allowed for hot works to be conducted on each tank.
The experience of our industrial tank cleaning operation ensured that the project was completed on time and within budget. This was critical to our client, as the works were being conducted during a planned factory shut down. The removal of the tanks was pivotal in ensuring other parts of the project were completed on time.
If you have any enquiries regarding industrial tank cleaning or any other tank cleaning requirements, please feel free to call us directly on 01132635163, email [email protected] or fill in a contact form here.