Secondary containment monitoring system
First Claim
1. ) A unified secondary containment system, relating to environmentally-hazardous petroleum products, comprising, in combination:
- a) tank means for containing such environmentally-hazardous petroleum products;
b) piping means for transporting such environmentally-hazardous petroleum products;
c) tank envelope means for essentially enveloping said tank means;
d) tank interstitial space means, interstitial between said tank means and said tank envelope means, for secondary containment of such environmentally-hazardous petroleum products;
e) piping envelope means for essentially enveloping said piping means; and
f) piping interstitial space means, interstitial between said piping means and said piping envelope means, for secondary containment of such environmentally-hazardous petroleum products;
g) wherein said tank interstitial space means and said piping interstitial space means in fluid communication together comprise combined interstitial space means for secondary containment of such environmentally-hazardous petroleum products; and
h) gas-pressure setting means for setting at least one combined level of gas pressure in said combined interstitial space means substantially less than at least one tank level of gas pressure in said tank means and substantially less than at least one piping level of gas pressure in said piping means.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A leak detection and prevention system adapted to continuously monitor the spaces of a double wall hydrocarbon fuel handling system comprising storage tanks, product lines, vapor recovery lines, tank vent lines, etc. The system establishes and monitors a resident gas-pressure within the interstitial space to monitor the integrity of the primary and secondary containment. Change in resident gas-pressure in excess of a calibrated vacuum flow rate or the presence of liquid in any monitored space initiates an alarm. Once an alarm is signaled, the product delivery system is shut down and an audio-visual alarm is activated in close proximity to operating personnel. An onsite service call by qualified personnel is required to return the product handling system back into service. A qualified service technician connects to a communication port on the system control module to evaluate the cause of the failure. The system utilizes vacuum pressure to monitor for containment breaches. Furthermore, the system utilizes a Bernoulli-based device to produce the monitoring vacuum.
63 Citations
92 Claims
-
1. ) A unified secondary containment system, relating to environmentally-hazardous petroleum products, comprising, in combination:
- a) tank means for containing such environmentally-hazardous petroleum products;
b) piping means for transporting such environmentally-hazardous petroleum products;
c) tank envelope means for essentially enveloping said tank means;
d) tank interstitial space means, interstitial between said tank means and said tank envelope means, for secondary containment of such environmentally-hazardous petroleum products;
e) piping envelope means for essentially enveloping said piping means; and
f) piping interstitial space means, interstitial between said piping means and said piping envelope means, for secondary containment of such environmentally-hazardous petroleum products;
g) wherein said tank interstitial space means and said piping interstitial space means in fluid communication together comprise combined interstitial space means for secondary containment of such environmentally-hazardous petroleum products; and
h) gas-pressure setting means for setting at least one combined level of gas pressure in said combined interstitial space means substantially less than at least one tank level of gas pressure in said tank means and substantially less than at least one piping level of gas pressure in said piping means. - View Dependent Claims (2)
- a) tank means for containing such environmentally-hazardous petroleum products;
-
3. ) A unified secondary containment system, relating to environmentally-hazardous petroleum products, comprising, in combination:
- a) at least one tank adapted to contain such environmentally-hazardous petroleum products;
b) at least one piping adapted to transport such environmentally-hazardous petroleum products;
c) at least one tank envelope structured and arranged to essentially envelope said at least one tank;
d) at least one tank interstitial space, interstitial between said at least one tank and said at least one tank envelope, adapted to secondary containment of such environmentally-hazardous petroleum products;
e) at least one piping envelope structured and arranged to essentially envelope said at least one piping;
f) at least one piping interstitial space, interstitial between said at least one piping and said at least one piping envelope, adapted to secondary containment of such environmentally-hazardous petroleum products;
g) wherein said at least one tank interstitial space and said at least one piping interstitial space in fluid communication together comprise at least one combined interstitial space adapted to secondary containment of such environmentally-hazardous petroleum products; and
h) at least one gas-pressure setter structured and arranged to set at least one combined level of gas pressure in said at least one combined interstitial space substantially less than at least one tank level of gas pressure in said at least one tank and substantially less than at least one piping level of gas pressure in said at least one piping. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
- a) at least one tank adapted to contain such environmentally-hazardous petroleum products;
-
11. ) A secondary containment system, relating to environmentally-hazardous petroleum products, comprising, in combination:
- a) tank means for containing such environmentally-hazardous petroleum products;
b) tank envelope means for essentially enveloping said tank means;
c) tank interstitial space means, interstitial between said tank means and said tank envelope means, for secondary containment of such environmentally-hazardous petroleum products; and
d) gas-pressure setting means for setting at least one interstitial level of gas pressure in said tank interstitial space means substantially less than at least one tank level of gas pressure in said tank means;
e) wherein said gas pressure setting means comprises fluid flow means for providing, essentially by Bernoulli effect, such at least one interstitial level of gas pressure. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
- a) tank means for containing such environmentally-hazardous petroleum products;
-
14. ) A secondary containment system, relating to environmentally-hazardous petroleum products, comprising, in combination:
- a) at least one tank adapted to contain such environmentally-hazardous petroleum products;
b) at least one tank envelope structured and arranged to essentially envelope said at least one tank;
c) at least one tank interstitial space, interstitial between said at least one tank and said at least one tank envelope, adapted to secondary containment of such environmentally-hazardous petroleum products; and
d) at least one gas-pressure setter structured and arranged to set at least one interstitial level of gas pressure in said at least one tank interstitial space substantially less than at least one tank level of gas pressure in said at least one tank;
e) wherein said at least one gas pressure setter comprises at least one fluid flow system adapted to provide, essentially by Bernoulli effect, such at least one interstitial level of gas pressure. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
- a) at least one tank adapted to contain such environmentally-hazardous petroleum products;
-
21-45. -45. (canceled)
-
46. ) A secondary containment system relating to environmentally-hazardous petroleum products, comprising, in combination:
- a) handling container means for containment during handling of such environmentally-hazardous petroleum products;
b) handling container envelope means for essentially enveloping said handling container means;
c) handling container interstitial space means, interstitial between said handling container means and said handling container envelope means, for secondary containment of such environmentally-hazardous petroleum products;
d) gas-pressure setting means for setting at least one interstitial level of gas pressure in said handling container interstitial space means substantially less than at least one handling containment level of gas pressure in said handling container means; and
e) monitoring means for essentially-continuous monitoring of said handling container interstitial space means to detect deviations from the at least one interstitial level of gas pressure. - View Dependent Claims (47)
- a) handling container means for containment during handling of such environmentally-hazardous petroleum products;
-
48. ) A secondary containment system relating to environmentally-hazardous petroleum products, comprising, in combination:
- a) at least one handling container adapted to contain while handling such environmentally-hazardous petroleum products;
b) at least one handling container envelope structured and arranged to essentially envelope said at least one handling container;
c) at least one handling container interstitial space, interstitial between said at least one handling container and said at least one handling container envelope, adapted to secondary containment of such environmentally-hazardous petroleum products;
d) at least one gas-pressure setter structured and arranged to set at least one interstitial level of gas pressure in said at least one handling container interstitial space substantially less than at least one handling container level of gas pressure in said at least one handling container; and
e) at least one monitor structured and arranged to essentially-continuously monitor said handling container interstitial space to detect deviations from the at least one interstitial level of gas pressure. - View Dependent Claims (49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77)
- a) at least one handling container adapted to contain while handling such environmentally-hazardous petroleum products;
-
78_-91. )-91) (canceled)
-
92. Apparatus for detecting fuel leaks from a fuel delivery system comprising a fuel conduit connected to an underground storage tank for transferring fuel therefrom and a conduit surrounding containment envelope defining with said conduit a pipe interstitial space therebetween, and including:
a submersible turbine pump having a pump element within an underground storage tank and a vacuum producing element operably connected to said pipe interstitial space for drawing a vacuum in said space.
Specification