DP Fuel Tank Services - Tank cleaning, demolition, decommissioning, large tanks, heavy oil, UK

DP Fuel Tank Services is receiving increasing numbers of requests from clients to clean bulk fuel storage tanks; either for re-use or demolition. Over the past months, we have carried out major projects in Slough, Guernsey and as far away as the Falklands, for power companies and the Ministry of Defence.

Our latest project was for a general hospital in Essex, where we were asked by MC Integ to clean the inside of two 350,000ltr oil storage tanks that had become redundant.

The aim was to remove the tanks and associated equipment from the tank bunded area, and then the main contractor will construct a new sub-station in its place, which will supply energy to a new hospital wing project.

One of the tanks was recently cleaned when it was taken out of service, but it required further cleaning to bring it up to standard for demolition and sending to a recycling facility.

The second tank required the DP Fuel Tank Services' operatives to carry out their well rehearsed procedure. This starts with the mixing of diesel with the oil to soften it up. The oil assumes a treacle-like consistency when left without being heated. The diesel/oil mixture is sucked out by a powerful tanker and taken for reclamation or safe disposal to a specialist waste disposal site.

Once the oil was removed, the heating coils, which were about 60cm above the floor of the tank, had to be cold-cut away. Once these were removed, scaffolding was erected, so the 7m high sides could be safely cleaned and then demolished.

Says DP FTS director John Moore: "With the amount of work we have carried out on very large oil tanks, we consider ourselves as one of the country’s leading experts on this type of project."