Case Study

Tank filling – Spain.

Tank filling with Resins Industry.
Which tanks get filled, why decommission them and why filling with hardfoam is the best solution.

Small tanks

Our partners in Norway, Belgium, The United Kingdom, Spain, a.o. do a lot of tank filling with our hardfoams.

This can be household petroleum tanks of 200 liters or diesel tanks up to 5000 liters. For example this tank on the picture to the left, a household tank previously used for a home heating system.

Big tanks

Similarly, bigger tanks are found at petrol stations varying between 5.000 and 30.000 liters.
Much larger tanks or storage facilities can also be filled, for example at shipping companies, harbours and fuel transporting facilities.
These can certainly be filled with hardfoam too.

Why decommission them with hardfoam?

Why are tanks decommissioned?

Any tank that is no longer in use poses a danger to the environment or public safety.

Environmental;
- Fuel leakages
- Soil pollution
Fire / Explosion due to the buildup of;
- Flammable liquids
- Explosive gasses

Even after proper cleaning/decommissioning of the tank, there’s still the risk of gasses building up. Therefore any redundant tank should either be removed or filled.

Why removal isn’t always a better option? For tank removal a whole area has to be blocked off and it is disrupting to the soils, posing dangers for surrounding structures. Above all filling can be done without any digging works and business operations can continue.

Why hardfoam filling is the best solution?

For a safe decommissioning, our hardfoam has the following important properties:

Complete fill to prevent gasses building up
Absorption of hydrocarbons, preventing (further) soil pollution
Lightweight, for easy destruction free tank-removal
Strong foam, capable of holding up even after deterioration of the old tank
Environmentally friendly & inert product.

To clarify: any voids left in a tank which is not completely filled pose a threat of flammable gasses building up. To prevent this we fill the tank completely. In addition to being structural supporting, the foam it will absorb any hydrocarbon residue left in the tank due to the hydrophilic nature. In other words preventing pollution if the tank deteriorates over time.

Subsequently, when you want or need to remove the tank after a few years, with many other products you have to break the tank up for removal. However, because our foam is so light, it is easily removed in one piece. The strength of the foam is great enough to hold up even if the tank can no longer hold up anything. For instance, if the tank is rusted/deteriorated. (However, this is depending on the applied density, view our products for more info)