Meeting the highest expectations: L&J engineering Featured on Cover of Storage Terminals Magazine

When chemical distributor Seeler Industries was looking for proper safety and level equipment for its aboveground storage tanks, the company turned to L&J Technologies

Spanning over 120 acres in Joliet, Illinois, USA, Seeler Industries is a leading distributor of various grades and strengths of chemicals. Among the products stored and distributed at the facility are glycerine, amines, glycols, hydrochloric acid, sodium chlorate, peracetic acid, and mineral oil.

The 3 Rivers Terminal, a division of Seeler Industries, consists of approximately 17 above ground storage tanks, 15 blend tanks, seven truck loading racks and 42 railcar unloading positions. Tank sizes range from 6,000 to 60,000 gallons with a total capacity of 6,400,000 gallons.

In order to maintain safety at the facility, Seeler Industries began to seek proper safety and level equipment for the aboveground storage tanks at its facility. “It was important for us to improve safety by using a tank gauging and storage system that provided reliable, efficient and centralised tank information,” said Glenn Gibisch, president of Seeler Industries.

To monitor the tanks and protect the sizeable investment, Seeler Industries required a company that could meet all of its high expectations. “In all of our operations, I expect a level of excellence. When it came time to choose the proper instrumentation for the tanks, I had high expectations that were difficult to meet.”

It was clear that Gibisch was looking for a company that not only offered the proper technology, but the expertise to meet the facilities’ needs. He immediately thought of L&J Technologies. “Over the past 30 years, I have developed a high level of confidence with the capabilities of L&J Technologies and the personnel that have provided us service,” Gibisch explained. “Our first installation with L&J Technologies’ radar gauging technology and nitrogen blanketing systems occurred in 2003, when the 3 Rivers Terminal division of Seeler Industries installed a tank farm consisting of nine 30,000 gallon tanks.”

For safety equipment, Seeler Industries currently has Shand & Jurs’ 94020 Conservation Vents and the 94270 Tank Blanketing Valve installed on each of the aboveground storage tanks. “To date, the conservation vents have performed flawlessly. The nitrogen blanketing valves (94270s) have protected our customer’s product from moisture and oxygen, both factors that are detrimental to the integrity of the product,” Gibisch added.

The 94270 prevents contamination and the oxidisation of product by introducing an inert gas, such as nitrogen, to maintain the ‘padding’ in the vapour space within a storage tank. “Shand & Jurs’ 94270 Tank Blanketing Valve is vital in preventing air and moisture from entering the tank and contaminating stored products that are sensitive to these influences,” Shand & Jurs product manager Michael Landato said.

Mounting directly onto the tank, the 94270 is a compact design that features a balanced, piston operated, main valve so that the set point pressure is virtually unchanged at any given inlet pressure within the specified operating range. The 94270 operates by using an inert gas, nitrogen in this case, to maintain a ‘blanket’ of low pressure gas above the product inside of the storage tank.

As far as level measurement devices, Seeler Industries has installed the 92021 float and tape gauge, the MCG 1600SFI Radar Gauge and a wireless evo 2600 radar gauge. Data from the gauges are shown on a set of MCG 1350 ground level displays.

The rise in popularity of radar gauging technology in the industry continues to prove that plants want continuous level detection devices to monitor product within storage tanks. Radar (radio detecting and ranging) level gauging technology uses a transmitter and receiver sending a radio frequency signal in the gigahertz (GHz) range to detect a liquid surface. No moving parts and the non-intrusive nature of radar gauging technology make it ideal for many continuous level measurement applications.

Gibisch stated: “Other than the fact that radar technology is a non-contact gauging method, using radar gauges provide future capabilities of centralising all tank information into one office location. By installing radar gauges and ground level displays on our tanks, we have improved safety at our facility. We no longer have to climb to the top of our tanks to physically gauge product content.”

Seeler Industries has L&J engineering’s MCG 1600SFI installed on many of its aboveground storage tanks. Designed to work with corrosive, contaminated or viscous products, the MCG 1600SFI uses a frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) measurement technology and operates on as little as 24 VDC.

The latest addition to the level gauging equipment at Seeler Industries is L&J engineering’s evo 2600. The evo 2600 provides a standard accuracy of +/- 3mm. With a K-band 26GHz frequency, the evo 2600 produces a narrow conical beam that allows the radar gauge to be installed close to the tank walls and reduces interference from obstructions inside the tank.

The evo 2600 can be used in a variety of applications, Seeler Industries currently has the radar gauge installed on a tank containing Liquid Flame Retardant and Amines. “The evo 2600 Radar Gauge has performed extremely well at our facility. The localised readout display of the evo 2600 and the easily readable terminal display are great features. It looks very impressive to our customers,” Gibisch continued.

Seeler Industries is currently using the evo 2600 in a wireless configuration. Using wireless level gauging technology can help plants save time and money. Since installing the wireless evo 2600, Seeler Industries has seen substantial improvements at this facility.

“We have saved a considerable number of man-hours per week. Our customers no longer have to wait for inventory information. It is provided to them immediately. Wireless technology also assists in the prevention of tank overflows at a faster rate because information is available immediately,” stated Gibisch.

For over 90 years, L&J Technologies has increased its product offering to meet changing industry demands. L&J Technologies and its family of companies is committed to providing customers a product line that has reliable, precise, innovative, cost-effective and high quality products.

“L&J Technologies has met all of my expectations and it is hard to surpass my expectations,” Gibisch concluded. “The diverse products offered by L&J Technologies allow me to continue to expand our 87 acre terminal with additional tanks, knowing that I can depend on using compatible tank accessories and using a single proven source service.”

This article was featured in part in Tank Storage Magazine.