Changing systems from top loading to bottom loading
Client: FC Dawes & Son
Industry: Oil Distribution
Site: Hitchin, Hertfordshire, UK
Overview
FC Dawes & Son is an independent oil distributor established for over 65 years and based near Hitchin in Hertfordshire, UK. They provide oil distribution to home, farm and industry around Bedfordshire, Herts and Cambridgeshire.
The company had identified the need to change their existing tanker loading system from top to bottom loading, and to upgrade from mechanical registers to electronic loading and control.
Requirement
The client was top-loading from an existing gantry that had been in operation for a number of years. They wanted to keep the gantry as it had a large canopy for weather protection and they also wanted to retain the ability to top load their diesel fuel if required.
IFC’s Solution
The site was ideal for a build in place system, where much of the existing pipework and infrastructure could be adapted to accommodate brand new IFC445 bottom loading arms, high accuracy Acuflow positive displacement meters, OCV digital flow control valves, and an MPC100 electronic multi-point batch controller to operate and control the system.
All the new equipment was installed under the existing canopy providing the operators with easy to use ground-level tanker loading. The system included IFC’s standard safety equipment, which protects the operator, the site and the environment from the risks associated with bottom loading.
The addition of the MPC100 ensures that all the loading operations are electronically recorded, stored and printed out remotely in the site office. IFC also provided the pipe fabrication and electrical installation work for the project.
Project Outcome
The new system has enabled FC Dawes to provide a safer working environment for their drivers, along with faster loading for their crucial winter heating market.
Managing Director Philip Dawes commented “We were very pleased with the speed and efficiency of the bottom loading conversion as IFC had been given a tight timetable to carry out the project. The uprated kerosene pump should also stand us in good stead for the forthcoming winter heating season.
