The United States' dependence on imported oil seems to be one of the most hotly debated topics from Washington, D.C., to living rooms across America, especially in light of the fact that gasoline and diesel fuel prices reached record highs over the past 12 months. This scenario has fueled a race to see who can build ethanol facilities the fastest across the Untied States. Aside from the actual manufacturing of ethanol, one of the most important aspects of the business is getting the product to market. A large portion of ethanol is, and will continue, to be shipped to gasoline refineries and blenders via railroad tank cars that call for railroad loading racks within the ethanol facilities.
 

 Safe loading of railroad tank cars in an efficient and environmentally sound manner has become a major issue when designing and constructing the railroad loading racks in new fuel ethanol facilities. As mandated by governmental regulatory agencies, a small percentage of gasoline must be blended into pure ethanol after it's produced to prevent it from being used for personal consumption. With the addition of this additive, the ethanol is considered denatured alcohol, which has been ruled an oil by U.S. EPA regulators. Because denatured alcohol has been placed on the oils list, ethanol manufacturing facilities will be required to have a Facility Response Plan (FRP), which calls for a Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) plan, if the facility's ethanol storage exceeds mandated limits. The new SPCC regulations required in 40 CFR 112.7(h)(l) states: "Facility tank car and tank truck loading/unloading rack (excluding offshore facilities); (1) Where loading/unloading area drainage does not flow into a catchment basin or treatment facility designed to handle discharges, use a quick drainage system for tank car or tank truck loading/unloading areas. You must design a containment system to hold at least the maximum capacity of any single compartment of a tank car or tank truck loaded/unloaded at the facility."
 
 One method of a "catchment system" under the railroad tank car—a method considered a best management practice in the industry is the installation of railroad spill containment pans to catch accidental spills of materials during railroad tank car transloading operations at manufacturing facilities. Century Group Inc. is a manufacturer of a spill containment pan system called Enviropans that have been used extensively in new railroad loading areas where ethanol is loaded into railroad tank cars. Most spills in railroad tank car loading areas occur from faulty valves, hoses, couplings, and from human error via dripping residue from hoses and accidental overfills. The high-density polyethylene (HDPE) Enviropans are resistant to ethanol spills. The trademarked Enviropan system is easily installed in conventional railroad tracks with virtually no change in the design of the track structure. The system allows for installing a gauge pan between the two rails and a field pan on the field sides of the rail to catch accidental spills. The system features a 12-foot wide system that is critical to insure that spills, which may come from the top of a railcar due to an accidental overfill, will migrate down the sides of the tank car and be caught by the pans on the field side of the rail. All materials that are spilled into the pan system drain into a common cross drain where discharge piping is connected and leads to a catch basin, holding tank or waste treatment system. 
 
 One of the challenges of the new SPCC regulations is the requirement that the overall collection system be constructed so that it can contain the largest single compartment in the railroad tank car. That in most cases, is the whole tank car, which runs anywhere from 18,000 to 30,000 gallons. In a typical installation, the HDPE Enviropans are installed in the railroad tracks running the length of the tank car in order to be able to catch a leak or spill from any part of the tank car as it's being loaded. In most cases, a minimum of 60 linear foot of Enviropans are required to contain spills from one end of the railroad tank car to the other. The system is then drained to a larger sump or holding basin that has a total volume capacity meeting SPCC regulations.
 
 Regulations also require inspections of all secondary containment systems including that in the railroad tank car loading racks. Chris Gaudet, director of research and product development for Century Group Inc., says, "We are working with our clients in making sure they are informed and trained to inspect our spill containment pans to include checking for proper installation, no visible signs of damage, free of debris and all discharge piping is clear and freely draining. Inspections of the overall railroad tank car containment system is mandated by SPCC regulations."
 
 Just as important as the actual inspection is the vigilant monitoring of loading operations to insure prevention of unnecessary spills or leaks from faulty hoses, valves, gaskets, etc., as well as more serious spills from accidental overfills. Equally important in monitoring is an appropriate response plan in case of spills. Critical items in a response plan are the timeliness in which personnel can stop the flow of materials being loaded or unloaded, and to make sure that all valves, pumps and other equipment necessary to catch and control the spill are operating to insure no ethanol will escape the secondary containment system.
 
 Century Group's goal is to provide a proven railroad spill containment system that is cost effective and easy to install. Customer service and satisfaction is the company's No. 1 priority. Century Group keeps a constant inventory of its standard Enviropans to meet aggressive delivery schedules and provide on-site field representatives when required. The company's trademarked product has become the railroad spill collection system of choice in the fuel ethanol industry. Major design build companies ask specifically for the Century Enviropans for their projects.
 
 Companies planning or designing a fuel ethanol manufacturing facility should keep in mind that Century Group Inc. can be a key team member in assisting engineers and contractors in insuring a state-of-the-art spill containment system is installed at the facility's railroad tank car transloading rack. Century Group understands the challenge at hand and therefore can provide facility developers with a solution—the HDPE Enviropan system. At Century Group we work hard to understand our customers and their railroad environmental needs and then provide appropriate solutions, which lead to environmental compliance and lasting partnerships.
 
 For more information about Enviropans, go to <a target="_blank" href="http://"www.centurygrp.com>www.centurygrp.com</a>. Rob Greenside is regional sales coordinator for Century Group Inc. Reach him at <a href=mailto:"rgreenside@centurygrp.com">rgreenside@centurygrp.com</a> or (800) 527-5232.

Railroad Spill Containment Systems

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Upcoming Events

2024 International Fuel Ethanol Workshop & Expo

Biodiesel Summit: Sustainable Aviation Fuel & Renewable Diesel

Carbon Capture & Storage Summit

North American SAF Conference & Expo

2025 International Biomass Conference & Expo

Railroad Spill Containment Systems