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Continental Lpg Gas Training

By Ian Oultram, managing director, UK Energy Training

Training means keeping up to date with regulations, standards and new technology to stay ahead of the competition.

Businesses need skilled staff that are confident, know the job and understand the business’ priorities. That means they need quality training.

Everyone needs to improve their skills – whether it’s a young person just starting out or an old hand with many years’ experience. The average worker in the lp gas industry is 55 years old, and this figure is creeping up all the time. The recruitment of young employees is essential to lead lpg businesses into the future.

Taking full advantage of quality training takes commitment from the training company and the client. Research shows training plays a key role in increased job satisfaction, and two-thirds of employees said they worked harder as a result of learning new skills.

In the UK, only 28 per cent of the population have intermediate skills, compared with 51 per cent in France and 65 per cent in Germany, and this has a direct impact on productivity. French and German workers produce between a quarter and a third more in every hour than their British counterparts.

In 2005, UK Energy Training was contacted by Siblu Holidays, an international company operating leisure parks across France. It required a flexible training programme for lpg gas operatives carrying out annual safety checks in thousands of holiday park homes each year across Europe.

The training brief we received included requirements for compliance with local regulations in several European countries. There was a need to include UK legislation where local regulations were lacking or unclear, and to integrate with in-house health and safety policies. The situation was further compounded by a need to deliver the training and subsequent assessments in English and French. Working closely with Siblu Holidays, we were able to translate our entire programme, including training materials, manuals and assessments, from English into French.

The collaboration was a success, and we have delivered the highly regarded training programme onsite in France and the UK, in both French and English, every year since 2006. Interestingly, the course has proved more popular with French female lp gas operatives than a similar one would in the UK.

The requirements for the safe use of lpg in Northern European countries are similar to those in the UK. The main differences from a training point of view are dealing with equipment not usually seen in the UK and some rather unusual pressure systems utilised in holiday homes on the continent.

Continental holiday home manufacturers, such as French owned IRM (now the largest mobile home manufacturer in Europe), have for many years used a three-stage pressure reduction system. This system is used extensively for holiday home cylinder fed installations. It comprises a first stage regulator, reducing the pressure from a cylinder to around 1.2 bar. Lpg gas at this pressure is then run to the interior of the holiday home, usually in 12mm diameter copper pipework, and all joints are brazed wherever possible with nut and washer seals elsewhere. Immediately before each appliance, a second stage device is fitted to further reduce the pressure to a useable 37mbar.

The device incorporates three functions in one compact unit – second stage pressure reduction, under pressure shut off (UPSO) and appliance isolation valve. A consequence of this design is that pipe sizing to appliances is never a problem, with pressures around 1bar available within 300mm of each appliance.

Bulk lpg supplies are often handled somewhat differently than we would find on holiday parks in the UK. Holiday homes fed from bulk supplies with a metered estate style system are somewhat less fortunate pressure-wise than their cylinder fed counterparts. In these installations, a first stage regulator is fitted at the vessel, reducing the pressure to an intermediate level of around 1 bar. Pipework then runs out to the various groups of holiday homes and into a cabinet arrangement.

An emergency stop button is fitted, primarily for use by members of the public, and a second stage regulator reduces the pipework pressure to around 37mbar. A 15mm diameter soft copper pipe is run out individually to each home, which may be in excess of 20m away. At the holiday home base, an emergency control valve (ECV) is fitted and a further run of 15mm copper tube is used to connect each unit. Due to some excessively long pipework runs, this type of system may deliver lower than required pressures.

The main saving grace is that holiday homes on the continent are not generally fitted with heating appliances, and subsequently require far less lpg gas than those used within the colder climes of the UK. The only lp gas appliances are generally an lpg hob and instantaneous water heater.

If only we had summers like that!

Contact UK Energy Training on 08456 442039 www.ukenergytraining.co.uk

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