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Pyroban Helping Calor with LPG forklift trucks Exceed in Safety

Safety specialist Pyroban has helped Calor Gas prevent its forklift trucks from being a potential source of ignition over 50 sites.

When handled correctly, propane and butane tanks or cylinders pose no danger or threat of explosion; however, the risk of fire or explosion cannot be ruled out in Calor’s cylinder filling operations, or where the gas and cylinders are held in significantly high concentrations. Under DSEAR, all potentially explosive atmospheres in any company must be assessed and classified using a zoning system to determine the level of risk and the level of safety protection required, if any.

Calor’s nine gas storage and distribution centres are classified as Zone 2, with pockets of Zone 1, due to the volume of gas stored and the filling activity that occurs on a daily basis. In addition, seven of the sites are classified as Top Tier under the 1999 COMAH regulations.

At these sites, forklift trucks are essential for the movement of pallets of gas cylinders of varying size and also bulk tanks in Zone 2 areas. Without adequate protection, the forklift could be the source of an ignition from sparks, hot surfaces or ingestion of gas into the engine causing air inlet flashback. Calor has exceeded the minimum requirement for Zone 2 and implemented an internal engineering standard for all forklift trucks used at its sites, known as FLT2a.

Rosemary Scott, a buyer at Calor Gas who is responsible for the purchase of all Calor’s forklift trucks nationwide, said: “FLT2a is a Calor specification developed by our safety and engineering teams together with Pyroban. It means that every new forklift truck will include Pyroban’s system 5000 explosion protection solution, which incorporates gas detection to alert the operator of a potential gas leak.

“Our suppliers must also demonstrate that every service engineer working on our site is trained on the Pyroban systems and maintains the equipment according to Pyroban’s recommendations.”

With System 5000, Pyroban converts a standard forklift truck so that it is ATEX compliant using explosion protection methods, which include reducing the surface temperature of the engine and exhaust gas temperature, assessing and modifying arcing and sparking components, and preventing a flame reaching the atmosphere through the inlet system or overspeed if the engine were to ingest a vapour. Calor had previously used several different methods of safety on its forklift trucks, resulting in a mixture of approaches across the country.

“Some sites had trucks built for Zone 1 areas, which was not entirely necessary and more costly,” said Rosemary. “Pyroban helped us to readdress our processes so that we could standardise safety and reduce the overall fleet cost by standardising it for Zone 2 operation.”

Calor’s Plymouth site has just received two new Toyota Tonero trucks converted by Pyroban to Calor’s FLT2a specification. A 2.5 tonne capacity truck is used to feed the conveyor of the filling operation, where operatives segregate, fill and leak test cylinder sizes of 3.9kg up to 47kg.

The truck is then used to remove full pallets of refilled cylinders from the filling area to the storage areas. In a different area of the facility, a 3.5 tonne capacity truck is fitted with a clamp to safely handle empty propane bulk tanks.

Andrew Willmott, plant manager at Calor’s Plymouth facility, said: “We store and process large volumes of lpg at the Plymouth site and turn around an average of 10 cylinder trailers per day, which equates to approximately 40 tonnes of product. Pyroban is an essential part of site safety to ensure that if there is a release of gas, the operators are made aware and the forklift truck cannot be an ignition source.”

At the Calor retail centres, which are classified as non-hazardous areas and do not legally require any special explosion prevention measures, Calor has implemented a new standard, known as FLT3a. The FLT3a includes a number of Pyroban features, such as Gascheka, a gas detection and shutdown system; cladded forks to prevent mechanical sparks, and a seat trigger, which deactivates the engine after a given period if the operator leaves his/her seat.

Rosemary Scott continued: “A major part of Calor’s business is the supply of lpg for powering forklift trucks. FLT3a specification with Pyroban’s Gascheka allows us to safely use lpg trucks on our own sites. A release of gas is not expected; however, if it does occur, the lpg forklift will be shutdown automatically.”

Calor has been working with Pyroban for over five years.

Pyroban’s customer services manager Rob Vesty said: “Calor has taken the right approach in standardising its purchasing criteria, as their storage facilities, distribution sites and retail operations are standard across the country. With these new specifications, we expect to reduce Calor’s total materials handling fleet costs and enhance overall safety for every Calor site that uses a forklift truck.”

Contact Pyroban on 01273 466200 www.pyroban.com

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