The present disclosure relates generally to fluid containment systems and, more particularly, to fuel containment sumps positioned between a fuel dispenser and an underground storage tank.
Containment sumps may be included in fueling systems to transition pipe lines, electrical lines, or other conduits between various components of the fueling system. For example, under-dispenser containment (UDC) sumps are located under fuel dispensers and contain piping and valves for distribution of hydrocarbon product such as gasoline from underground storage tanks (UST) to a customer-accessible fuel dispenser. Tank sumps are used to provide access to the interior of the UST for filling and inspection. Transition sumps are used to transition conduit from underground to above-ground locations. These and other sumps structures may be collectively referred to as “containment sumps” for a fueling system.
A UST is installed by excavating a hole below a service station site, lowering the UST into the excavated hole, and then backfilling material around the UST. Containment sumps are then installed at appropriate locations along the top surface of the UST, such that the open top of the containment sump is approximately level with grade. Additional material may then be backfilled around the containment sump, and a level concrete driving surface may be created around the UST and the lid of the containment sump positioned atop the UST.
The present disclosure provides a tank collar with an adjustable mounting surface for a containment sump, such that the containment sump may be adjusted on the tank collar to be substantially plumb, even if the tank collar itself is not plumb. In particular, the containment sump wall is angularly adjustable with respect to the tank collar, which is fixed to an underground storage tank (UST). This angular adjustability facilitates a method of installation in which imperfect angular orientation of the tank collar and UST may be compensated for by angular adjustment of the containment sump wall. During and after such angular adjustment, a consistent seal between the containment sump wall and the tank collar is maintained, such as in the form of a continuous line of contact around the circumference of the interface between the tank collar and the containment sump wall.
In one form thereof, the present disclosure provides a tank collar including a lower portion having a lower end shaped to form a lower fluid-tight seal with an external surface of an underground storage tank, and an upper portion having a cylindrical wall terminating in an upper end surface defining a spheroidal mounting surface configured to mate with a correspondingly sized containment sump wall, whereby the spheroidal mounting surface can form a sealed interface between the upper end surface and the containment sump wall while also allowing angular adjustment of the containment sump wall with respect to the tank collar.
In another form thereof, the present disclosure provides a containment sump including a tank collar having a cylindrical sidewall with a lower end and an opposing upper end, and a containment sump wall having a lower end sealingly engaged with the upper end of the tank collar, the sump containment angularly adjustable with respect to the tank collar within a predetermined angular range.
In yet another form thereof, the present disclosure provides a fueling station including an underground storage tank having a tank collar affixed to an outer surface thereof, the tank collar having an upper end, and a containment sump comprising a containment sump wall having a lower end sealingly engaged with the upper end of the tank collar, the sump containment angularly adjustable with respect to the tank collar within a predetermined angular range.
In still another form thereof, the present disclosure provides a method of assembling a containment sump to an underground storage tank, the method including installing the underground storage tank below grade, the underground storage tank having a tank collar fixed to an exterior surface thereof, installing a containment sump wall to the tank collar to create a seal therebetween, and angularly adjusting the containment sump wall with respect to the tank collar without disrupting the seal.
The above-mentioned and other features of the invention and the manner of obtaining them will become more apparent and the invention itself will be better understood by reference to the following description of exemplary embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
The foregoing aspects and many of the intended advantages of this invention will become more readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views. Although the drawings represent embodiments of various features and components according to the present disclosure, the drawings are not necessarily to scale and certain features may be exaggerated in order to better illustrate and explain the present disclosure. The exemplifications set out herein illustrate embodiments of the invention, and such exemplifications are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention in any manner.
For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now be made to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings, which are described below. The embodiments disclosed below are not intended to be exhaustive or limit the invention to the precise form disclosed in the following detailed description. Rather, the embodiments are chosen and described so that others skilled in the art may utilize their teachings. It will be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended. The invention includes any alterations and further modifications in the illustrative devices and described methods and further applications of the principles of the invention which would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates.
Referring to
In an exemplary embodiment, fuel dispensers 12 are also electrically connected with at least one fuel control and monitoring system contained in control building 16. Control building 16 may also houses fueling station attendants who may monitor and manipulate the fuel control and monitoring system. One exemplary such control and monitoring system, designed to work in the context of fueling station 10 and control building 16, is described in U.S. Pat. No. 9,352,951, filed Sep. 28, 2012 and entitled “FUEL DELIVERY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM”, the entire disclosure of which is hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference.
Various buried conduits 18 are run between the various components of fueling station 10 to convey fluid, electrical lines, or the like, as best shown in
Turning again to
Dispenser sumps 30 are also positioned under each fuel dispenser 12 as shown in
Turning now to
As best seen in
Tank sumps 20 are shown in
Turning now to
In the illustrated embodiment, flange 40 forms a curved surface configured to mate with, and conform to, the cylindrical outer surface of UST 14. Thus, the curved surface on the lower end of flange 40 defines its own longitudinal axis L3 (
In the illustrated embodiment, flange 40 extends radially outwardly from the otherwise cylindrical sidewall of collar 22, though an inwardly-facing design may also be utilized, or flange 40 may be omitted entirely in favor of a direct interface between the lower end of the cylindrical sidewall and the adjacent mating surface.
The upper portion of collar 22, opposite the lower portion, presents an upper end surface configured to receive the outer containment sump wall assembly 26, as best seen in
As best seen in
The lower end surface of lower wall 32 is best seen in
The line of contact formed between flange 33 and rounded lip 24, best seen in
In addition, the outwardly-facing convex articulation surface formed by rounded lip 24 may be reversed to a concave spheroid surface, such that lip 24 would form a “cup-shaped” structure which can receive flange 33 while providing angular adjustability in a similar manner. Such a concave surface may curve outwardly from the sidewall of collar 22, rather than the inwardly-extending lip 24 shown in
The interface between tank collar 22 and wall assembly 26 allows for angular adjustment of wall assembly 26 with respect to collar 22 and, by extension, UST 14, without disrupting the continuous line of contact described herein. As noted herein, tank collar 22 has a cylindrical sidewall defining a first longitudinal axis L1 (
As best seen by a comparison of
In the illustrated embodiment, wall assembly 26 is angularly adjustable in any direction away from the aligned position shown in
In the illustrated embodiment, the predetermined extent of potential angular adjustment is correlated with the angular extent of the rounded upper lip 24. As long as the continuous, substantially fluid-tight line of contact between flange 33 rides and rounded upper lip 24 is maintained, the angular adjustment is within the permissible range. In one exemplary embodiment, wall assembly 26 may be adjusted as much as 1, 2 or 3 degrees in any direction from its aligned position (
The angular adjustability of containment wall 26 with respect to tank collar 22 allows an installer of UST 14 and containment sump 20 to compensate for angular irregularities which may arise from imperfect underground orientation of UST 14, or from an imperfect mounting of collar 22 on UST 14. For example, tank collar 22 may be affixed (e.g., by welding) to the outer surface of a UST 14 during fabrication or after the UST has been placed underground (but before completing the backfilling of material around the UST 14). If it is found that the longitudinal axis L1 of tank collar 22 is not sufficiently perpendicular with the intended grade plane (i.e., UST is installed out of plumb), containment wall 26 may be angularly adjusted such that longitudinal axis L2 is perpendicular to the grade plane within predetermined tolerance limits (e.g., within 0.5 degrees). This allows for flexible, in-the-field adjustment of the angular arrangement of containment wall 26 with respect to tank collar 22 and UST 14, while avoiding any undue stresses on the various structures and preserving the seal created by the uninterrupted line of contact around the periphery of the interface between wall 26 and collar 22. Once the proper angular orientation has been established, containment wall 26 may be locked in place, such as by sealing around the interface between flange 33 and upper lip 24. In an exemplary embodiment, tank collar 22 and wall assembly 26 are both made of a fiberglass material, such that the two material are joined by adhesives, putties and/or structural tapes in a manner consistent with conventional fiberglass joining techniques.
In the illustrated embodiment, cylindrical flange 33 is received over rounded upper lip 24 (as described in detail above) to facilitate compatibility of tank collar 22 with other industry-standard containment sumps, which typically have similarly cylindrical lower ends. However, alternative arrangements in accordance with the present disclosure are also contemplated beyond the exemplary configuration shown in the drawings. For example, an alternative to the inner-lower edge of flange 33 riding on the convex exterior surface of upper lip 24, as shown in
The other structures associated with (e.g., contained within) sump 20 may include riser pipes, drain valves, monitoring equipment, piping, or any other structures or devices associated with the operation of fueling station 10, some of which are shown in
In one exemplary embodiment, tank sumps 20 and/or dispenser sumps 30 may have a double-walled construction including primary and secondary containers with an interstitial space located between their respective walls, with such interstitial space extending partially or completely up the height of the double-walled container. For monitored containment sumps, this interstitial space may be monitored to ensure there are no leaks in either of the two walls. As an example, a vacuum can be created within the interstitial space and the vacuum pressure can be monitored to consistency over time. A consistent vacuum provides evidence that there are no leaks in either the primary or secondary wall. One such pressure monitoring system used for traditional double-wall containment systems can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 7,578,169, filed Dec. 31, 2007 and entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUSLY MONITORING INTERSTITIAL REGIONS IN GASOLINE STORAGE FACILITIES AND PIPELINES, the entire disclosure of which is hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference. Further details of interstitial monitoring systems and the context of double-walled containment sumps may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 8,684,024, filed Oct. 14, 2010 and entitled “SPILL CONTAINMENT SYSTEM”, the entire disclosure of which is hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference.
While this invention has been described as having an exemplary design, the present invention may be further modified within the spirit and scope of this disclosure. This application is therefore intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention using its general principles. Further, this application is intended to cover such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practices in the art to which this invention pertains.
This application claims the benefit under Title 35, U.S.C. § 119(e) of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/772,505, entitled ADJUSTABLE SPILL CONTAINMENT SYSTEM and filed on Nov. 28, 2018, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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62772505 | Nov 2018 | US |