Get the Right Tank System

With current weather conditions, restrictions on spreading and a full-on race towards installing anaerobic digestion plants for sustainable power, there hasn’t been a better time to consider installing a new tank system, one that is designed specifically to be compatible with an anaerobic digester installation.

As any livestock farmer will attest, traditional slurry tanks are notorious for corroding, springing leaks and in some cases simply failing - creating at best a constant headache of maintenance, and at worst an environmental incident that causes the nightmare of an investigation, cleanup operation and possible fines.

Available now in the UK is an innovative tank system that employs a stainless steel inner surface and galvanised steel exterior. Using a patented design and construction method the tanks are actually manufactured on-site. Using this method creates a smooth uniform corrosion free inner surface and a continuous external ridge that provides the structural rigidity to allow for a 48m diameter tank to be erected without the need for any additional external support, seals, panels or bolts.

Andy Shedden European Sales Marketing Manager at BCI Process is responsible for introducing the system to the mainstream UK market, “We have been installing food and waste grade pipework, vessels and tanks for over 30 years and the first time we saw one of these containers being erected over in Germany we just knew we had to supply it in the UK. The tanks are fast to put-up and light-years ahead of some traditional panel designs in terms of integrity and longevity.”

"The feed-in electricity tariffs available across Europe and the UK are what are really driving the sales of these tanks, because they perform faultlessly for decades no matter what you put in them. Being pressure sealed they are suitable for slurry and also gas handling, so installing one of these can be a sensible first step towards an anaerobic digester while solving an immediate problem of leaking old tanks or a lack of storage facility for slurry.”

Many farms and utility companies are looking at the problems right now and we have received an awful lot of interest, so much so that we are moving to purpose built new premises just to cope with demand and have put all our install teams through the training, working closely with the manufacturer Lipp Systems to ensure we can meet demand.

Over 3,000 Lipp tanks have been installed worldwide as far apart as Japan and central America, the majority are farming related applications with a large number of European installations forming part of anaerobic digestion plants for local renewable power generation. The Lipp tanking system is now available with full technical support from specialist BCI Process. The principle of the Lipp Dual-Seam System is as follows: steel bands are folded over twice at their edges, interconnecting them with an integral seal, protecting the entire internal surface from even aggressive liquids, preventing corrosion and ensuring maximum impermeability.

Each tank is manufactured from materials which are matched to the chemical and physical properties of the respective contents that are to be stored and treated. The size of the containers is completely variable between three and more than forty metres.