www.fueloilnews.com | FUEL OIL NEWS | AprIL 2015 19
Fuels
Some bulk plant operators opt to reduce the storage
capacity of a facility because of the price of a commodity and
improved transport. "Back in the day, when prices were lower,
maybe they would store more and take more risk," said Michael
Trask, secretary of Trask-Hall Equipment Co. in Braintree,
Mass., and Trask Petroleum Equipment in Providence, R.I.
The companies design, build and service bulk plants.
"With the volatility of the market, and better transporta-
tion some operators are undergoing renovations that result
in a reduction of total storage capacity," he said. "We used
to build plants where the customer would say he needed
150,000 gallons and then tell us to build capacity for 200,000
gallons."
In contrast, Trask said, a recent project called for his com-
pany to replace 80,000 gallons of underground, single-wall
storage with 30,000 gallons above ground. The 80,000 gallons
of storage was never fully utilized, Trask said, estimating that
the storage was "maybe half-full all the time."
Before making a drastic change of that kind, Trask advises
considering a number of factors, including one that the fierce
winters of late serve to highlight.
"We've had an abundance of snowstorms," Trask said.
"Bulk plant operators should consider what transportation
difficulties might arise in a season like this. You could have
great transportation, but the roads get shut down in some
cases. What happens if there's a three-day storm? What
volume do you need to keep you in business for three days
without deliveries?"
Further, "when you're changing from below ground to
above ground you need more surface area," Trask pointed
out. He said the company that cut its storage to 30,000 gallons
above ground still needed about the same surface area as had
been taken up by the 80,000 gallons of underground storage.
Some bulk plant operators need their storage capacity to
be more versatile—to include space for blending biofuel with
diesel, to enable them to perform red-dye injection and to add
winter additives, Trask said.
For an operator that just added 90,000 gallons of storage
capacity at a facility in Connecticut, "we added an extra com-
partment because they are thinking about doing some bio,"
Trask said. "Not now. They wanted it to allow for diversifica-
tion in the future."
A long-range plan executed over the long-term can pay
dividends, Trask said, citing as an example a renewal project
that began in 1997 and finished some 10 years later. "That was
the customer's choice," he said. The plan featured five phases
