Gasoline storage tanks
These are normally double-walled and buried beneath ground to conserve real estate for retail purposes, however these are above ground in an industrial setting showing what goes on beneath your feet at a service station.
The large white pipes extending laterally to the right are for filling by a tanker truck, normally presenting themselves at pavement level as color-coded mini manhole covers. Fuel is pressurized to 45 PSI for delivery by the red submerged turbine pumps and distributed by the orange lateral lines running left. Liquid and vapor return lines from dispensers are yellow and blue.
The vertical white pipes go to a vent to compensate for changes in barometric pressure. Attached are pressure-vacuum valves that prevent arbitrary breathing yet sill allow compensation if substantial pressure differences occur to preserve tank integrity. You can usually find these at the perimeter of a service station, the so-called vent stack, everything else nicely hidden.
In the rear are the gray electricals. The small cylindrical couplings beneath the horizontal junction box are "seal-offs", these filled with a concrete-like substance that prevents ingress of both liquid and vapor into the electricals. The entire region 18' in diameter and 3' high if proximate to exposed fuel requires this practice at endpoints.
To the left are dispensers robotically actuated by pneumatics to simulate and test wear and tear. Unseen is a separate building housing more whose roof is designed to blow straight up into the air, however in 60 years ongoing has maintained a perfect safety record. Such are the engineering expectations upon the industry.
Gasoline storage tanks
These are normally double-walled and buried beneath ground to conserve real estate for retail purposes, however these are above ground in an industrial setting showing what goes on beneath your feet at a service station.
The large white pipes extending laterally to the right are for filling by a tanker truck, normally presenting themselves at pavement level as color-coded mini manhole covers. Fuel is pressurized to 45 PSI for delivery by the red submerged turbine pumps and distributed by the orange lateral lines running left. Liquid and vapor return lines from dispensers are yellow and blue.
The vertical white pipes go to a vent to compensate for changes in barometric pressure. Attached are pressure-vacuum valves that prevent arbitrary breathing yet sill allow compensation if substantial pressure differences occur to preserve tank integrity. You can usually find these at the perimeter of a service station, the so-called vent stack, everything else nicely hidden.
In the rear are the gray electricals. The small cylindrical couplings beneath the horizontal junction box are "seal-offs", these filled with a concrete-like substance that prevents ingress of both liquid and vapor into the electricals. The entire region 18' in diameter and 3' high if proximate to exposed fuel requires this practice at endpoints.
To the left are dispensers robotically actuated by pneumatics to simulate and test wear and tear. Unseen is a separate building housing more whose roof is designed to blow straight up into the air, however in 60 years ongoing has maintained a perfect safety record. Such are the engineering expectations upon the industry.