An increase in the number of cars for various purposes on the country's roads leads to the development of gas station networks and the improvement of equipment on them. The capacity of gas stations, the speed of refueling cars, the range of petroleum fuels with high functional and environmental properties increased.
Types of gas stations
Gas stations can be divided into groups in accordance with fire safety standards NPB 111-98.
Traditional stationary gas stations are capital structures with underground tanks, which are located far from the fuel dispensers. They are placed, designed, built and operated in strict accordance with building codes, fire safety rules and regulations.
Stationary are block gas stations, in which the columns are located above the underground reservoir, and modular, in which the fuel storage containers are spaced with columns.
Many enterprises with a large number of their own vehicles locate a fueling station on their territory for their needs.
A mobile gas station is a tank truck chassis with one type of liquid motor fuel.
And the last, recently spread type of gas station is a container gas station.
Gas stations of this type are used in small towns, for refueling departmental vehicles, and in the summer - for personal vehicles.
Container type gas stations
To install a container gas station, it is not necessary to carry out excavation work, arrange complex foundations and fuel drain wells, and install tanks to collect emergency fuel spills. But, nevertheless, any container gas station is manufactured in strict accordance with the requirements of fire safety standards. The fuel storage container is made in the form of an all-metal structure, divided into compartments by fire walls.
Fuel dispensers are located in the fueling compartment. In separate compartments, there is a fuel storage tank and an explosion-proof transfer pump for filling it with fuel.
Technological equipment can be installed on the hatch of the tank, and then on top of the container there is a fenced platform for servicing this equipment. There are design options for KAZS, in which the equipment is located on the side in a special technological compartment.
Common to all gas station designs is the ground location of the tank and the placement of columns in the container.
Complete set of container gas stations
A container gas station consists of two or more containers: a fuel storage container (one or more) and a control container or control tower, which is also called an operator.
The control container can be designed not only for the placement of the operator’s workplace, but also for the rest room or warehouse. The control room is equipped with lighting and internal wiring, it houses the speaker control devices. The package may include a power cabinet, laboratory or metrological equipment, speakerphone system.
Container filling stations can be designed for fuel from one to four types.
The capacity of the tanks, single-walled or double-walled, can be from three to forty cubic meters. The Lukoil oil company orders a container-type gas station with a capacity of 40 cubic meters. meters with the possibility of operation in climatic conditions of the Arctic and the Far North.
It would seem that the giants of the oil business do not need mini-gas stations, but the goals are different. Gazpromneft, a no less well-known Russian company, uses a small four-cube container filling station for its own needs.
Another oil giant did not stand aside. OAO Gazprom ordered filling stations for its own vehicles with the possibility of GSM-communication between the speaker and the operator.
Fuel storage container
Fuel storage containers are equipped with tanks of various capacities and different types: one-, two-, three- or four-section. Fuel dispensers can also vary in type.
At the gas station, double-walled tanks are used in which the firewall is filled with antifreeze or gas according to fire safety requirements, and a leakage monitoring sensor must be installed.
Technological equipment includes not only pipes through which the tank is filled with fuel, and fuel delivery pipes, metering pipes and hatches, upper level sensors, but also fire extinguishers, shut-off and breathing valves. The tank and pipes are made of high quality steel, if necessary frost-resistant or stainless, with a thickness of 2 mm or more.
A single-walled tank with a spill collection tray can be used if the container gas station is located outside the village.
Fuel dispensers can be either single-arm, for example, “Topaz-511”, or two-gun, or even three-arm.
For example, for Gazprom, the gas station was equipped with an additional column for two types of fuel in the event of a main three-sleeve failure.
Optional equipment
As additional equipment in container gas stations, autonomous systems for various purposes can be installed.
Without the participation of the operator and the presence of external control systems, a gas filling system is installed in the gas station. A microcomputer, a reader of proxy cards (personal magnetic cards with information about the limit of fuel sold) and a keyboard are installed on each fuel dispenser, and it works autonomously. In this case, the column can be either single-arm or designed for several types of fuel.
The central computer in the head office processes the information coming from individual speakers using GSM-communication.
Fuel can be dispensed autonomously through terminals, which must be installed at a distance of at least three meters from the KAZS. Terminals can be both usual for bank plastic cards, and for limit cards for your own use, for example, an enterprise.
Additionally, at the request of the customer, fire extinguishing systems and level control systems in tanks are installed at container gas stations. For example, the Gazpromneft container gas station is equipped with a Buran fire extinguishing system and a Sensor type PMP level gauge. The level gauge allows you to measure the liquid level in the tank, its temperature, density and volume.
Container filling stations for Lukoil
Gas stations for one of the largest domestic oil companies were produced by approximately one project by several manufacturers. The whole KAZS network is intended for use as full-fledged mobile gas stations in the Far North and Western Siberia.
Fuel dispensers and tanks allow storing and dispensing three types of fuel: diesel, AI-80 and AI-92 gasoline at temperature extremes from -60 to +40 ° C.
Modern automatic systems monitor the filling of the tank, the state of stored fuels and their vacation.
KAZS are equipped with two two-sleeve fuel dispensers connected to the remote control via the RS-485 interface.
Factors affecting the price of KAZS
The manufacturer cannot pre-calculate the cost of each individual gas station. The prices for container gas stations depend on many factors, and today the market ranges from 160 thousand to 4.5 million rubles.
The main factor is the number of tanks and their volume. A tank with a volume of one cubic meter is designed for one type of fuel, and a volume of 40 cubic meters. m - three.
The next factor is the accuracy of the fuel metering system and its automation. The cash register, computer, special software, modern communications with the central office can be installed at gas stations at the request of the customer and, of course, affect the price.
Not all customers complete their gas stations with a separate control point (operator). And this is a separate container, and it affects the price very noticeably.
The price of KAZS of different climatic modifications differs . Not only are special frost-resistant steels used for the manufacture of the tank, often fuel heating systems are installed in the pipelines.
Options also affect the price of gas stations. Fuel dispensers may vary in design, type, installation method and manufacturer.
Even approximately the same speakers produced in Germany, Italy, Russia or China significantly differ in price.
Pump power, the presence of a level gauge of one design or another, accessories — these moments are also important and have an impact on the price.
Price, no doubt, is an important argument in choosing a gas station. But you still need to choose it by the quality of components and materials. These factors are much more important for the safe and long-term operation of a container gas station.