WITH current UK market conditions favouring anaerobic digestion plants for sustainable power, a West Yorkshire company has responded by bringing to the UK what it claims is the “most advanced and efficient German design of tank system”.
The tank system employs a stainless steel inner surface and galvanised steel exterior and is designed specifically for anaerobic digester installation. Using a patented design and construction method the tanks are manufactured on-site to create a smooth and uniform, corrosion-free inner surface and a continuous external ridge that provides the structural rigidity to allow for a 48-metre diameter tank to be erected without the need for additional external support, seals, panels or bolts.
Andy Shedden, European sales and marketing manager at BCI Process, is responsible for introducing the system to the mainstream UK market. He said: “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 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 perfect for an anaerobic digester.”
Such has been the demand that the company has invested in new purpose-built premises and has put all its installation teams through training, working closely with manufacturer Lipp Systems.
More than 3,000 Lipp tanks have been installed worldwide, the majority of which are in farming-related applications with a large number of European installations forming part of anaerobic digestion plants for local renewable power generation.
Image – Tanks are manufactured off site and have the structural rigidity to allow a 48-metre structure to be erected without seals, panels or bolts.
