Secondary Containment Options for Pre-Existing Flat Concrete Floor

[the1falconer]

I am looking at some options for adding secondary containment to an existing facility that stores oils/lubricants in bulk storage tanks. All of the tanks are kept indoors. The existing building does not have any secondary containment and the floor is all flat concrete. I do not need any assistance sizing the secondary containment. I am just wondering if anyone here has experience with adding a cost effective form of secondary containment for a similar situation that has worked well long term. It is not reasonable to empty and lift over 100 tanks to add a liner below them with some form of poly dike wall. Let's assume I only need 6" height for my containment walls to achieve adequate containment and only have 18" to work with between tank shells and the building walls. I'm considering anchoring and sealing angle iron to the floor. The seams would all be welded. Any thoughts or other suggestions? Thank you.

 

[MintJulep]

Perhaps something like...

 

[the1falconer]

MintJulep,

Thank you for the reply with the suggested search criteria. I did spend some time with google searches prior to posting the question. I was hoping someone on here would have some insight as to what has worked well for them or if there are certain products that they would avoid. For example, we have used the drive over pig systems at some of our locations to serve as containment in drive-thru areas between buildings. However, based on our experience they only last about 1 year in heavy traffic areas.

The application in my original post does not require drive-thru access, I was just using it as an example. There are some options that already have adhesives on the bottom. Maybe people on here have found they lose their seal after a short duration. I also don't want to spend $100/ft for some of these systems if in the end it's no better or more cost effective than simply adhering and anchoring angle iron to the floor. Thank you.

 

[StoneCold]

What about adding a floor drain trench all the way around the building with a sump and a pump. Then pump the liquid to another tank. Possibly outside of the building. You may need backup power for the pump. Or if you could set it up to gravity drain into a double walled undergound tank you could possibly avoid that.

Regards
Brad

 

[the1falconer]

Hi Brad,

This is a really good idea. It may not be the most cost effective, but there are several additional advantages that go along with this setup. Thank you for your input.

 

[LittleInch]

Could you use a concrete water stop - there seem to be many such flexible and rigid - I just googled "concrete water stoop for construction joints.

Just run a concrete saw cut of the right thickness, epoxy in the stop, roughen the concrete surface up a bit and then just build a concrete wall 6 inches high and say 6" wide around your tanks?
Or sandwich two bricks on their side., or two kerb lengths like this typically 3 ft long and interweave them around the water stop.

Then spray or paint on a resin or epoxy coat to seal it all.

Even a 6" high wall with liquid has a decent force on it so anyhting which is glued or stuck on proabbly won't seal after a while

Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.

 

[dhengr]

The1falconer:
Pay particular attention to people and equipment traffic and how this curb might be abused and damaged by any activities near it. At this stage, I think the angle iron idea will probably work best. Put the horiz. leg, with anchors, on the conc. slab to the inside to minimize tripping in traffic ways. Paint the angle iron all a bright (hazard) yellow. The angles could be pre-punched and used as a drilling template, but you still must know something about the slab rebars to minimize cutting them. 6x4, 7 & 8x4 and 8x6 angles should be fairly readily available, weighing 10 to 20 lbs./ft. or more. I would look for some sort of self-adhering gasketing material under and near each edge of the horiz. angle leg. Then, with the belt-and-suspenders thinking in mind, you might caulk the inside toe to the conc., because this is a joint which can be fairly easily inspected for any damage.

 

[Ron]

I would slot the concrete with a sawcut then epoxy set flat plate for the curb. You are limited with angle to the leg length. With flat plate, you can make it any width (height) you want.