Durapipe’e PLX pipework system is being used at Westmorland’s Gloucester Service Station, a £40m project to construct two new service stations on the M5 between J11a and J12.

Lynx Forecourt was tasked with delivering the project and for the pipework element of the build project, it turned to forecourt equipment suppliers, Berrys Fuelling Technologies.

Durapipe PLX was specified for the project as it could cater for all of the required pipework for such a large-scale project. With 11 fuel dispensing islands distributing petrol and diesel for supply to cars and lightweight commercial vehicles and diesel and AdBlue for supply to HGVs, a network of pipes needed to be installed to distribute the different fuels across the forecourt dispensing points.

Six underground storage tanks have been installed to hold the petrol, diesel and AdBlue fuels, Durapipe dual contained PLX was used to connect to the tank outlets and pump fuel to the dispensers.

Dual contained PLX Fill and Vent pipe has been supplied for the offset fill lines to improve flow and reduce UST fill time. PLX dual contained pipe was also used for the vapour recovery lines to safely transfer fuel vapour from the dispensers to the underground storage tanks, without fear of permeation into the environment or inappropriate release into the atmosphere.

Commenting on the project, Tom Hocking, sales director of Berrys Fuelling Technologies, said: “This is one of the largest forecourt projects we have been involved with and with such complex requirements we needed a pipework manufacturer and a system solution we could trust and we never considered anything other than Durapipe PLX.

“Offering a one-stop-shop solution for us, Durapipe PLX was able to fulfil all of the requirements for the job, meaning we only needed to deal with one manufacturer, which was a big advantage on this project.”

The northbound Gloucester service station was completed in summer 2014 and has seen 30,000 visitors a week pass through it. The delivery of the forecourt by Lynx Forecourt has been honoured by the Association for Petroleum and Explosives Administration (APEA), by receiving the accolade of ‘Fuel installation of the year’ at the annual APEA awards in November.

Work has now commenced on the £27m project to construct the southbound service station with Durapipe’s PLX system being installed to cater for the complete range of fuel supply requirements including product lines, fills, vents and vapour recovery.

Durapipe PLX is a below ground pipework product range specifically developed to fulfil the application needs of the forecourt market. The PLX range consists of both single wall and dual contained pipe and fittings and is designed for the safe transfer of liquid fuels and their vapours.

PLX is manufactured as a multilayer pipe utilising the superior mechanical characteristics of polyethylene as a base material, which enables the pipe to be permanently welded using electrofusion technology. Durapipe says PLX provides exceptional resistance to rapid crack propagation and long-term stress cracking, and it comprises a protective liner, which increases permeation resistance against many types of fuel blends, ensuring there is no permeation of fuel through the pipe wall into the environment.

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