Tuesday, 21 October 2014

The Uses Of Containment Berms

By Estelle Larsen


Taken from berme, a word in German, it means an area or space that is elevated on a surface. It will act as borders between two other areas. It has been now used in English in terms of naming certain equipment.

A few industries utilize a certain kind of berm in terms of safety. Usually, the oil and electrical industries are using containment berms for most of their equipment or containers for hazardous chemicals. For transformer boxes, it becomes a catch basin under it in cases of leakage due to malfunction.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency in Spill, Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure, have specific guidelines for these industries to follow. So in order to maintain the safety of the environment. This is why equipment and methods are developed and placed in cases of spillage for various industries handling hazardous liquid chemicals.

For most of the transformers that are usually placed on the ground, it has a concrete barrier or the concrete berm. It is placed just beneath it but these materials are outdated. What they usually use now is a geotextile boom in order to absorb the spill and turns them to solid to block the flow of the leak.

Do not confuse yourself with a boom and a berm. Although both have the same function, they have different structure and versatility when it is used. A berm looks like an above ground pool where it is placed under any source or container that may have a possible spill or leak. These are secondary spill containment.

Various types are available. The portable berm, as it is called, is more convenient and versatile. It can conveniently be moved around under the source to make containing it easy. Assembly and non assembly berms are also available. It depends on the company and the guidelines they are following on what type of berms they should use.

A boom is another type of secondary spill containment that has a different structure and a slightly different feature as well. Instead of containing and catching the liquid like a pool, it absorbs it and like in some cases with the geotextile, it solidifies after absorbing. This is convenient when it is needed to place the boom over the area of the spilled liquid.

In cases of spill and oil leaks on various bodies of water, this can be highly convenient to use. Booms are known to be used most often when cleaning spills on the sea since it lets water pass through while absorbing the oil that is floating on the surface of the water. Although it comes with two types, the absorbent and the containment. So do not be confused between them. The material used is what differs them.

When choosing what kind of berms and booms, it is necessary to consider its durability and what materials they are made from. Engineered and designed polymer materials for the barriers are important The containers that are used and the setup should also be noted in order for them to provided with the right type of secondary spill containment. Take also into consideration the guidelines from environmental agencies and what they can suggest.




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