Bunding at Buncefield: Successes, failures and lessons learned

摘要

Buncefield is a major fuel storage and distribution depot located just outside Hemel Hempstead, some 40 kilometres north-west of central London. It was opened in 1968 and is the fifth largest oil depot in the United Kingdom (UK). Fuels are received from the coastal oil refineries via three separate pipelines. There are over 35 tanks on the site, ranging from 400 to 19,000 cubic metres capacity, located in nine concrete and two earth bunds. All the tanks are built of steel, above ground, to conventional oil industry standards with fixed and floating roofs.