In the event of an emergency, the Republic of Austria stores petroleum products in the storage tanks of the ELG Group. When such an event occurs, Klinger’s gaskets and valves ensure that the emergency supply runs smoothly.
This is documented in the Petroleum Stockholding Act 2012: Austria obligates itself to maintain oil reserves in case of an import supply collapse. The republic is expectd to sustain itself for up to 90 days with these compulsory emergency reserves. The “central stockpiling office”, Erdöl-Lagergesellschaft m.b.H. (ELG), operates tank and handling facilities in Linz, Lannach and Vienna-Lobau, and is responsible for ensuring the reserves are filled. As the backbone of Austria’s energy supply, ELG has been working with KLINGER Gebetsroither for years.
Fire-safe double block & bleed valves
“We use Klinger valves that have been reliable in service for 40 years,” says Otmar Hochreiter, site manager at the Linz depot. Approximately 200 ball valves bear the “Klinger” label, and at the customer’s request, the gaskets used are also produced by Klinger Gebetsroither. The high safety requirements come with operating a storage tank of this size also affect material requirements: to guarantee the maximum tightness, KHI ball valves in Double Block & Bleed design with a drain ball valve are used. Valves can thus be tested for leaks under pressure while still installed. They meet the fire safety requirements according to EN ISO 10497 (testing of valves – fire type-testing requirements) and are equipped with a pneumatic actuator that is placed in a safe position by a spring drive during power outages. “We are subject to the strictest safety and environmental regulations, and the technology prevents any form of oil leakage,”concludes Otmar Hochreiter.
Markus Fröller, who has been with Klinger Gebetsroither for 30 years and spent the last 15 of those as a technical consultant in the field, knows everything there is to know about the valves. For him, the cooperation with ELG is “a success story for both companies.” The partnership has also survived the use of valves from other manufacturers that were not satisfactory for ELG: “It was anything but pleasant when a valve started leaking within a year and we discovered a drip loss under a ball valve. Such things should not happen with a new valve, so we went back to Klinger products because they just work,” says Hochreiter. As with many things, this experience also had a silver lining: the partnership with Klinger was renewed and intensified, and leaks became a thing of the past.
Saving energy
ELG is also thinking about the future and pursuing alternative ways to save energy. Both oil storage and retrieval are energy-intensive processes, so pumps with more economical motors are being considered. “We save energy even in the smallest areas, starting with the lighting and heating of our buildings,” says Hochreiter. When asked about the post-fossil future, he explains: “ELG could also be called an energy storage company. The stockpiling and storage of pellets as an alternative source of energy can certainly be seen as realistic. There are also many other approaches, but the end of oil is still a long way off.”