This tank was built in 1976: it was losing gas constantly and could not keep the PSI in line. We completely reconditioned the tank, fixed everything that was wrong, replaced one of the two high-pressure safety valves, added a telemetry unit, and added a fill rack for their trucks. We also reconditioned the air-conditioning system to maintain the pressure in the tank. We used our five-part system for the installation. They did not have to lose any time whatsoever during our fix.

The tank had oil at the top, floating inside. It was not letting the telemetry system work properly; we had to run new lines from the bottom of the tank for the telemetry unit, to get it to work once again. We have installed numerous telemetry units in all different kinds of situations.

We overhauled the whole tank. It was built in 1976; all the insulation was gone or rotted out. In some cases, it was solid dry ice. We insulated the outside of the tank: this is a five-part process that we have developed. This unit had a problem with refrigeration. We redesigned the refrigeration unit so as not to pick up as much dirt. When we are doing this type of work, at no time do we stop everyday operation of the trucks, trucks being filled and suppliers filling the supply tank.

On Wednesday, we received a call about a leak in the bottom of a tank. We immediately notified the client that weekend repairs would begin on Thursday night, so they could fill all their trucks in the interim. When we arrived, we closed the other valves and eliminated what was left in the tank. Afterward, we cut out a 12x12" square of the outer layer of the tank, then chipped out the old insulation and solid dry ice. The inside tank was 3/4" thick: we cut the pipe out and ground the tank around the hole. We then pre-fabricated a new piece of metal with a new pipe on both sides of a hole in the middle. Subsequently, we welded our plate with three passes around, and reconnected the piping with a new valve. We began to re-pressurize the tank and dissolve the dry ice that was left in the bottom, when the pressure was high enough. We put 12,000 pounds of liquid back in the tank. The next morning, the tank was filled with 44,000 lb. of CO2. No time was lost.

During the night, a tank's pipes broke and lost all the CO2 in the tank. Aproximately 4 tons of dry ice was in the bottom of the tank; we had to replace all the schedule 80 pipe, move the refrigeration unit over, and replace the copper tubing. We started by pressurizing the tank with a truck that had a heat system and a pumping system; once we got the pressure up—little by little—in the tank, we put in 12,000 pounds of CO2, all the while checking leaks. Everything went well: we had it back online in 87 nonstop hours with 3 workers.