At A Glance:
- Location : Daventry, Northamptonshire
- Client: Royal Mail
- Consultant: RPS
- Contractor: Buckingham Group
Products Supplied:
- Models supplied: VC425
- Factory fitted and tested with a 3 phase, 900mm Penstock valve and high level audible and visual alarm that links back to the main Penstock control panel
- Complete off-site built design ensures quick and hassle free installation on-site. No specialist confined space or Penstock installation experts required.
- Models Supplied: P550/1CSC, 2no. P300/1CSC, P065/1CSC, P500/1CSC, P600/1CSC
- A range of Puraceptors from across our range, from a 65 litres per second, up to 600 litres per second within a single unit (2.6m diameter up to 4m diameter).
- Full retention separators with Automatic Closure Devices for the higher risk HGV areas.
- Models supplied: 325C1/SC and 103C1/SC
- Bypass separators for the lower risk areas such as staff car parking.
- Models supplied: FP1C/SC
- 7,600 litre oil spill storage capacity to ensure full capture of a road tanker compartment.
- Includes the essential Automatic Closure device to close down the system in the event of a fault.
The Royal Mail DIRFT (Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal) parcel facility is Royal Mail’s largest automated parcel facility in the UK, processing over one million items per day. With the ‘Super Hub’ covering 53 acres, the warehouse area is a whopping 840,000 ft2 and will be serviced by around 1,600 vehicles that will arrive at the facility every day and it will also take advantage of the integrated rail terminal on-site.
The SPEL Penstock/Valve Chamber on this project was a great example of the huge benefits of an off-site built solution. Our production team are very experienced in fitting all types of valves and penstocks, ensuring that the Penstock/valve is fitted correctly. Trying to fit a large penstock into a concrete ‘built on-site chamber’ is very difficult as skilled labour and confined space labour is usually required, increasing cost and health and safety risk. An off-site built solution by SPEL removes these risks as the unit is supplied as a single piece GRP unit, ready to be placed straight into the excavation and backfilled. All quality control is expertly and accurately carried out within our controlled factory conditions. This specific Penstock valve was a 3 phase, 900mm Penstock which fed back to a control panel (supplied as part of the SPEL package) which could close the penstock via an actuator motor. SPEL Penstock/valve chamber are used for a huge number of pollutants (e.g. AdBlue, a range of chemicals etc.) that cannot be captured by a standard gravity treatment device (such as an oil separator).
This huge distribution facility had a very large outdoor area for HGV parking, manoeuvring and other areas where HGV’s may be present. This required full retention separators as the risk of a large spillage is increased when HGVs are present. SPEL supplied 6 full retention separators that were sized based on catchment area to ensure the whole site was protected against oil spillages.
A SPEL Puraceptor forecourt separator was also supplied to treat the on-site refuelling area, ensuring any potentially catastrophic spillage event is captured within the HR Wallingford tested SPEL Puraceptor. The 7,600 litre oil storage capacity of the SPEL Puraceptor forecourt separator is essential for refuelling/forecourt areas because road tankers are split into multiple compartments which are regulated to be a maximum size of 7,600 litres.
Finally 2no. smaller SPEL Stormceptor bypass separators were supplied for small, low risk areas (usually standard car parking areas). For these low risk areas it is deemed acceptable inline with BS EN 858 to treat what is commonly known as the ‘first flush’, the first 10% of the flow. This first 10% is the dirtiest because all of the pollutants that have built up since the last rainfall event are washed down the drain in this first flush.
