American Fruit Processors, located in Pacoima, CA was created in 1972 with juice manufacturing capabilities to support the needs of the rapidly changing food and beverage industry worldwide. With the acquisition of the Monster Energy Company in 2016, American Fruits and Flavors LLC (AFF) was formed. AFF specializes in the manufacturing of the finest fruit juices, concentrates, and hundreds of other unique fruit and flavor blends. As a part of its manufacturing process, AFF uses propylene glycol in their manufacturing process. Recently, AFF hired Alston Construction to build a new production location in San Fernando, California, which included an emergency overflow storage tank to address any glycol runoff. The 200,000-gallon overflow storage/containment tank was to be installed by Paulus Engineering who was hired to handle the utilities and site work.
After reviewing several different storage solution options, Brian Brown from Alston Construction selected a DuroMaxx® steel reinforced polyethylene tank solution manufactured by Contech Engineered Solutions to address the glycol overflow concerns. The 120-inch diameter DuroMaxx SRPE was particularly ideal in the tight site constraints. The selected location for the glycol storage solution was located just 22 feet from a four-story building with an active public street along the other side. Providing a lightweight but structurally efficient solution capable of meeting a HS-20 loading, the DuroMaxx® SRPE glycol storage tank was much easier to install than other alternative options.
Utilizing a slide rail system provided by Trench Shoring Company, the tanks were lowered into the bottom of a 240-foot-long, 20-foot-deep pit shored up by the engineered slide rail system which stabilized the surrounding area. After which the completed system was backfilled with another 9 feet of cover. The entire 436 LF, 120-inch diameter DuroMaxx® SRPE overflow tank with welded coupler (WC) joints provided 250,974 gallons of emergency storage intended to handle any of the propylene glycol safely and efficiently.
Vice President of Paulus Engineering, Rory Campbell, commented, "Contech is truly a company of Engineered Solutions, from the bidding phase to the installation phase, they were there every step of the way. designing and providing the most cost-effective storage method required for this project. The Contech team provided tweaks to the system, as needed, without delay. At the end of the day our client’s decision to go with Contech was the best decision they could have made."