The traditional agricultural cycle involves a single growing season culminating in a single bountiful harvest each year. However, with the growing popularity of greenhouses and other artificial growing conditions, a technique known as light deprivation (light dep) has also come into fashion. In this technique, plants are tricked into thinking it is autumn by blacking out the light for a period of each day, thus forcing the plants into early flowering and maintaining that state over an extended period of time.

There are a number of techniques for blocking natural sunlight, but most involve the use of some sort of light deprivation tarp. Whether that tarp is manually pulled over supporting structures in an open field arrangement or automatically deployed in a sophisticated greenhouse system, the best tarps are woven, lightweight, breathable fabrics that allow for air circulation and temperature regulation. A high level of UV stabilization is also necessary.

BTL Liners offers light dep tarps made from our lightest weight reinforced polyethylene fabric. They can be fabricated in any size and finished in a variety of ways according to the preference of the customer. Our turnaround time is typically 24-48 hours—among the fastest in the industry! As always, all our tarps are 100% American-made from North American materials and are fully guaranteed. Call us today at (800) 280-0712 to place your order!

BTL Liners has an exciting oil and gas field services, energy, mining, and geotechnical industry trade show season coming up, where we will showcase our proprietary BTL and PPL liners, including our new ArmorKote coated products. BTL Liners manufactures pit and pad liners in the energy and mining sectors, liners for above-ground frac tank storage, our new Polar Cap Insulated Floating Covers, as well as more traditional products such as pond liners.

Both Michael Baron (michael@btlliners.com) and Jared Santoro (jared@btlliners.com) will be in attendance at each of these conferences, and as always, we will be conducting a drawing at our booth that features fine gifts from the state of Oregon! We look forward to developing new business relationships at each of these exciting events!

www.geosynthetics2013.com, April 1–4, Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center in Long Beach, CA, Booth #405

The theme for the Geosynthetics 2013 conference is “Geosynthetics for Water & Energy Challenges.” We’ll be looking at major new developments in geosynthetics technology in energy/shale gas fracking, emerging issues in mining containment, and other topics regarding geosynthetics in a wide range of applications, from landfills to ponds.

www.wbpc.ca, April 30–May 2, Evraz Place–Credit Union Eventplex in Regina, Saskatchewan Canada, Booth #tbd

The theme for the 21st Williston Basin Petroleum Conference is “New Energy Horizons” and covers opportunities in the Williston Basin and beyond.

www.dugbakken.com, May 29–31, Colorado Convention Center in Denver, CO, Booth #tbd

The DUG Bakken and Niobrara conference focuses on the Bakken, the emerging Niobrara and plays throughout the region.

www.dugeagleford.com, September 17–19, Henry B Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, TX,
Booth #tbd

The DUG Eagle Ford conference focuses on the Eagle Ford and emerging South Texas plays.

www.dugeast.com, November 13–15, David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, PA, Booth #tbd

The DUG East conference focuses on the Utica Shale and the Marcellus play.

BTL Liners is proud to introduce a significant new breakthrough to its signature line of products: Armorkote! Armorkote is a patented coating formula that provides significant benefits to our energy sector clients. Used in pit and pad liners for the oil and gas industries, above ground frac tank water storage, and in the Polar Cap Insulated Floating Covers, Armorkote is featured in our BTL-24, BTL-30 and BTL-40 products.

Armorkote is a protective coating that increases resistance to friction and abrasion, affords added protection against ultraviolet rays, and improves seam strength and tensile shear resistance. It also helps liners withstand wind whip and flex crack issues by maintaining pliability. BTL’s liners are used in the harshest weather conditions on Earth—from temperatures ranging from -85° up to 125°. Much like a protective moisturizer or sunblock for the skin, Armorkote helps prolong liner life and performance. Simply put, Armorkote makes BTL’s already superior quality liners exceptional.

To find out more about how BTL Liners can become part of your containment solutions, visit www.btlliners.com or call 1-800-280-0712. You may also email us at michael@btlliners.com or jared@btlliners.com.

Michael Baron, Senior Vice President of BTL Liners, spoke at the Intertape Polymer Group (IPG) corporate headquarters in Sarasota, FL, on January 8, addressing the company’s executive team, territory marketing managers, production engineers and production managers from across North America. Michael presented BTL’s vision, the growing demand for BTL’s products and services, as well as innovations and inventions for the oil and gas industries. Mr. Baron also discussed BTL’s philosophy about the importance of thoroughly understanding clients’ goals and objectives, solving problems for valued clients and building a long term business relationship with honesty, integrity, and character. Finally, Mr. Baron reviewed the custom fabricating benefits that BTL offers their clients.

IPG is the parent company of Engineered Coated Products (ECP), which manufactures reinforced polyethylene (RPE) liner materials for BTL, including their proprietary BTL-30 and BTL-40 products. These liners are used in the energy, oil and gas well drilling, mining, recreational, environmental and agricultural industries to create solutions to containment challenges. BTL fabricated 50 million square feet of containment liners in 2012.

Question:

Tell me more about your insulated floating covers—what kinds of successes have your customers experienced?

Answer:

We have shipped many truckloads of our insulated floating covers to sites across the U.S. and Canada! Our biggest customers are oilfield service companies, which require huge tanks for storing immense amounts of water to be used in the hydraulic fracturing process. In the photos here, two tanks—each 155′ in diameter and 12′ tall—were required to hold 3.2 million gallons in preparation for fracking. In order to improve the results of the process, fracking water is generally heated to about 70°F before it is injected down the wellhead. Tanks such as these are heated all winter long to maintain the desired temperature and to keep the water from freezing. Our insulated covers, which are covered in black material to harness UV energy from sunlight, provide a great advantage for retaining heat in these tanks.

In warmer weather, our floating covers continue to be useful to mitigate evaporation. Evaporation can be a problem when “produced” or contaminated water releases hydrocarbons into the air. The EPA seeks to limit such hydrocarbon releases, so solutions such as ours will play an important role in compliance as new regulations are enacted. Another advantage of our insulated floating covers is that birds are prevented from landing in the holding tanks; produced water is laced with hydrocarbons and other chemicals that could present hazards to wildlife. Normally, companies must install bird netting above tanks or in-ground impoundments, which is an expensive solution. Our floating covers help combat this issue while also fulfilling their primary purpose!

We are proud that oilfield service companies in the Bakken Formation of North Dakota and Alberta, Canada, as well as other shale plays across the U.S. and Canada, are now deploying our insulated floating covers. In addition to our covers, we provide other solutions to oil field service companies. Above-ground tanks, such as the ones pictured here, are lined with BTL-24 or BTL-30, and protected with geotextile underlayments. These types of tanks are one of the fastest growing components of the oilfield infrastructure. We are pleased to be providing liners and covers of this type to approximately a dozen companies, and we see oilfield services as one of our largest growth opportunities this year.