ABOVEGROUND

CONTENTS

 Introduction
 Classification of tanks
 Tank Foundation
 Tank Structure
 Floating Roof Tanks
 Tank Accessories
 Tank Erection
 BACKGROUND

 Tanks have been around since the beginning of hydrocarbon production.
Tanks vary considerably, in the type and size based on the type of products
to be stored and the volume involved.
 The failure of a tank can have several undesirable effects such as
endangering personnel, affecting the environment and interrupting the
Operator’s business.
 Companies therefore, require a consistent approach for assessing tank
integrity and maintaining compliance with industry and regulatory
standards, (that is community requirements). Such an approach must;
 Ensure tanks are not leaking and will not leak before next inspection.
 Reduce the potential for releases.
 Maintain tanks in safe operating conditions, and
 Make repairs and determine when replacement is necessary.
 INTRODUCTION

 The primary function of a storage tank is to store liquid substance.
 This liquid substance may be:
 Feedstock
 Finished products prior to shipping out to customers
 Unfinished petroleum components awaiting for further
- processing (intermediate)
- blending
 While in the storage tanks, these products may settle out undesirable
substances such as;
 Water
 Emulsions
 Dirt etc.
 This undesirable substances can then be removed through draw-off devices.
Products may also be mixed, blended and treated in storage tanks effectively,
using the large capacity available in these tanks.
 CLASSIFICATION

 Storage tanks are broadly classified into the following categories
 Atmospheric tanks
 Low-pressure tanks
 High pressure tanks / Pressure vessels
 Atmospheric Tanks: (Vertical)
 These tanks operate at or near atmospheric pressure.
 They are use to store / hold liquids that do not vaporize at ambient temperature.
 These tanks are further classified into different categories based on the roof type.
 Low-pressure Tanks: (Vertical)
 These tanks are designed to operate from atmospheric pressure upto 15 psig.
 These tanks are used to hold hydrocarbons having relatively high vapor
pressure.
 High pressure tanks / Pressure vessels: (Horizontal)
 These are vessels (mounted bullets / spherical) operating above 15 psig and are
treated separately from tanks by all codes, standards, and regulations.
 CLASSIFICATION BASED ON ROOF
CONFIGURATION

 Vertical storage tanks are further classified into the following types
based on the roof configuration,
 Open top tank
 Fixed roof tank
 Floating roof tank
 External Floating roof
 Internal Floating roof
 Fixed roof tanks are further divided into,
 Cone roof tank
 Dome roof tank
 External floating roofs are further categorized as,
 Single Deck type
 Double Deck type
 OPEN TOP TANK

 This type of tank have no roof and are used to store,
 City Water
 Fire Water
 Cooling Water
 FIXED CONE
ROOF TANK
 Fixed cone roof tanks are well known
type of storage tanks, constructed over
100 years ago and provided mostly
with self supporting roof structures.
 For large diameter tanks column
supported roofs are used.
 FIXED DOME
ROOF TANK
 These tanks have roof shape
similar to dome.
 These tank roofs can be self
supporting structure hence no
column supports are necessary.
FLOATING ROOF -
SIGNIFICANCE
 Emission of oil vapour
represents:
1. Considerable monetary loss
termed as “wastages”.
2. Harmful long-term
consequences to environment.

 In-order to reduce these

vapour losses Floating roofs
are used.
 In these types of roofs there is
no vapor space which greatly
reduces the emission arising
due to breathing loss and
evaporative loss
 TANK FOUNDATION

 Surface, subsurface and climatic conditions vary from place to place, so it is
not practical to establish design data to cover all situations. The allowable
soil loading and exact type of subsurface construction to be used must be
decided for each individual case after careful consideration.
 Some of the many conditions that require special engineering
consideration are as follows:
 site on hillsides – undisturbed / land filled
 sites at swampy or filled ground
 sites underlain by soils, such as organic clays that will settle over long period
and can cause lateral ground stability problem site adjacent to water courses
or deep excavation
 site exposed to flood water
 site in regions of high seismicity
 SAND PAD
FOUNDATION
 When subsurface conditions shows
adequate bearing capacity and that
settlements will be acceptable,
satisfactory foundations may be
constructed from earth material.
 For small tanks, foundations can
consist of compacted crushed stone,
screenings, fine gravel, clean sand, or
similar material placed directly on
virgin soil.
SAND PAD FOUNDATION

 RINGWALL
FOUNDATION
 Earth foundations with a concrete ring wall

large tanks, with heavy or tall shell and/or
self-supported roofs impose a substantial load
on the foundation under the shell. When there
is some doubt whether a foundation will be
able to carry the load directly, a concrete
ringwall foundation should be used.
 Advantages of concrete ring wall are:
 It provides better distribution of the
concentrated load of the shell to
produce a more uniform soil loading under
the tank.
 It provides a level, solid starting plane for
concentration of the shell.
 It is capable of preserving its contour
during construction.
 It retains the fill under the tank bottom and
prevents loss of material as a result of
erosion.
 It minimizes moisture under the tank.
 PILE SUPPORTED
FOUNDATION

 The pile-supported foundation
is used where the soil bearing
pressures are very low. They
are also used where high
foundation uplift forces are
encountered resulting from
internal pressure or seismic
loading.
PILE SUPPORTED
FOUNDATION

RELEASE PREVENTION
BARRIER

 API supports a general position of
installing a Release Prevention
barrier (RPB) under new tanks
during initial construction. An RPB
includes steel bottoms, synthetic
materials, clay liners, and all other
barriers or combination of barriers
placed in the bottom of or under an
aboveground storage tank, which
have the following functions:
 Preventing the escape of
contaminated material and
 Containing or channeling released
material for leak detection
 TANK STRUCTURE

 Major tanks
components are as
follows,
 Tank Bottom
 Tank Shell
 Wind Girders
 Roof
 Stairway
 TANK - BOTTOM

 Bottom / Floor design – Designed to, permit complete draw-off,
minimize product contact and to utilize maximum tank capacity
and prevention of corrosion of bottom plate.
 Two types of tank flooring are:
 Cone down bottom (Bottom down)
 Generally, bottom down is design for cone roof tanks. Centre of the flooring is
installed with drain pit. Water in the tank is accumulated in the pit (lowest
point of the bottom plate / floor).

 Cone up bottom (bottom up)

 Generally, this type of design is used for floating-roof tanks, 3 to 4 collector
pits are installed, close to the shell plate. Each of the pit is provided with a
water draw-off line. However, only one is connected to the closed water draw
system in PPMSB.
LAYING OF BOTTOM
PLATE

 The floor plating consists
of two layers of
arrangement,
 The inner layer – a series of
flat, rectangular plates with
lapped joints, fillet-welded on
the top side.
 The outer ring of annular
plates – which have a circular
outside circumference and
usually a regular polygonal
shape inside the tank.
 TANK - SHELL
Typical Tank Shell – General Tank Under Fabrication
Arrangement
 WIND GIRDERS

Primary Wind Girder
 Open Top tanks & Floating Roof tanks are provided with primary wind girders
in order to maintain roundness of tank when tank is subjected to wind load.
 The wind girder shall be in the form of a ring located on the outside of the tank
shell, approximately 1 m below the top of the uppermost shell course. The top
of the uppermost shell course shall be provided with a top curb angle.
 Wind girders may be constructed from formed plate sections, by welding. The
outer periphery of the wind girder may be circular or polygonal.
Secondary Wind Girder
 Tank may require secondary rings to maintain roundness over the full height of
the tank shell under wind and/or vacuum conditions.
 There are basically, additional stiffening rings. Continuous welding (full
penetration butt welds) shall be used for all connections of the secondary wind
girders.
WIND GIRDERS

 FLOATING ROOF

 Floating roof greatly reduces vapour
losses due to changes in climatic
conditions and during tank filling
operations.
 These losses are particularly significant
where volatile organic compounds are
stored in tanks which are subject to high
filing and emptying cycles.
 Floating roof works based on (buoyancy)
Archimedes’ principle, the object having
lower density floats on liquid having
higher density.
 As per API 650 floating roofs are
designed to float on liquids having
minimum specific gravity of 0.7
FLOATING ROOFS - TYPES


SINGLE DECK - EXTERNAL

 This type of roofs are used
in tanks upto 65 – meters
in diameters.
 The buoyancy required by
roof to float is provided
from outer annular
pontoon which is radially
divided into liquid tight
compartments.
DOUBLE DECK - EXTERNAL
 This type of roof consists of
an upper and lower steel
membrane separated by a
series of circumferential
bulkheads which are
subdivided by radial
bulkheads.
 This type of roof is favored
for tanks having diameter
< 12 meter and large tanks
> 65 meter.
 INTERNAL
FLOATING ROOF
 An internal floating roof tank has both a
permanent fixed roof and a floating desk
inside.
 The term "deck" or "floating roof" is used
in reference to the structure floating on
the liquid stored within the tank.
 The deck of an internal floating roof tank
rises and falls with the liquid level whilst
in full contact on the underside thus
achieving no vapor zone.
ALUMINIUM INTERNAL
FLOATING ROOF

 FLOATING ROOF
ACCESSORIES

 Seals
 Roof Drain System
 Pontoon Leg Support
 Emergency Drain
 Auto Bleeder Vent
 Rim Venting (Breather Valves)
FLOATING ROOF ACCESSORIES


 SEALS

 The space between the outer periphery of the roof
and the tank shell shall be sealed by a flexible device
that provides a reasonable close fit to shell surface
 Steel shoes with fabric or nonmetallic material used as seal or seal
components.
 Material shall be durable and shall not discolor or contaminate the
product stored.

 The main purpose of the seal is to prevent emission

of the stored liquid into surrounding atmosphere.
PRIMARY SEALS
 A rim seal, or in the case of a  Based on the configuration / position of the
two-seal system, the lower primary seal it is classified as follows,
(primary) rim seal, can be Liquid Mounted Seal
made from various materials Vapor Mounted Seal
suitable for organic liquid
service.
 The basic designs available
for external floating roof rim
seals are,
Mechanical (metallic)
shoe seals,
Liquid-filled seals, and
Resilient foam-filled
seals.
MECHANICAL SHOE SEAL

MECHANICAL SHOE SEAL
LIQUID / FOAM FILLED SEALS

TUBE SEAL – LIQUID FILLED SEAL

RESILIENT FOAM FILLED
SEAL

 LIQUID
MOUNTED SEAL

VAPOUR MOUNTED SEALS

 SECONDARY SEALS

 To further reduce the loss of stored liquid / comply
with strict emission laws a second / secondary seal
may be used.

vapour
barrier
WIPER SEAL
WIPER SEAL -
WITH VAPOUR
BARRIER
WIPER SEAL WITH ROLLER
ARRANGEMENT

 AUTOMATIC BLEEDER VENT

 Automatic bleeder vents are provided to vent the air
from under the floating roof when the tank is being
filled initially.
 They shall also open automatically just before the
roof lands on its supports, thereby preventing the
development of a vacuum under the roof.
 The capacity of the vents are based on the maximum
pumping rates.
AUTOMATIC BLEEDER VENT

 RIM VENTING & FOAM DAM

RIM VENTING:
 Rim vent shall be provided to prevent any excess
pressure in the rim space, as this might press the
shoe ring too tightly against the tank shell. Settling
shall be plus and minus 2.5 mbar.
FOAM DAM:
 Foam dams collect debris and therefore retain water
causing excessive corrosion of dam / deck joint, roof
annular and seal connections. The dam drain holes
should always unplugged.
 ROOF DRAIN
SYSTEM
 This system is used to
remove rain water
accumulated above the
Flexible Hose Type floating roof to the drain
near dyke wall.
 It is of the following
configuration,
 Flexible Hose Type
 Articulated Swivel Type

Articulated Swivel Type

 PONTOON LEGS

 Pontoon legs are roof
supports with which the
floating roof lands when it
reaches the lowest level
(while emptying the tank).
 The length of these
supports varies based on
the elevation of the floor
(since the floor may have
been coned up or coned
down during design).
 TANK ACCESSORIES

 MIXERS
 HEATING COIL
 FOAM SYSTEM
 COOLING WATER SYSTEM
 CATHODIC PROTECTION SYSTEM
 EARTHING AND LIGHTINING ARRESTOR
 FLAME ARRESTOR
 LEVEL INDICATORS
 TANK VENTING
 MIXERS

 Mixing equipment can be
installed in vertical tanks in
order to:
 Blend or homogenise
components and products,
including bitumen.
 Control tank bottom products -
usually for crude oils. In this
case it is not necessary to mix
the whole tank contents but to
create a flow pattern in the
lower part of the tank so that the
solids are kept in suspension.
 MIXERS


Flow Patterns for Sediment Removal

in Crude Oil Tanks

Flow Patterns for Blending,

Homogenising Side Entry Mixer
and Temperature Uniformity Duties
 TANK HEATING

 Products which require to be heated in order to facilitate
movement or loading into transport units need to be
heated to the minimum temperature that will ensure
economic pumping and loading.
 This may be achieved by providing:
 heating coils inside the storage tanks,
 electrical heating elements,
 suction and/or line heaters, or
 a combination of these heating methods.
TYPICAL HEATING COIL
ARRANGEMENT

 THERMAL INSULATION

 Thermal insulation is applied to storage tanks for the
following reasons:
 Heat conservation where heated products are being
handled. In such cases it is usual to insulate both the
shell and roof plates.
 To minimise evaporation losses as a result of solar
heat. In these circumstances it is usual that only the
roof is insulated. As an alternative to roof insulation,
floating covers may be considered for Class I products.
 For personnel protection - to prevent injury that may
result by coming into contact with hot surfaces.
 FOAM SYSTEM

 The foam system are used for fire prevention, control or direct
extinguishment of any flammable or combustible liquid fire within the tank.
 There are two types of systems employed in storage tank fire protection, viz.
 A Fixed System is a complete installation piped from a central foam station,
discharging through fixed discharge devices on the hazard being protected. Foam
proportioning components are permanently installed.
 A Semi Fixed System is an installation where the hazard is equipped with fixed
discharge device(s) which connect to piping that terminates a safe distance from
the hazard. Foam producing materials are transported to the scene after the fire
starts and are connected to the piping.
 In accordance with NFPA Standard No. 11, there are three accepted methods
of protecting cone roof tanks:
 Surface (Foam Chamber) Method
 Subsurface Method
 Portable Foam Nozzle and Monitor Method
FOAM SYSTEM – FIXED ROOF

FOAM SYSTEM – FIXED ROOF

FOAM SYSTEM – FLOATING
ROOF

FOAM SYSTEM – INTERNAL
FLOATING ROOF

PORTABLE FOAM NOZZLE AND
FOAM MAKER / FOAM CHAMBER
MONITOR

INLINE FOAM
INDUCTOR
 COOLING WATER SYSTEM

 Despite taking all reasonable
precautions as demanded by
governing standards, a fire in REVOLVING
an individual storage tank NOZZLE
will generate significant
radiant heat, which can
damage and / or ignite
adjacent tanks which would
not otherwise be directly
involved.
 A deep-seated fire in the MEDIUM
smallest diameter tank can VELOCITY
create major problems unless WATER SPRAY
cooling water is applied to its NOZZLE
close neighbours.
COOLING WATER SYSTEM


CATHODIC PROTECTION
SYSTEM

 Corrosion of Steel Storage Tanks
 Corrosion is the deterioration of metal due to reaction with the
environment. Corrosion occurs when;
 Areas with different electrical potentials exist on metal surface
 These areas are electrically connected
 Areas are in contact with electrolyte like moist soil in contact with
tank bottom. Water and sludge are the electrolytes for internal
bottom surface.
 Forms of Corrosion:
 General Corrosion leading to general metal loss and thinning
 Pitting due to localized actions ( metal loss may be
concentrated within relatively small area and other near area
may be unaffected)
 CATHODIC PROTECTION
SYSTEM
 Cathodic Protection Methods
 Cathodic protection is the technique for preventing corrosion by making entire surface of
the metal to act as cathode of an electrolyte cell. There are two methods commonly used;
 Sacrificial Anode
 Impressed current
 Sacrificial Anode System (Galvanic System):
 This system involves an anode buried in soil, but electrically connected to the structure
(cathode). The anode is thus corroded (sacrificed) and metal surface is protected. Metals
commonly used as anodes are magnesium and zinc ( cast or ribbon type). They are either
buried beneath the bottom are distributed around the perimeter of the tank.
 Impressed Current System
 This system uses Direct Current (DC) usually provided by a rectifier. DC flows from the
rectifier to the buried impressed current anode.
 Power source include a step down transformer (reduces AC supply voltage) and rectifying
element to provide DC output.
 Impressed current anodes are of graphite, steel, high silicon cast iron or mixed metal oxide
on titanium.
EARTHING & LIGHTINING
PROTECTION

 VENTING

 The Need for Venting Equipment
 Protect Tank Integrity when Pumping
In and Out
 Minimize Evaporation Losses (Cost
Savings)
 Accommodate Thermal Effects
 Overpressure Due to Fire Near Tank
(Emergency)
 Prevent Product Contamination
 Reduce Internal Tank Corrosion
 Comply with Clean Air Act Mandates
 Proper Vapor Transfer Control for
Low-Pressure Systems
Failure of tank due to Inadequate Venting
 FLAME ARRESTOR

 Flame arrestor is designed to stop the propagation of
flame from ignited flammable liquid vapours with low
flash points.
 They prevent flame propagation by absorbing and
dispatching heat thereby reducing the temperature of the
flame front preventing ignition behind the cell element.
 Flame Arrestor can be installed either vertically or
horizontally and is available in aluminium, carbon steel
or stainless steel.
 The cell element is available in stainless steel and special
materials are available on request.
TANK GAUGING – MECHANICAL
LEVEL INDICATOR


TANK GAUGING – RADAR
TYPE

RIM SEAL FIRE
PROTECTION
SYSTEM
 Rim Seal Fire Protection
System is a fully
automatic detection cum
extinguishing system. The
system is designed and
manufactured for
extremely fast detection
and extinction of rim seal
fires as per the
International Safety
Standards.
 RIM SEAL FIRE
PROTECTION SYSTEM

 To understand the complete working philosophy of the system, the system
can be divided in the following sub-systems:-
 Linear Heat Detection System.
 The Foam Based Extinguishing System.
 Fire Alarm Panel & Automation.
 The working of the detection unit is based on the principle of rate of rise in
temperature and maximum temperature beyond the pre-configured
parameters, which is sensed by means of a microprocessor based
intelligent evaluation unit. The Sensor element, i.e. the Stainless Steel /
Copper Tube, which is in non-pressurized state (ambient pressure only)
senses the rate of rise in temperature (pressure) and triggers an audio
visual alarm simultaneously activating the extinguishing systems. The
Advance Detection System is Decentralize and has Pre Alarm facility for
early warning.
 RIM SEAL
FIRE
PROTECTION
SYSTEM

TANK ERECTION -
PROGRESSIVE
ASSEMBLY AND
WELDING
 TANK ERECTION –
HYDRAULIC JACKING
 Some contractors employ a system of erection in which the
bottom plates are completed, the top course is erected on the
bottom plates, the roof framing and sheeting are completed and
a number of jacks are then assembled around the structure. By
means of these jacks, the completed top course together with
the roof framing and sheeting is lifted to a height sufficient to
insert the next lower course. The jacking method and the
supporting of the partly erected shell should have no adverse
effect on the roundness of the shell.
 The welding is completed at each stage of lift until all courses of
the shell plates have been inserted and the finished height is
reached.
 The final operation is the welding
of the bottom course to the bottom
plates.
HYDRAULIC JACKING METHOD