API 653 – Section 650 Flash Card – 36 Questions

1. API 650 covers material, design; fabrication, erection and testing requirements
for aboveground welded steel storage tanks. Internal pressure allowed for these
tanks approximates atmospheric pressure. However, the internal pressures must
not exceed what criteria?

The weight of the roof plates (1.1.1)

2. What is the maximum temperature permissible for a 'standard tank' covered by

API 650, unless additional requirements of Appendix M of API 650 are followed?

200ºF (1.1.1)

3. Appendix A provides alternative simplified design requirements for tanks where

the stressed components, such as shell plates and reinforcing plates are limited to
a maximum nominal thickness of what (inches)?

1/2" (1.1.7)

4. Who is responsible for complying with all of the provisions of API 650 when a
new tank is built?

The manufacturer (1.3)

5. Required sections of this Standard become mandatory if the Standard has been
adopted by _________

Legal jurisdiction (3.11)

6. The lowest temperature considered in the design shall be assumed to be how

many degrees Fahrenheit above the lowest one-day mean ambient temperature of
the locality where the tank is to be installed?

15ºF (3.4)

7. Material used to construct a tank shall conform to the specifications of API 650.
May other material be used?

Yes, provided that the material is certified to meet all the requirements of
an applicable material spec listed in 650 and the buyer approves it. (4.1.2)

8. Shell plates for API 650 tanks are limited to what maximum thickness?

1.75" (4.2.1.4)
9. A tank is to be fabricated using ASTM A283 Grade C 'killed' material. The
maximum thickness of the lower two course plates is 3/4". The tank is to be
constructed in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. What Minimum Design Temperature could
be used without impact testing?

35ºF (3.4) and (Figure 4.2)

10. An impact specimen is removed from a 1.25" thick ASTM A516 Grade 55 plate.
Three impact tests are taken from the specimen. What average longitudinal
impact value must the test meet?

15 ft-lb (Table 4.5b)

11. Who specifies the design metal temperature, the design specific gravity, the
corrosion allowance (if any) and the design wind velocity for the AST?

The purchaser (5.2.2)

12. A tank is built from ASTM A537M 1 (C-Mn-Si) normalized, quenched and
tempered, killed fine-grain, reduced carbon and TMCP steel (Thermo-Mechanical
Control Processing). The welding is done by an automatic process. The purchaser
requires hardness testing of the welds. The tank diameter is 19.1m. How many (if
any) hardness test(s) will be required for one circumferential weld?

One every 30m (19.1*pi) = 60m, 2 hardness tests. (5.3.3.4)

13. A new AST is built. How far should the bottom sketch plates project beyond
the outside of the shell weld attaching the bottom to the shell plate? (These are
not annular plates)

2" (5.4.2)

14. Annular bottom plates shall have a radial width that provides at least how
many inches between the inside of the shell and any lap-welded joint in the
reminder of the bottom?

24" (5.5.2)

15. An AST is to be designed using API 650. The tank is to be 50-foot diameter and
16-foot high (two 8-foot courses). No corrosion allowance is required. The stored
liquid in the tank is a noncorrosive oil with a 0.90 specific gravity. The material is
ASTM A285 C. What is the required thickness of the bottom shell course?

16. An AST that is 100-foot in diameter is required by API 650 to have a minimum
nominal shell thickness of what (inches), even if the calculated thickness is less?

1/4" (5.6.1.1)
17. What is the minimum nominal width of shell plates (unless specified otherwise
by the purchaser)?

72" (5.6.1.2)

18. What allowable design stress should be used when designing a new AST if it is
constructed of ASTM A516 Gr70 plate?

25,300psi (Table 5.2)

19. The 1-foot method for calculation of AST shell thickness shall not be used for
tanks larger than how many feet in diameter?

200-foot (5.6.1.2)

20. Openings in AST tank shells larger than required to accommodate what size
flanged or threaded nozzle shall be reinforced?

To accommodate NPS 2 flanged or threaded nozzle (5.7.2.1)

21. How far must a reinforced NPS 10 nozzle be placed from the centerline of a
non-stress relieved 0.75" thick vertical butt-weld seam in the bottom course of the
tank? The nozzle is located 3-foot up from the bottom weld. The reinforcing plate
of the nozzle is 0.75" thick and it is welded with a 0.5" fillet weld around its
periphery, and the nozzle welds have not been stress relieved.

The greater of 10" or 8W (weld) 8W=(8*0.5)=4" Use 10" (5.7.3.1a) and

(Figure 5.6)

22. A new AST is built. The tank is to be used to store a product that causes stress
corrosion cracking (such as amine). Thickness of the bottom shell plate is one inch
(first shell course). The heat is applied to the welds, but only 1025ºF temperature
can be obtained. How long must this temperature be held on the bottom plate
welds to obtain the desired results?

3 hrs. (5.7.4.5)

23. An AST has a diameter of 125-foot. Its maximum operating height is 40-foot. A
30" manhole is installed in the tank. The corrosion allowance required by the
purchaser is 1/8". What is the thickness required for a cover plate on this
manhole?

11/16" + 1/8" (CA) = 13/16" (Table 5.3b)

24. Reinforcement for an AST nozzle is provided in two segments. How many 1/4"
diameter telltale holes are required?

Two (5.7.2.10)
25. A stiffening ring is placed on a tank. The ring is to be used as a walkway. How
far below the top angle of the tank should be ring be preferably placed?

42" (5.9.4)

26. What is the minimum thickness of roof plates on a new API 650 tank?

3/16" (5.10.2.2)

27. What is deemed sufficient to prove the quality of the plate steel furnished for
fabrication of an AST?

Mill test report (6.2.1) (Mill Certification, Mill Cert)

28. When fabricating a new AST, the edges of the welds shall merge with the
surfaces of the plate with what "tolerance specification"?

"Smooth" tolerance (7.2.1.4)

29. A new AST, 40-foot high by 120-foot diameter, is checked for out-of-plumbness
(top of shell to the bottom of the shell). The inspector checks API 650 and finds
the permissible out-of-plumbness must not exceed what value (inches)?

Height/200 (40*12)/200= 2.4" (7.5.2)

30. The bottom course of a new AST, 120-foot in diameter by 40-foot is checked 1-
foot above the shell-to-bottom weld for out-of-roundness (radius tolerance). What
is the maximum acceptable out-of-tolerance?

3/4" (7.5.3)

31. After construction of a new AST, who controls where the radiographic shall be
maintained?

The purchaser (8.1.8.2)

32. Where is the nameplate of a new AST attached?

Adjacent to a manhole (10.1.2)

33. What is the maximum tensile stress used for designing a small AST according to
Appendix A in API 650?

21,000 psi (A3.1)

34. What joint efficiency is used for designing a small AST according to Appendix A
of API 650?

E=0.85 E=0.70 when spot radiography is not used (A3.4)

35. What is the required nominal thickness of deck plates of external floating roofs,
unless otherwise specified by the purchaser?

3/16" (C3.3.2)

36. What is the minimum nominal diameter of a roof manhole on an AST's external
floating roof?

24" (C3.11)