Mechanical integrity of atmospheric tanks

Abstract

Storage tanks are wide spread across all the process industries. They are used to store a wide variety of chemicals, which can be flammable, toxic and/or dangerous for the environment. It is straightforward to understand the importance of keeping their integrity and reliability, as any loss of containment could, in fact, lead to a severe process safety incident. With the objective to keep the product inside the tank as designed, this paper is organized in chapter reflecting the typical and logical steps to follow in the mechanical integrity plans for tanks. The first section will present the typical corrosion mechanisms and failure modes of the tanks' main components. The second step, once the phenomenon is well understood, is to try to prevent it, so some design criteria will be proposed. Once the design is selected, it's important to keep it efficient, this is why a chapter will be dedicated to the best in class inspection techniques. Finally, should a failure occur (the probability will never be zero by definition) it is important to identify the problem and rapidly address it via mitigative solutions. This is the object of the last chapter dedicated to the development of an inspection plan.