Fitness-for-Service Assessment of Hydrocarbon Storage Tanks

Abstract

Storage tanks are widely used in the industry to store hydrocarbon products. Corrosion damage is considered to be a serious threat to the structural integrity of the industrial storage tanks if it occurs on the primary pressure containment boundary. Therefore, fitness-for-service (FFS) assessment of these structures is performed periodically in order to ensure the operational safety and structural integrity. In this paper, evaluation methods are proposed for FFS assessment of storage tanks undergoing corrosion damage. The proposed methods are shown to give reasonably accurate and conservative assessment of the remaining strength factor. The methods are demonstrated through an example and the results are verified by inelastic finite element analysis.