Stability of fire barriers in tank farms in case of destruction of vertical tanks

Dimitry Korolchenko ,Younes Halloul

doi:10.1051/e3sconf/202126302045

Abstract

The issue of raising the level of safety of people, lands and property from potential threats in emergency situations in oil and gas storage and processing sites is particular concern to all levels of authority in countries, whether they are legal or executive authority. Study of the statistical data of incidents and fires at these equipment showed that the most negative effects for the damage to the company’s personnel, the population and the environment occurred during the quasi-instantaneous destruction of the vertical steel tank. The distinguishing features of such an accident are the complete loss of the integrity of the vertical oil tank hull and the release of all the liquid stored in the tank in the form of a powerful flow (breakout wave), which has a great destructive power, to the adjacent territory within a short term of time. The most important measures to reduce oil and petroleum products leakage in tank farms are reinforced earth dams and closed walls made of materials that are vulnerable to heat (important in the case of fire), Which led to many unsolvable cases. Recently, vertical steel tank with double walls of the “glass in a glass “type have been used in some oil tanks, in practice, they have not found wide application, which is due, first of all, it needs to allocate a significant territory for their arrangement, and its high cost.

Highlights

Tank farms are the main storage site for crude oil and petroleum products at refineries, Harbors, railway and airports [1]
When a tank fire happens, the event usually leads to million-dollar ownership losses and serious negative social impacts [3]
When the fuel-air mixture or stored fuel is inflamed, it may break out a large fire or big accident like explosion, while inflammable liquids for a relatively small the area of the oil tank farm leads to an intension fire hazard in like these industries[4]

Summary

Introduction

Tank farms are the main storage site for crude oil and petroleum products at refineries, Harbors, railway and airports [1]. Oil tanks are usually used as reservoir for large quantities of flammable chemicals in petrochemical and chemical products. Etc), while inflammable liquids for a relatively small the area of the oil tank farm leads to an intension fire hazard in like these industries[4]. Retardant flame and Fire walls are part of the building's inherent fire preservation systems [5] These wаlls can be used to unrelated high-value transformers in power plаnts in the event of a break in mineral oil tanks or ignition [6]. To prevent leakage and spillage of oil and petroleum products, two-wall tanks (double) have been used [8]. This analysis may be useful in illustrating what the manufacturing should learn from these accidents and be more alert in the future to stop as far as possible, any future major accidents

Analysis

Findings

Conclusions