Large Oil Storage Research Articles

Emergency Capability Evaluation of Port-Adjacent Oil Storage and Transportation Bases: An Improved Analytic Hierarchy Process Approach

The large-scale storage and stable supply of oil products are essential for national energy security and economic development. As the economy expands and energy demands rise, centralized storage and supply systems become increasingly vital for ensuring the efficiency and reliability of oil product distribution. However, large oil storage depots present substantial safety risks. In the event of fires, explosions, or other accidents, emergency response efforts face stringent demands and challenges. To enhance the emergency response capabilities of oil storage and transportation bases (OSTBs), this paper proposes an innovative approach that integrates the improved analytic hierarchy process (IAHP) with the Entropy Weight Method (EMW) to determine the combined weights of various indices. This approach reduces the subjective bias associated with the traditional analytic hierarchy process (AHP). The emergency response capabilities of OSTBs are subsequently evaluated through fuzzy comprehensive analysis. An empirical study conducted on an OSTB in the Zhoushan archipelago quantitatively assesses its emergency preparedness. The results show that the base excels in pre-incident prevention, demonstrates robust preparedness and response capabilities, and exhibits moderate recovery abilities after incidents. These findings provide a theoretical foundation for reducing the likelihood of accidents, enhancing emergency response efficiency, and mitigating the severity of consequences. Practical recommendations are also offered based on the results.

Deformation and Stress Prediction of Tank under Uneven Settlement

Abstract The differential settlement of crude oil tank foundations can lead to deformation and stress concentration, posing significant risks to the safe operation of storage tanks. This study developed a finite element model for a large crude oil storage tank subjected to harmonic settlement to address the issue of non-uniform settlement around the tank. The model systematically varied the tank’s diameter-to-thickness ratio, height-to-diameter ratio, and the wind beam’s relative bending stiffness. The research examined the impact of these three factors on the maximum dimensionless radial displacement at the tank top and the maximum equivalent stress at the tank bottom. A predictive method was proposed for estimating the radial displacement at the tank top and the equivalent stress at the tank bottom under uneven settlement, offering valuable insights for assessing the integrity of large tanks in such conditions.

Oil storage and debrining process in insoluble sediment voids for underground salt cavern energy storage: An experimental study

Large salt cavern oil storage is an effective underground oil storage method, which has been widely used in the United States, Germany, and France. However, the insoluble impurity sediment particles at the bottom of the salt cavern will occupy plenty of oil storage space. To enhance the oil storage capacity, the sediment void oil storage (SVOS) method was proposed. The debrining process from the sediment void prerequisite of the SVOS. It will affect the feasibility of oil injection into the sediment void and the operation efficiency of SVOS. Thus, a self-made debrining device of SVOS was built, and the dynamic debrining process in the sediment void was investigated to explore the debrining process from the sediment void. Six debrining parameters (oil-brine interface change, oil injection rate, brine discharge rate, oil viscosity, the second oil injection quantity, and ground temperature) were proposed and considered. Two kinds of oils (diesel and petrolatum) were conducted in the SVOS debrining experiments. The experimental results showed that the debrining rate remained stable, and it was relevant to the oil injection rate and the interaction of oil and sediments. The average debrining rate of the initial diesel debrining, second diesel debrining, and petrolatum debrining were 2.5 g/s, 2.55 g/s and 2.40 g/s, respectively. The 50 °C of ground temperature sped the debrining rate of high-viscosity oil storage in the sediment void. The oil-brine interface kept balance from the macro perspective, and the oil did not penetrate the inner brine. The oil-brine interface drops ratio of the initial diesel debrining, second diesel debrining, and petrolatum debrining process were 0.586 mm/s, 0.629 mm/s and 0.592 mm/s, respectively. The oil in the sediment voids generated movable and immobile bubbles. The petrolatum flow in the sediment void was easier than the diesel due to the low viscosity at 50 °C. The research has a certain reference value for the development of underground salt cavern oil storage.

An improved Manson–Coffin model for fatigue life prediction of large crude oil storage tanks via environment temperature and surface roughness

An improved Manson–Coffin model for fatigue life prediction of large crude oil storage tanks via environment temperature and surface roughness

Experimental Study on Seawater Intrusion Law and Countermeasures within Island Underground Water-Sealed Oil Storage Caverns

Underground water-sealed oil storage caverns constructed in island environments is a promising approach for expanding oil storage caverns. However, few researchers have studied the risks of seawater intrusion and the distribution characteristics of intrusion interfaces in large underground water-sealed oil storage caverns in island environments. In this paper, we established a visualized physical simulation platform to investigate the characteristics and control measures of seawater intrusion in single fracture of rock masses within island underground water-sealed oil storage caverns. In addition, the effects of the excavation of caverns, the distance between the cavern and coast, fracture width, seawater level, oil storage stage, water curtain, and water injection pressure were evaluated. The results show that excavation of oil storage caverns carries the risk of seawater intrusion. Specifically, reducing the distance between the oil storage caverns and the coast, increasing the fracture width, and raising the seawater level all contribute to accelerated seawater intrusion into the caverns. However, the vertical water curtain can effectively inhibit seawater intrusion, and increasing the injection pressure of vertical water curtain can avoid the risk of seawater intrusion into the caverns. The research results provide an experimental basis for the study of seawater intrusion in underground oil storage caverns in island environments.

Fire hazard and risk analysis of large fuel storage tank in IOC terminal

Fires and explosions in large oil storage tanks terminal cause significant loss of property and casualties and are always the concern of the world. To have proper understanding and knowledge about tank fires in terminals a detail study has been done considering various factors like safe separation distance, thermal radiation intensity and deluge water requirement. This paper offers the study of fire hazard especially the radiative heat flux absorbed by adjoining storage tanks. Large storage tanks fire has significant amount of energy release and causes strong thermal radiation to the properties and structures nearby. The thermal radiation intensity has been determined by providing safe separation distance recommended by various standards along with its permissible thermal radiation level for adjoining tanks. The calculated amount of mass flow rate of water required ranges in between 0.09 and 0.23 l/m2s which significantly varies from the recommendations of different code. However, by not ensuring required amount of water as a protective measure to safeguard the target tanks will put its integrity in doubt.

Improved solid radiation model for thermal response in large crude oil tanks

In a crude oil tank farm, a fire in a large crude oil storage tank can spread to its neighbouring tanks due to thermal radiation causing wall rupture. To better understand the thermal radiation of tank fires and the thermal response of their neighbouring tanks, a semi-empirical radiation model is proposed in this paper. The model takes into account the smoke generation and its effect in reducing thermal radiation, as well as the variation of flame temperature and emissivity along the flame axis. Compared with existing models, the model is able to predict the radiant heat flux of the flame more accurately, and this advantage becomes more pronounced as the diameter of the pool fire increases.Using the improved model, the effect of different crude oil contents on the thermal response and failure time of the storage tank under the action of thermal radiation was innovatively explored by numerical simulation. An in-depth analysis of the failure time was performed, and an empirical equation was derived to provide a reference for fire emergency management of large storage tanks.

Seasonal characterization, sources, and source-specific risks of PM2.5 bound PAHs at different types of urban sites in central China

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have been extensively investigated in China. However, most previous studies only focused on specific locations. Here, we conducted field studies simultaneously to explore the seasonal characterization, sources, and source-specific risks of 16 PAHs in four polluted cities in China. Similar seasonal Σ16 PAHs variations are observed in all four sites with relatively high values in winter and low values in summer and the ratios of Σ16 PAHs between winter and summer range from 2.7 to 4.4. From summer to winter, the extent of PAH increase outpaces that of PM2.5 increase resulting in significant increase of ∑16 PAHs/PM2.5 in winter. Five potential sources were resolved by PMF: (1) coal combustion (32–52%); (2) vehicle emissions (19–29%); (3) evaporation (9–26%); (4) coke oven emission (11–15%); and (5) biomass burning (5–13%). The highest fraction of evaporation is found in the Luoyang site due to the presence of many petrochemical plants, the largest oil refinery in Henan and large oil storage tanks. The coking factor contributes the largest proportion in Anyang site because of many out of date inefficient coking facilities. The source-related risks in four sites are all higher than the USEPA guideline value (1.0 × 10−6) except for biomass burning. The largest total risks are observed at Luoyang site, slightly higher than those of other cities. Our results suggest that the PAHs still need to be concerned due to the complexity of sources and source emitted risks in different type of cities, and specific source control strategies should be target in different regions.

Rock Stress Measurement Methods in Rock Mechanics—A Brief Overview

The current brief review paper on rock stress measurement methods is very crucial factors in mining, civil infrastructure, geothermal energy, nuclear underground disposal, large underground oil storage caverns, etc as well as in geology and geophysical area. Measurement of in situ rock stress is a very challenging and difficult quantity and not possible to measure directly. Measure the deformation or displacements or hydraulic factors by perturbing the rock and converting the measured quantity into rock stress. There are two main categories for measuring methods: direct and indirect methods. The most common methods of direct in situ stress techniques are briefly described including advantages, disadvantages and limitations. Moreover, authors included the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for rock stress measurement methods.

Application of Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) Technique in Monitoring the Deformation of Large Oil Storage Tanks

Application of Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) Technique in Monitoring the Deformation of Large Oil Storage Tanks

Hydrogeological model for underground oil storage in rock caverns

For underground engineering, hydrogeological conditions of the engineering site are usually complicated, and a fine hydrogeological model is the basis for the accurate analysis of groundwater flow fields. A 3D fine hydrogeological modeling method applicable to large underground engineering was proposed in this study, which was mainly composed of data preprocessing, initial model establishment and model calibration. The modeling method adequately considers the complexity of geometric parameters and the non-uniformity of the spatial distribution of physical parameters in the geological zone. The boundaries of the model were determined based on independent hydrogeological units. The hydrogeological model is calibrated based on the monitoring data and supplementary investigation information. The 3D fine hydrogeological modeling method has been successfully applied to a large underground water-sealed oil storage engineering under construction. The groundwater level, water inflow and flow directions in four typical construction stages were used as the calibration information. Based on the fine hydrogeological model, the flow analysis was conducted to assess the containment properties of the oil storage caverns during operation. The feedback analyses of the buried depth of underground engineering and the permeability reduction ratio of the grouted zone of caverns were carried out. Through flow analyses, the complex geological conditions had obvious influence on the groundwater flow field, and the hydraulic connection between the oil storage and the river boundaries was obtained. The permeability reduction ratio of the grouted zone of caverns in this engineering was from 18% to 45%. The analysis results showed that the oil storages met the requirements of containment properties during operation. The 3D fine hydrogeological model is helpful to accurately analyze the groundwater flow field for underground engineering, and can provide scientific guidance to the design, construction and operation of underground water-sealed oil storage engineering.

Covering Effect of Metal Cube on Fire Surface in Case of a Large Oil Storage Tank Fire

본 연구는 대형 유류 저장탱크에서 발생하는 화재를 배경으로 한다. 기존의 소화약제는 고열에 의한 증발과 소포 작용으로 대량의 물과 소화약재를 필요로 한다. 탱크의 지붕은 유증기 억제와 산소의 차단을 목적으로 하나의 구성품으로 이루어져 있다. 작음 금속튜브를 활용한 실험에서 일정 비율로 화재표면을 금속큐브로 피복 한 후 온도를 측정하였다. 금속큐브의 피복 효과는 피복면적의 증가에 다라 온도가 낮아지는 변화를 확인 하였다. 금속큐브는 포소화약제의 단점인 증발 및 소포작용이 생기지 않는다.

Research on Structure Characteristics of Surrounding Rock of a Large Underground Oil Storage in Rock Cavern

A series of analyses have been carried out based on geological data uncovered during the investigation and construction of the large underground oil storage in rock cavern, including the geological causes of the joints, structure characteristics of the surrounding rock, and the correlation between rock mass structure and quality. As a result, some significant understandings and practical conclusions were obtained. First, the investigation’s standard technical methods: geophysical exploration and drilling, are effective and applicable in revealing the engineering area’s large-scale structure. In the cavern, however, it is challenging to fully represent the structural characteristics of the surrounding rock. As a result, it is recommended that the adit survey method be used to improve precision and accuracy during the investigation period. Secondly, the existence of noticeable differences in the structural characteristics of granite from different locations is confirmed due to the influence of geological background. Therefore, the statistical distribution of joints based on data collected from a location far from the cavern may not accurately reflect the structural characteristics of the cavern’s surrounding rock mass. Finally, the closer the joints are to the ground surface, the more densely distributed they are and the more complex their geological characteristics become. As a result, the water curtains and main caverns should be designed with similar hydrogeological conditions and buried depths. Finally, because cavern engineering prioritizes hydrogeological characteristics such as surrounding rock permeability, joints with good engineering geological characteristics, such as the dense fracture zone, should be prioritized during the investigation and construction phases. This study gives the typical characteristics of large-scale faults, secondary faults, main permeable structures, secondary structural planes, and other structures of different levels in the survey and construction periods. In addition, the analysis and research methods of various discontinuities are summarized, which can serve as a reference for the subsequent similar cavern engineering practice.

Acoustic Emission Data Analysis of Tank Settlement

The uneven settlement around the tank and the corrosion of the bottom are main factors affecting the safe operation of the tank, so it is necessary to monitor the settlement and corrosion of the tank in real time to prevent and eliminate the hidden danger in time. In this paper, the large crude oil storage tank is taken as the research object to carry out uneven settlement monitoring and acoustic emission dynamic detection. By analyzing the measured settlement data and acoustic emission characteristic parameters, the author explores the influence of tank settlement on acoustic emission signal of tank floor corrosion, so as to provide reference for the extension of service life of storage tank and anti-corrosion work of storage tank.

CONSTRUCTION AND OPERATION OF AN ENLARGED OIL STORAGE STATION

The article is devoted to the analysis of the construction and operation of a large oil storage facility. The article covers the construction and calculation of surface and underground oil storage facilities. The process of receiving and storing large volumes of oil and oil products is carried out at large oil storage facilities. The construction of this type of large-scale oil storage facilities is carried out on the basis of two plans. The first construction plan is the construction and operation of surface oil storage facilities. The article also includes a report on the loading and unloading of oil and oil products brought by rail for admission to large oil storage facilities. The report on the loading and unloading of oil and oil products imported by water was also considered.

Application Analysis of Oil and Gas Safety Active Protection System in the Sealing of Large External Floating Roof Tanks

In the use of large-scale external floating roof storage tanks, the application of sealing performance is very critical, which is related to the safety of storage tanks to a certain extent. In the practical application of storage tanks, it is found that the main cause of fire problems in large oil storage tanks with external floating roof is caused by sealing problems. Therefore, it is very important to deal with the sealing performance of large-scale external floating roof tanks when they are put into use. In this paper, the active safety protection system for large-scale external floating roof storage tanks is analyzed, and its application is analyzed, including its structural design, functional design and working principle design, and its specific application in XX project is put forward.

Numerical Simulation of Wave of Oil Storage Platform for Large Concrete Foundation

In this paper, the hydrodynamic characteristics of a large concrete foundation oil storage platform under wave action are simulated by using the three dimensional wave sink IHFOAM developed by OpenFOAM. It mainly simulates the wave high,the envelope diagram of the maximum pressure value, and the force characteristics of the platform such as the combined force and bending moment under two working conditions. And draw relevant conclusions, provide optimization suggestions for the design layout scheme, and provide reference for other similar structure calculations.

Energy loss analysis of the storage tank coil heating process in a dynamic thermal environment

Abstract With the increasing demand for crude oil reserves, storage tanks are being developed on a large scale, and heating energy consumption is gradually increasing. Hence, it is necessary to study energy utilization. The variable physical parameters of crude oil and dynamic thermal environment are considered to establish a coil heating theoretical model of a large crude oil storage tank. On this basis, according to the first and second laws of thermodynamics, the energy loss mechanism of the multiple links in the heating process is analysed. Moreover, the energy consumption evaluation index of the storage tank heating process is established, and the energy consumption mechanism accounting for the tank oil level, the coil heat flow density and the external environmental conditions for the heating process with different coil structures is proposed. The results reveal that the energy loss is affected by the external solar radiation and the dynamic change in the atmospheric temperature, which exhibits fluctuating and rising trends. The external heat loss discharged to the environment through heat dissipation is far lower than the internal heat loss of the tank. Among the different coil structures, an integral large vortex structure is formed for a serpentine coil, with the bottom coil acting as the power element. This large-scale vortex structure obtains energy from time-averaged flow through turbulent shear, which promotes the heat transfer process of natural convection. Additionally, each coil provides a certain buoyancy to the crude oil, and the heat absorption of the crude oil accelerates; thus, the crude oil has a high and stable effective energy utilization degree.

Wind-resistant optimization design of large storage tanks in island-type petrochemical parks

Due to the thin-walled wind-sensitive structures of large crude oil storage tanks, it is necessary to consider the wind load failure of oil storage tanks in coastal areas under strong wind conditions during the design process. Based on the finite element analysis software ANSYS\Workbench, the static structure analysis and buckling analysis of the 100, 000 cubic crude oil storage tanks are carried out. In order to solve the buckling failure phenomenon, a wind-resistant ring structure was optimal designed for the crude oil storage tank according to standards, so that the storage tank can withstand hurricanes and typhoons above level 12 with a wind speed of 137 km/h.

Research and verification of internal and external measurement methods of large oil storage tanks capacity based on 3D lasers canning

Nowadays, as an important tool for petrochemical enterprises to store and transport various petrochemical products, large oil storage tanks are highly praised by a large number of oil enterprises because of their characteristics of large capacity and stable storage. For the same storage tank, on the premise of elevation determination, the accuracy of the measurement results for capacity actually mainly depends on the accurate measurement of the inner radius of each circle plate. In this paper, a 10000m3 stroage tank T1 is selected to measure the inner radius by strapping tape method, total station internal measurement method and 3D laser scanner internal and external measurement method. Through data comparison, the accuracy of the above methods for measuring the inner radius of the first circle plate of storage tank is discussed and verified, and the difference of measurement results and accuracy between internal and external measurement of ten circle plates of storage tank by 3D laser scanner. It is concluded that the external measurement method of 3D laser scanner based on the principle of cloud to cloud splicing has poor result in tank’s inner radius measurement, but it is feasible based on the principle of target ball splicing.