Petroleum Storage Tanks Research Articles

Geotechnical Disasters on the Waterfront

ABSTRACT The Hyogoken-Nambu earthquake hit Kansai area in the pre-dawn hours on January 17 1995. One of the worst affected areas was Kobe and its vicinity. Large scale damage brought on by the severity of the earthquake were observed due to soil failure, structural failure etc. Failure patterns have been classified especially for revetments, quay walls and petroleum storage tanks. Emergency restoration was undertaken to bring back various facilities to normal operations. Some typical which have been restored sections are discussed in this paper. These restored sections may provide information on various aspects of countermeasures that can be taken in waterfront areas.

Investigation and Remediation of Petroleum Product Releases from Residential Storage Tanks

AbstractReleases of petroleum products from leaking residential storage tanks are a growing problem in the stale of New Jersey. Approximately two releases per day have been reported to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Product releases may cause aquifers to become contaminated, may affect surface water, or cause vapor problems inside households. As of 1992, there arc no federal or state regulations pertaining to the maintenance and monitoring of residential petroleum storage tanks. Regulations are essential for protecting drinking water supplies. The regulations must address installation procedures, lank materials, monitoring, and tank location.

Observations on New Proposals for Assessing how well Unsaturated Polyester Glass Laminates Withstand Petrochemical Environments

The chemical resistance of glass fibre laminates to petrochemical environments has to be evaluated before they can be adopted for use in petroleum storage tank applications. In this paper, the behaviour of isophthalic polyester glass laminates in the revised CEN test liquid, proposed in the draft CEN Standard, is compared with the corresponding behaviour in unleaded petrol, super unleaded petrol, diesel, and EEC Mixture (composition B). The chopped strand mat (CSM) laminates were tested under single-sided contact conditions with these liquids and with their vapours for 1000 hours at (50±1)°C, using the apparatus and procedure specified in the draft CEN Standard. Changes in the surface profile and percentage retention of flexural properties after exposure are reported.

Point‐of‐entry treatment of petroleum contaminated water supplies

ABSTRACT: Contamination of individual wells in rural areas from leaking petroleum storage tanks poses unique problems for regulatory agencies, utilities, and potentially responsible parties. A potential solution is the use of point‐of‐entry (POE) treatment techniques. Results indicate POE systems using aeration followed by granular activated carbon (GAC) are a viable, cost effective, short‐term solution while ground water remediation is performed or an alternate drinking water supply is secured. Selection and design of POE systems should consider variations in water usage and contaminant concentrations. Iron and manganese did not affect POE system performance at the ten sites studied. However, iron precipitation was observed and may pose problems in some POE applications. Increased concentrations of nonpurgeable dissolved organic carbon consisting primarily of methy‐t‐butyl ether (MTBE) and hydrophilic petroleum hydrocarbons were found in the raw waters but did not affect volatile organic chemical (VOC) removals by aeration or GAC. Microbial activity as measured by heterotrophic plate count significantly increased through four of the ten POE systems studied. Reliability of the POE systems will best be achieved by specifying top quality system components, educating POE users, and providing routine maintenance and VOC monitoring.

Observations on New Proposals for Assessing how well Unsaturated Polyester Glass Laminates Withstand Petrochemical Environments

The chemical resistance of glass fibre laminates to petrochemical environments has to be evaluated before they can be adopted for use in petroleum storage tank applications. In this paper, the behaviour of isophthalic polyester glass laminates in the revised CEN test liquid, proposed in the draft CEN Standard, is compared with the corresponding behaviour in unleaded petrol, super unleaded petrol, diesel, and EEC Mixture (composition B). The chopped strand mat (CSM) laminates were tested under single-sided contact conditions with these liquids and with their vapours for 1000 hours at (50±1)°C, using the apparatus and procedure specified in the draft CEN Standard. Changes in the surface profile and percentage retention of flexural properties after exposure are reported.

Ground‐penetrating rada

The theory and applications of digital Ground‐Penetrating Radar were discussed at a 5‐day seminar held at the China University of Geosciences in Wuhan, People's Republic of China, in April. Cohosted by the Department of Applied Geophysics and Canada‐China Geoscience, more than 60 senior geophysicists, engineers, technical specialists, university professors and researchers attended.Focus of the meeting was the expanded uses of the new deep‐penetrating fully digital PulseEKKO, which is gaining wide acceptance around the world. Attendees showed intense interest in this new and unique technology. Applications covered were groundwater and mineral exploration; engineering, construction and toxic waste site surveying; tunnel and underground mine probing for potential geological hazards, blind ore zones, karst cavities and solution pathways; and locating buried objects such as petroleum storage tanks, unexploded bombs and archeological remains.

Development of a Standard, Pure‐Compound Base Gasoline Mixture for Use as a Reference in Field and Laboratory Experiments

AbstractIn recent years, leaking underground petroleum storage tanks have become a major environmental concern. Federal, state, and local agencies are making efforts to assess, control, and remediate petroleum product leaks. Because petroleum products are mixtures of many compounds and the composition frequently changes, there exists a need for a standard reference mixture that can be used as a basis for comparison in the study of fluid transport properties in porous media and to evaluate leak detection devices. The proposed standard presented here retains the most important liquid and vapor properties (such as vapor density, air diffusion coefficient, and basic chemical constituency) of gasoline mixtures. It also reduces the complexity of the mixture to make it an acceptable standard for routine use in laboratory and field experiments.

UNDERGROUND STORAGE TANK CORRECTIVE ACTION TECHNOLOGIES

ABSTRACT Of the estimated 1.4 million underground petroleum and chemical storage tanks in the United States, between 100,000 and 400,000 may leak. The average cleanup cost is estimated by industry sources at $70,000, but corrective action may cost more than $1 million if water supplies are affected. Leaks can occur for several reasons, the most common of which is corrosion of the tank or associated piping systems. To detect leaks, a tank monitoring program can use any of four methods: (1) volumetric (quantitative) leak testing; (2) qualitative leak testing; (3) inventory controls; and (4) environmental effects monitoring, in which wells outside the tank are tested. Response to an underground storage tank leak takes two forms: the initial response to control immediate impacts, and permanent corrective measures. To be effective, the initial response technologies should be in place within hours of the discovered release. Such action usually consists of removing any remaining product in the tank and minimizing immediate risk to public health and the environment. Permanent corrective action focuses on site characterization and assessment to determine the need for further action, on calculation of transport rates, on assessment of the hazard to the environment and public, and on collection of data for selecting and designing further corrective actions.

Underground Storage Tank Monitoring: Observation Well Based Systems

AbstractA growing number of state and local governments and petroleum‐related companies require the use of release detection systems for underground petroleum storage tanks. This has resulted in a confusing array of commercially available petroleum product detection devices, many of which have not been extensively field‐tested. These systems, which are installed in ground water observation wells, vapor wells or U‐tubes, include hydrocarbon‐detecting paste, bailers, interface probes, electrical resistivity sensors, thermal‐conductivity sensors, hydrocarbon‐soluble devices, hydrocarbon‐permeable materials and vapor detectors. This paper describes the available state‐of‐the‐art technology for leak detection and the application for which each system is best suited.

Control of atmospheric emissions from petroleum storage tanks.

Control of atmospheric emissions from petroleum storage tanks.

Use of epoxide compounds for sealing riveted joints in petroleum storage tanks

Use of epoxide compounds for sealing riveted joints in petroleum storage tanks