Storage Tank Farms

Layout and Piping

By:

Amir Razmi

1
Storage Tank Farms
Layout and Piping

By:

Amir Razmi
About the publisher

Piping & Plumbing Academy is an organization standing for education of

people and make a happy life for them. The goal of this organization is
followed through on-line education and education contents are shared by
professionals from around of the world.

P&P academy is the home of people who are working in piping or plumbing, to
learn, ask and share ...

Follow us on : https://www.facebook.com/PPDacademy/
About the author

Amir Razmi is a chemical engineer who experienced

piping and plant design projects for many years. He
worked in fourteen engineering and EPC projects
from start to commissioning and start-up. His
business is related to refinery, gas and petrochemical
industry.

Now he starts to share his knowledge and experience in this field through
P&P Academy to taught people who like to learn from he.

To follow and stay in touch: https://www.facebook.com/AmirRazmiPage/

Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 3
Layout of Tank Farms .................................................................................................................................... 4
Spill containment ...................................................................................................................................... 4
Regulations of Tank Dike........................................................................................................................... 7
Access to Diked Area................................................................................................................................. 8
Drainage of Diked Area ............................................................................................................................. 8
Dike Arrangement and Tank Spacing ........................................................................................................ 9
Sizing of Tank and Dikes .......................................................................................................................... 11
Pump Location ........................................................................................................................................ 13
Nozzles and Tank Accessories ..................................................................................................................... 15
Manhole .................................................................................................................................................. 16
Input/output nozzles............................................................................................................................... 16
Draw off .................................................................................................................................................. 16
Sampling.................................................................................................................................................. 17
Level ........................................................................................................................................................ 17
Temperature ........................................................................................................................................... 18
Breathing and Safety Valves nozzles....................................................................................................... 18
Stair or Ladder......................................................................................................................................... 18
Tank Mixers ............................................................................................................................................. 19
Tank Heaters ........................................................................................................................................... 19
Vapor Recovery Nozzle ........................................................................................................................... 20
Fire Fighting Nozzles ............................................................................................................................... 20
Storage tank piping ..................................................................................................................................... 21
Pipe Support and Flexibility .................................................................................................................... 24
Differential settlement............................................................................................................................ 24
Storage Tanks Fire Fighting Systems Piping ............................................................................................ 27
Fixed Surface Systems ......................................................................................................................... 30
Seal Area Protection ........................................................................................................................... 30
Subsurface Foam Injection.................................................................................................................. 31
Bullet Tanks ................................................................................................................................................. 32

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Sphere Tanks ............................................................................................................................................... 34
References .................................................................................................................................................. 36

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Introduction
Storage tanks are used in several phases of the process plants. They can be used to store feed prior to its
use in the facility, as holding tanks for a partially process product awaiting further processing, or to collect
a finished product prior to its delivery or pick-up by a customer.

Petroleum industries are one of the most users of storage tanks. In these industries storage tank usually
placed within a common area of a facility known as a tank farm or offsite. Offsite will need from 75-80%
of the total plot area and the most area of offsite will filled by tank farm (Fig 1). Storage tanks come in
various shapes and sizes. Spherical tanks are used primarily for storing liquefied petroleum gases like
butane, methane, or propane. The larger tanks, used for storing liquid product, will have either a conical,
elliptical, open, or a floating roof. Floating roofs raise and lower to automatically adjust to the level of the
commodity in the tank. Floating roofs help reduce evaporation and prevent the buildup of dangerous
gases that often occur with flammable liquids.

Good arrangement of the storage tanks can save in land and cost of plant. In other hand, by consideration
a good nozzle orientation and good piping for these tanks operation problems will be reduced. In this
article we are going to review layout arrangement and piping of storage tank farms that are related
together closely.

Fig 1- A sample of ratio between tank farm area (Left) and process area (Right) in a 3D-
model of a Bitumen plant

3
Layout of Tank Farms
The two most important factors governing these area layouts are safety and economics. Any
comprehensive design must consider local codes and regulations, client specifications, topography,
adjacent process units, and neighboring commercial or residential property as well as maintenance,
operation, and constructability. To establish plot area for storage tanks the designer must have a fairly
good knowledge of tanks how they are designed and when to use what type as well as operation and
maintenance procedures.

It is recommended to locate the storage tanks and offsite in lower part when the plant is to be built on a
hilly site. Maximum safety to the greatest number of personnel working in the process units and offices
in the event of a major rupture is the first advantage and the most important it offers. The higher elevation
produces head for natural flow into product or rerun storage tanks, too. Soil removed from the hill top is
utilized as tank dike material or far leveling sublevels.

Containment of potentially dangerous liquefied natural gas spills is a significant concern to any operating
facility. Therefore, extreme safety measures are employed. Use of heavily insulated tank from concrete
containment and is buried in an earthen containment is one approach for this.

Developing a layout fix buried storage tanks in an existing chemical plant often process special problems.
It may not be possible or practical to move existing underground obstructions in the area in which the
tank must be located. One solution to this problem is to bury the tank above grade in a concrete
containment. Pumps, Maintenance access, and all appurtenances must be installed in the roof of the tank.

Spill containment
As a preventative measure, dikes are erected to contain major leaks or spills. Should a storage tank rupture
or suffer severe damage, a dike would prevent major contamination to surrounding areas. Dikes can be
earthen dams or concrete walls built around a storage tank at a height that would contain the entire
contents of the storage tank should a spill occur.

Because of the real risk of failure of storage tanks and primary piping systems, means must be provided
to contain the resulting spills. Containment may be a second tank wall around the vessel holding the liquid
or a continuous dike designed to hold all of the liquid stored in the largest tank Dikes may be constructed
of earth, steel, concrete or solid masonry (Fig 2). They may be square, rectangular, circular, or irregular in
shape, conforming to the natural terrain around them. Dikes may hold one or many tanks. NFPA 30 should
be consulted for matters that concern the diking of flammable and combustible liquids. For non-

4
combustible/flammable liquids, dike may be avoided, if leakage of liquids make no special problems for
tank and other facilities installed in area may be wet by leaked liquid. For example, water may be haven’t
dike if there was no electrical equipment that may be wet by water or there was no solid storage near the
tank contains soluble solids in water.

Fig 2-Steel Dike

One common design, is usually specified by designer, is to make the dike out of earth. Dike heights
typically range from 0.9 m to 1.8 m above interior grade. The width of the dike at the top should be a
minimum of 0.6 m unless it is designed to accommodate vehicular traffic. The dike slope must be
consistent with the angle of repose of the material; otherwise, industry dike slopes are usually for every
foot of dike height, the top of the dike is 0.45 m from its top edge (Fig 3).

5
 Fig 3- Dike Dimensions

Another dike design commonly found in restricted or right areas is the concrete wall. The location of
storage tanks often must be within the battery limits of a process unit, and earthen dikes are not practical
for this application. However concrete wall dikes are sometimes used where plot costs are higher or where
earth fill material is either expensive or just not available (Fig 4). Should it be necessary to store liquefied
gas close to a population center, double containment should be considered. This containment method
uses a circular concrete wall surrounded by a conventional earthen dike. It provides for complete spill
containment should the primary dike fail (Fig 5).

Fig 4- Concrete Dike

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Another method for fighting of fire in storage tank farms is application of foams. Although foam fire-
fighting systems are often supplied by companies specializing in fire protection, a basic understanding of
such systems is beneficial to a layout specialist. The three methods for foam application are exist (Fig 14):

28
Fixed Surface Systems
This application system is an effective method of foam fire protection for vertical, atmospheric cone roof,
internal floating roof, or opens floating roof storage tanks. For this application, discharge outlets are
commonly referred to as “NFPA 11, Type II foam Chambers”. Foam Chambers can be sized and installed
to provide either full surface fire protection, or seal protection only, when installed on floating roof tanks
with foam dams. Minimum number of discharge outlets is depending to tank diameter varies from one to
six for approximately 60 meter tank diameter. Each outlet connected to a nozzle equipped with a foam
chamber is installed at the top of the tank shell, above the fluid highest level. Chambers need to
inspection, and access from roof platform is enough for them. Foam line may be considered as a ring. Fig
15 illustrating a fire water ring and supply line in left and foam chamber in right.

Fig 15- Firewater Ring and Foam Chamber

Seal Area Protection

This method with foam dam, utilizing fixed discharge outlets, is used to protect annular seal area of open
top floating roof tanks. Because of design criteria for foam dams and number of foam chambers usually
specified by supplier therefore number of nozzles, size and arrangement of foam lines is depending to this
criteria. For example foam system has been designed with five nozzles, it is possible to supply foam
solution with one or two lines from one side or two sides of the tank with one or two rings. Every one of
these designs makes different piping layout. Fig 16 illustrated this system during a test.

30
Bullet Tanks
A bullet-tank piping layout is shown in Fig 17. Tanks are set at the lowest possible elevation to satisfy
pump head requirements. A catwalk is located across all two tanks to provide sufficient access to
operating valves and instruments. Liquid outlet piping to the pumps should allow for differential
settlement and line flexibility.

In case that bullet tanks has been used for storage of fluids that their boiling point is lower than ambient
temperature (like LPG), usage of dike is not required because of vaporization of fluid after any
containment.
Concrete Dike

Top Platform

Fig 17- Bullet Tank Piping Layout

When high-pressure bullet tanks are located close to a process unit, a protection berm is often used (see
Fig 20). Berm length is slightly longer than the width of the tank area, and the berm height is roughly equal
to the height of the tanks. These berms offer some protection in the event of an explosion.

32
Sphere Tanks
A typical piping arrangement for a high-pressure sphere is shown in Fig 19 containing process and
firewater lines in different elevations. Top platform provides access to relief and other valves and
instruments installed on top of the tank. Considerations for nozzles and accessories are very close to other
storage tanks that discussed on sections 3 and 4 of this article.

Layout factors for spheres include:

 Tank elevation should be kept low but not less than 1.5 m above grade.
 Ideally, each tank should have its own stairway, but in some cases it is possible to consider
common stair for two adjacent tanks.
 Valves should be installed as close as possible to all nozzles.
 Normally dike is not required because of low boiling point of stored fluids.

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Storage tanks are servicing many industries and non-industries and so that is important to
learn about how to layout them in the field and design connected piping.
Amir Razmi, the author, who is experienced engineer in oil industry, is describing a piping
and plant designer considerations in this book.

Piping & Plumbing Academy is an organization standing for education. The goal of this
organization is followed through on-line education while education contents are shared by
professionals from around of the world.

P&P academy is the home of people who are working in piping or plumbing, to learn, ask
and share ...

Follow us on : https://www.facebook.com/PPDacademy/