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BUSINESS UNIT AE & ADV. NDT

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Acoustic Emission Testing (AT) on Flat Bottomed Storage Tanks

0. Introduction

The test is applied to find active leakage and/or active corrosion on the bottom sheets of flat bottomed
storage tanks. The described NDT-technique is based on the fact that these defects are sources of acoustic
emission. Therefore these sources can be detected by appropriate sensors and the position of these sources
within the plane of sensors can be obtained with the help of a location algorithm. If a leakage is blocked by
hardened storage product, sludge, corrosion product and the like or if a corrosion effect does not develop
any further, then the defect is inactive. Due to the physical basics of acoustic emission, inactive defects can
not be found with this NDT-method because no further degradation takes place and thus no acoustic
emission is generated by degradation processes, e.g. loss of bottom sheet wall thickness due to corrosion.

Experience has proven that sources of acoustic emission may originate also at positions near or even at the
roof (corrosion of floating roof sheets or drops of condensed product from the fixed roof onto the level of
liquid). If only one row of sensors near to the bottom is applied then these additional sources do affect
measurement and consequently the test result. To overcome this disadvantage it is strongly recommended
to use two rows of sensors. One row is mounted near to the bottom and another row of sensors is mounted
in appropriate vertical distance from the bottom row sensors. This measuring set-up allows to identify these
additional sources at higher positions and thus to omit a flawed test result.

1. Range of validity

The described testing technique is valid for all metallic storage tanks with flat bottoms up to a diameter of
105 m in the chemical and petrochemical industry. For testing of larger items pre-test measurements have to
be performed in order to assess the feasibility. The kinematic viscosity of the storage product shall be less
than or equal to 40 x 10-6 m²/s (= 40 cSt) for performing a leakage test without installing a water bottom.

2. Standards

EN 15856 NDT ― Acoustic emission ― General principles of AE testing for the detection of corrosion
within metallic surrounding filled with liquid
EN 1330-9 NDT – Terminology – Part 9: Terms used in acoustic emission testing
EN 13554 NDT – Acoustic emission testing – General principles
EN 13477-1 NDT – Acoustic emission testing – Equipment characterisation – Part 1: Equipment description

EN 13477-2 NDT – Acoustic emission testing – Equipment characterisation – Part 2: Verification of

operating characteristics
EN ISO 9712 NDT – Qualification and certification of NDT personnel – General principles

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3. Qualification of personnel

The minimum requirement for NDT personnel regarding qualification and certification in acoustic emission
testing (AT) according to EN ISO 9712 are as follows:

• AT Level 1 for performing the test

• AT Level 2 for evaluating the test

Training for performing and evaluating AT on flat bottomed storage tank is obligatory.

4. Amount of testing

The bottom sheets of the storage tank are tested 100 % including weld seams. Active corrosion is found at
the inner side and at the outer side of the bottom sheets as well.
The corrosion test is in compliance with the procedures and requirements according to EN 15856.

5. Testing equipment, complementary equipment

Couplant
Noise monitor (Vallen Systeme GmbH, Germany)
Hand held pyrometer
Attenuation element for HSU-Nielsen pencil lead breaks
Sensor (Vallen Systeme GmbH, Germany)
Preamplifier (Vallen Systeme GmbH, Germany)
Cables
Bandpass filter (Vallen Systeme GmbH, Germany)
Measuring system (Vallen Systeme GmbH, Germany)
Software (Vallen Systeme GmbH, Germany)

6. Time of test

The time of test has to be chosen properly in order to avoid negative effects due to extraneous noise. To
obtain a calm tank after operation has stopped (gate valve closed or/and blanking plate set, shut-off of
heating system, stirring propellers and all other installation for product circulation) a period of 24 hours as a
rule of thumb has to be taken into account. The higher the viscosity or the smaller the tank the sooner a calm
tank will be obtained. However, before the test is performed, the background noise level has to be checked.
After starting measuring data acquisition the environmental conditions have to be observed (rain, wind, sun,
…). The ideal conditions are: dry weather and no wind, diffuse sunlight or darkness. It has proven to be
advantageous when testing during night time.

7. Test preparation

The responsible person for tank operation has to receive a questionnaire to be filled in with details
concerning the client, the tank and the test to be performed. Based on these statements all further test
preparation is carried out.

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8. Filling level

In case a leakage test is ordered the following information has to be observed:

• The hydrostatic pressure of the storage product onto the bottom has to be usually equal to or greater
than 0,5 bar in order to activate the defect in terms of acoustic emission.
• The procedure to discriminate between leakage and corrosion (frequency based pattern recognition
applied on signal waveforms) gives best results with a hydrostatic pressure of the storage product
equal to or greater than 1 bar. Values less than 1 bar lead to decreasing discrimination power. Below
0,5 bar no statement regarding source mechanism being either leakage or corrosion will be given.
• Experience has shown that there might be defects of weld seams, which lead to active leakage only
when loaded by hydrostatic pressure above a certain level.

The minimum filling level for corrosion testing is usually not less than 2 m.

9. Sensor positions

The sensors have to be mounted on the tank shell, distributed equally along the tank circumference with a
maximum distance of 15 m. The first row of sensors has to be mounted at a level of approximately 1 m and
the second row of sensors has to be mounted exactly above the bottom row positions in a distance of
preferably 4 to 5 m depending on tank size. The minimum number of sensors per row is 6. Each sensor shall
have a minimum distance from a weld seam, reinforcement plate of man hole or nozzle of 20 cm. To have a
sufficient margin for the actual position, table 1 shows the number of required sensors in dependence of the
tank diameter based on a sensor spacing of 13 m.

The reference direction of the system of coordinates used for the location algorithm has to be chosen in
accordance with the client. The agreed position (e.g. man hole axis, nozzle axis, …) has to be unambiguous.
The orientation of the chosen reference direction has to be stated in the test report. The sensor positions are
then given with respect to the reference direction on the tank shell.

Table 1: Number of sensors for each row of sensors in dependency of the tank diameter D (m), S…required number
of sensors based on maximum sensor spacing of 13 m, the actual distance between two sensors shall not exceed
15 m.

D min D max S D min D max S D min D max S

0,0 24,8 6 49,8 53,8 13 78,7 82,8 20
24,9 29,0 7 53,9 57,9 14 82,9 86,9 21
29,1 33,1 8 58,0 62,1 15 87,0 91,0 22
33,2 37,2 9 62,2 66,2 16 91,1 95,2 23
37,3 41,4 10 66,3 70,3 17 95,3 99,3 24
41,5 45,5 11 70,4 74,5 18 99,4 105,0 25
45,6 49,7 12 74,6 78,6 19 -- -- --

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All sensor positions have to be accessible throughout the entire testing period (preparation, measurement,
demounting). If present, the thermal insulation has to be removed at the sensor positions (25 cm x 25 cm).
For best sound transmission from the shell to the sensor the protective coating has to be removed at the
sensor position (10 cm x 10 cm) to obtain a smooth metallic surface. The sensors have to be mounted at the
properly prepared positions by using the couplant and then each sensor has to be connected to one
measuring channel input by cables.

10. Background noise

The background noise level on every measuring channel has to be within acceptable limits to enable testing
with the standard measuring threshold. If the measuring threshold has to be set to a higher value, then all
actions taken to find potential noise sources have to be documented in the test record. The reason for a
higher measuring threshold is usually high acoustic emission activity. If the actual value of the measuring
threshold exceeds the acceptable limit then the test has to be judged as not feasible with the described NDT
technique under the given circumstances.

11. Sensitivity check

The sensitivity of the measuring chains has to be verified with the help of the Hsu-Nielsen source (pencil lead
break, 0,5 mm and grade 2H). The response of each measuring chain to excitation by pencil lead break
applied with the attenuation element in a distance of 3 cm to the sensor has to be of sufficient intensity. At
least four pencil lead breaks have to be performed and the measurements have to be recorded.

12. Speed of sound

The employed AE-system has a built-in electrical pulsing unit generating pulses on demand. The pulse may
be switched to any measuring channel. This generates an acoustic emission event at the respective sensor
position. The transient sound wave pulse propagates through the liquid storage product and excites the other
sensors. At least four sound wave pulses have to be sent through the tank from four different sensors,
preferentially with a difference in angular position of approx. 90°. From the recorded waveform data
(master-slave setting) together with the sensor position the speed of sound of the liquid storage product can
be calculated.

13. Sludge

Sludge has an influence on the sound propagation. There is a sound attenuation to be taken into account
within the region covered by sludge. The testing engineer has to raise the question for presence of sludge
within the tank at the meeting with the responsible test co-ordinator of the tank operator. Furthermore the
surface temperature has to be checked with the help of the hand held pyrometer for indications of sludge. In
case no sufficient sound transmission is given then the test has to be judged as not feasible with the
described NDT technique under the given circumstances.

14. Test performance

The minimum duration for acquisition of primary data (AE parameters and status data) as well as waveform
data is one hour. Due to high AE activity the total amount of waveform data may exceed 630 MByte. In such
cases it is allowed to reduce the waveform data acquisition down to 30 minutes but with primary data still
covering 60 minutes at least. In the course of the test the background noise has to be monitored
continuously. If on one or more AE channels the RMS-status of the measuring system exceeds the
acceptable limit then this has to be documented within the measuring file by adding a note. The period of
noise interference shall not be considered as part of the one hour measuring period, therefore it has to be
extended accordingly.

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15. Test result

The described NDT technique results in a statement regarding active leakage and/or active corrosion. The
mechanism of the found AE sources is determined by means of frequency based pattern recognition on
basis of the acquired signal waveforms.

16. Tank grading

The condition of the tested tank floor regarding active corrosion is characterised according to table 2, the
corrosion source with the highest activity rules the tank floor condition.

Table 2: Corrosion source characterisation according to its activity

events per hour source description

less than 10 no active source
10 to 19 low active corrosion source
20 to 39 medium active corrosion source
more than 40 high active corrosion source

The tank is finally graded according to the grading system shown in table 3.

Table 3: Grading system

source description grade recommended service period

no active source I 5 years
low active corrosion source II 3 years
medium active corrosion source III 1 year
high active corrosion source IV --
leakage IV --

The recommended service period duration refers to a period of time till to the next maintenance activities
(inside inspection, re-test with acoustic emission and the like). This recommendation is based on unaltered
service conditions like given in the period before and at the test. If the tank is assigned to grade IV then an
inside inspection to clarify the indications found with AE is recommended.

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17. Documentation

The test report states the following information show in table 4.

Table 4: Information to be documented within the test report

1) tank operator 11) amount of testing

2) site of installation 12) date of test
3) tank designation 13) measuring system
4) manufacturer 14) number of sensors
5) year of construction 15) sensor positions
6) serial number 16) measuring threshold
7) capacity 17) stock product
8) shell height 18) test result
9) diameter 19) source location results
10) filling level 20) source location map

Additionally the employed NDT technique and the grading system are described in general terms. Name and
signature of testing personnel responsible for performing and evaluating the test are given in the test report.

18. Safety regulations

The safety regulations of the client have to be obeyed strictly during the test performance on-site. This
concerns especially the personal safety equipment, requirements on measuring equipment and the working
permission. In every case the responsible test coordinator of the tank operator has to be contacted before
entering the tank yard and further actions like entering the tank roof. All activities at the tank are restricted to
the set-up of the measuring equipment. Thus, all other activities at the tank for test preparation are in the
responsibility of and shall be performed by plant personnel only.

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