International Robotic Tank Solutions

In-Service API 653 Internal & External with

Robotic Tank Floor Cleaning & Inspection

Generic Procedure
Date: May 2016 Version1.0
 IRTS Robotic Department
Revision: 1.0
Issue Date: May 2016

Inspection Technique: In-service Robotic Tank Inspection

Description: Generic Procedure for In-service Robotic Tank Inspection

In-Service Tank Inspection & Cleaning Systems

IRTS’s In-Service Inspection and Cleaning services are built around the application of state-of-the-art and
field-proven robotic cleaning and Non-Destructive Testing Systems and the experience of individuals that
have successfully completed this application on over 600 Tanks globally as described in API 653 Para
6.4.1.2. The experience and robotic systems have evolved over the past 15 years and are currently in use
by major oil companies and utilities throughout the world.

This service is part of a comprehensive suite of solutions for economical on-stream Aboveground Storage
Tank (“AST”) inspections and cleaning (See Figure 1). The IRTS MICROPLUS UT pulser is world
renowned for its accuracy when used in an immersion configuration and is the core around which the IRTS
On-stream Non-intrusive AST Robotics (ROBOTIC) is built. Together with the extensive experience in
planning, implementation and analysis of sampling data by IRTS the ROBOTIC system is the state of the
art in robotic technology and meets API 653 guidelines as well as industry environmental and safety
regulations.

In-service Robotic Inspection and RBI:

Tank owners are faced with increased regulation and competing economics of expensive and potentially
dangerous inspections. To minimize the amount and cost of inspections needed while assuring that the tanks
keep working within their safety envelope, the ROBOTIC. system offers a solution to the dilemma by
making an assessment and assuring mechanical integrity of atmospheric storage tanks, while keeping costs,
downtime, safety risks, and environmental impacts to a minimum.

Many regulatory and corporate best practice guidelines with regard to inspecting ASTs are based upon API
principles. When applying RBI principals to API 653, we also have to consider; materials and corrosion
monitoring, design vs. operating conditions, codes and standards, quality of QA/QC, maintenance and
inspection programs, history of incidents, modifications and repairs, and hazardous properties of the
contained fluid.

While API 653 allows for flexibility in the inspection frequency, it does not give specific guidelines. API
RP 580 provides us with the missing dimension to the code requirement for application of RBI to the
inspection of atmospheric storage tanks. The recommended practice was developed over a 6-year period,
concluding in 2001. API RP 580 supports API 653 with detailed broad-based guidance and criteria;
describing what RBI is, key elements, and how to implement a program. As a result of this effort, API 653
approves the use of non-intrusive inspections such as the ROBOTIC submersible robots, which use the
acquired data to calculate the corrosion rate, remaining useful life, and the next recommended inspection
interval under circumstances where appropriate expert engineering oversight is provided.

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 IRTS Robotic Department
Revision: 1.0
Issue Date: May 2016

Inspection Technique: In-service Robotic Tank Inspection

Description: Generic Procedure for In-service Robotic Tank Inspection

Figure 1 – A selection of Non-Intrusive Inspection Systems available through IRTS

IRTS 1.0 (Issue Date: May 2016) Page 3 of 12
 IRTS Robotic Department
Revision: 1.0
Issue Date: May 2016

Inspection Technique: In-service Robotic Tank Inspection

Description: Generic Procedure for In-service Robotic Tank Inspection

In-Service Tank Inspection & Cleaning Systems

IRTS TM’s In-Service Inspection and Cleaning services are built around the application of
patented, state-of-the-art and field-proven robotic cleaning and ultrasonic testing (“UT”)
systems. These systems were developed over the past ten years and are currently in use
by major oil companies and utilities throughout the United States and the world.

IRTSTM provides a comprehensive suite of solutions for economical on-stream

Aboveground Storage Tank (“AST”) inspections and cleaning. IRTS TM’s On-Stream Tank
Inspection System use the latest technology and meet API 653 guidelines as well as
industry environmental and safety regulations.

In-service Robotic Inspection and RBI:

Tank owners are faced with increased regulation and competing economics of expensive
and potentially dangerous inspections. To minimize the amount and cost of inspections
needed while assuring that the tanks keep working within their safety envelope, has
developed a system that offers a solution to the dilemma – help assess and assure
mechanical integrity of atmospheric storage tanks, while keeping costs, downtime, safety
risks, and environmental impacts to a minimum.

Most all regulatory and corporate best practice guidelines with regard to inspecting ASTs
are based upon API principles. When applying RBI principals to API 653, we also have to
consider; materials and corrosion monitoring, design vs. operating conditions, codes and
standards, quality of QA/QC, maintenance and inspection programs, history of incidents,
modifications and repairs, and hazardous properties of the contained fluid.

While API 653 allows for flexibility in the inspection frequency, it does not give specific
guidelines. API RP 580 provides us with the missing dimension to the code requirement
for application of RBI to the inspection of atmospheric storage tanks. The recommended
practice was developed over a 6 year period, concluding in 2001. API RP 580 supports
API 653 with detailed broad based guidance and criteria; describing what RBI is, key
elements, and how to implement a program. As a result of this effort, API 653 approves
the use of non-intrusive inspections such as submersible robots which gather UT floor
data. These systems use gathered data to calculate the corrosion rate, remaining useful
life, and the next recommended inspection interval under circumstances where
appropriate expert engineering oversight is provided.

IRTS 1.0 (Issue Date: May 2016) Page 4 of 12

 IRTS Robotic Department
Revision: 1.0
Issue Date: May 2016

Inspection Technique: In-service Robotic Tank Inspection

Description: Generic Procedure for In-service Robotic Tank Inspection

1. Methodology
There are many phases to an in-service tank inspection and cleaning program. These include Pre-Qualification
and Proposal Scoping, Plant or Terminal On-Site Briefing, Rig-Up, 100% Screening, Bottom Plate
Quantification, Cleaning, Shell Wall/ Roof Inspection, Rig-Down, External API 653, and Analysis and
Reporting. The following activities occur within each phase:

A. Pre-Qualification and Proposal Scoping

i. The Client with our support will determine the scope of the project.
ii. The Client will provide specific tank and product information.
iii. Material Safety Data Sheet (“MSDS”), sample analysis and sediment profile is to be
provided.
iv. Contractor provides the Proposal for the clients review and acceptance.
v. The Client submits a Purchase Order corresponding to and accepting the Proposal and
Standard Terms and Conditions.
vi. The client agrees on the project schedule and support to be provided by client and/or third
parties.
vii. A Site Specific Safety Plan and Risk Assessment is developed for client’s review.

B. Plant or Terminal On-Site Briefing

i. Team and equipment arrive at the client facility.
ii. Required safety training is completed by inspection personnel.
iii. Equipment safety review is completed, including all required PPE.
iv. Plant and terminal support requirements are confirmed to be in place.
v. Appropriate work permits are issued by the client safety department.

C. Roof Safety Inspection

i. Visual inspection and UT thickness readings of the roof plates from the tank
exterior are performed. This is localized to the area around the manway unless an
API 653 inspection is specified.

ii. Tank Operational Restrictions such as blocked manway, piping and or other
limitations may require an additional risk assessment, method statement or
evaluation of equipment to complete the inspection. Manway should be at least
24 inch diameter.

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 IRTS Robotic Department
Revision: 1.0
Issue Date: May 2016

Inspection Technique: In-service Robotic Tank Inspection

Description: Generic Procedure for In-service Robotic Tank Inspection

D. Rig-Up
i. If required by the Site Specific Safety Plan or Customer’s internal policy, the tanks are
isolated per clients Lockout/Tag out Procedures.
ii. The equipment is spotted adjacent to the tank.
iii. The required tank data is uploaded into the software display system.
iv. The client personnel open the roof man way(s) and inspection personnel prepare the robot
for deployment into the tank. When a Nitrogen purge is required, the man way is purged
after deploying the robot. Once enough umbilical is installed to allow the inspection to
begin, the man way is covered and the nitrogen is pumped into the void to eliminate the
threat of combustible gases accumulation. The nitrogen pressure must meet and maintain a
certain limit to allow any power to be applied to ROBOTIC.

E. Cleaning Process - (Optional)

i. Robot is lowered into the tank and pumping operations begin, as the robot will pump
between 1 and 2 bbls per minute into client supplied frac tanks or alternative storage.
ii. Frac tanks will be taken by client to their sludge processing area where full frac tanks will
be discharged of contents via client’s available apparatus.
iii. Client will continuously ferry emptied frac tanks back to the tank cleaning site for re-fill
by the robot.
iv. The sludge will be pumped out of the tank to the point that the client confirms that a
satisfactory level of cleanliness has been achieved.
F. Floor 100% Screening (Optional)
Depending upon the criticality of the tank, and the clients’ requirements, a screening process
may be specified to provide intelligence to the Floor Inspection Scan Plan. Here, screening
tools such as Acoustic Emission and Short Range UT may be deployed to provide as near to
100% floor screening as the geometry and technology will allow. The results of the screening
will then be used to provide intelligence to the ROBOTICnavigation to increase the attention
assigned to high risk areas.
G. Floor Inspection
i. Where possible visual internal inspection will be conducted with video data stored for
client reference.
ii. The technicians navigate the robot across the tank bottom along a pre-planned path to
perform a quantifiable UT inspection of the tank floor. The number of runs depends on the
Standard Operating Procedures or the amount of data required. The floor UT sample
points are collected from accessible areas of the tanks, excluding locations covered by

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 IRTS Robotic Department
Revision: 1.0
Issue Date: May 2016

Inspection Technique: In-service Robotic Tank Inspection

Description: Generic Procedure for In-service Robotic Tank Inspection

heating coils or other obstructions. Additional UT scans may conducted where the visual
inspection identifies corroded areas on the floor.
iii. Periodically, sample data is reviewed while on site to ensure data quality. The collected
set of data is reviewed and analyzed off site.

H. External inspection of the tank according API 653 – (Optional)

Visual Inspection (VT): Visually inspect the overall condition of the tank. This includes plates,
corrosion, coating, welds, appurtenances, gauging, presence of cathodic protection,
foundation, secondary containment, stairways, nozzles, grounding, sumps, anchor bolts, wind
girder, support columns, etc. API 653 provides recommended practices for performing an
external in-service inspection. Final scope as per client but may include:

i. Ultrasonic Thickness (UT) Measurements and Recording either manual or automated

corrosion mapping/TOFD weld inspection.

ii. Perform UT measurements of the tank shell, roof, and nozzles. UT measurements shall
be taken around the first course and on the upper courses accessible by stairways unless
automated inspection is requested in which case robotic UT will be remotely deployed to
conduct corrosion maps and weld root/HAZ preferential corrosion surveys. The UT
readings will be used for documentation, shell/roof thickness acceptability, and if
applicable, remaining life calculations.

iii. When site allows, Photographs are collected of adequate resolution to display the area of
interest with a descriptive caption. These document the general condition and vicinity of
the tank, field identifications/markings of the tank, access points, secondary
containment, general overall construction, and discrepancies found.

iv. API 653 Appendix C, In Service Inspection Checklist inspections will be performed.

v. Mapping: As-built mapping of shell and roof plate orientation. Stairways, man ways,
appurtenances, vents and other significant tank details shall also be included.

vi. Settlement Survey and Evaluation: A shell and floor edge settlement survey shall be
performed to identify edge settlement, differential settlement, and/or planar tilt. The
results of the evaluation shall be reported and the acceptability of these results shall also
be made. A graphical representation of the settlement shall be included in the report. The
tank will be evaluated for out-of-roundness as well.

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 IRTS Robotic Department
Revision: 1.0
Issue Date: May 2016

Inspection Technique: In-service Robotic Tank Inspection

Description: Generic Procedure for In-service Robotic Tank Inspection

vii. Coating: A coating assessment shall be made by the inspector(s). The inspector(s) shall
be familiar with coatings, but if significant or complex coating issues are present the
contractor shall provide a NACE certified coating inspector. The NACE inspector shall
only be included at the request of the client.

viii. Secondary Containment: Visually inspect containment and assess the general secondary
containment condition including direction of water runoff drainage. Note the presence of
cracks, settlement, and deterioration. Record condition and need for repairs, if required.

ix. Tank Appurtenances: The tank nozzles, man ways and other appurtenances shall be
examined for adequacy and applicable standard compliance of wall thickness,
reinforcement, weld spacing, and corrosion allowance. Tank accessories such as relief
valves and level gauges shall be examined for general condition. Document location of
relief valve(s) and nameplate data. Shell nozzles and reinforcements shall be ultrasonic
thickness tested for determination of minimum required thicknesses, corrosion rates, and
remaining life. Visually inspect the tank skin valves for any signs of leakage and
document the manufacturer, class rating, type of valve and if motor operated valve
(MOV). Include manufacture model number and serial number for both valve and its
actuator.
x. Level Alarms/Water Draw-Off/ATG Systems/Vents: Identify methods/systems for level
alarms, water draw-off, ATG, and venting systems. Gather operability information from
onsite personnel. General condition and system functionality shall be reported.

I. Rig-Down
i. The robot is removed from the tank, cleaned and/or decontaminated per the Operating
Procedure.
ii. Final site inspection and clean-up are performed.

J. Analysis and Reporting

i. Data is received from the field, logged, and assigned to UT Level III certified personnel
for data analysis, review and comments.
ii. Tank diagrams and floor thickness tables are generated in a draft report.
iii. If an API 653 is specified by the Client, An inspector reviews the draft report and
provides an interpretation of the contents in line with of API 653 guidelines.
iv. A final report is issued in both paper and electronic formats and includes the following:
a. CAD layout of the tank bottom and/or map of the UT data points.
b. Screening results if requested
c. External API 653 if requested

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 IRTS Robotic Department
Revision: 1.0
Issue Date: May 2016

Inspection Technique: In-service Robotic Tank Inspection

Description: Generic Procedure for In-service Robotic Tank Inspection

d. The location of each measurement and thickness reading from Robotic UT. Here, the lowest
measured wall thickness and the lowest predicted wall thickness from the statistical
extrapolation will be provided and used to give the corrosion rate and the Remaining Life.
e. Tank Floor Undulation survey if requested
f. Recommended next inspection interval.
g. Tank life expectancy.

*Inspection interval and life expectancy are calculated using state of the art statistical evaluations of
the acquired data as per API 653 Para 4.4.5.2. The inspection data along with the statistical analysis
can be incorporated into an RBI (Risk Based Inspection) program which becomes part of the formal
report to be given to the client.

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 IRTS Robotic Department
Revision: 1.0
Issue Date: May 2016

Inspection Technique: In-service Robotic Tank Inspection

Description: Generic Procedure for In-service Robotic Tank Inspection

2. General Operational Requirements

Certain documentation is required from the client prior to mobilization and requires that
certain worksite and equipment requirements be met for the duration of service(s).

A. Documentation required prior to agreement of PO

1. MSDS for product(s) stored in tank(s) to be inspected must be provided.

2. Tank drawings for all tanks to be inspected must be provided.
3. Prior Tank Inspection Reports if applicable
4. The client must provide the results from a sample analysis to include a)
depth/estimated volume of sludge, b) viscosity, and c) chemical composition of
product(s) stored in tank(s).
NOTE: If the product is water without contaminants then chemical analysis and MSDS is not
required.

B. Equipment

1. Inspection personnel will carry basic safety equipment in accordance with the Site
Specific Safety Plan. This includes “fresh air equipment”, though it will be the
responsibility of the client to provide the fresh air cylinders. Any additional safety
equipment will be supplied by the client at no charge.
2. A crane, qualified crane operator and rigging are to be available and provided by the
client. A crane is required to hoist the Robot equipment to the roof and back down
following the inspection. Maximum lift load will be 2,500 lbs.
3. The client will be responsible for moving the equipment to the different sites adjacent
to all tanks to be inspected. For larger tanks there will be multiple staging sites for
each of the tanks.
4. The client is responsible for providing the equipment and a location for
decontamination of the equipment and for managing the disposal of any resulting
contaminated material. NOT REQUIRED for Water Tanks
C. Worksite & Tank Conditions

1. The temperature of the product must be less than 120° F or the boiling point of the
product (whichever is the lowest) during the entire inspection process.
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 IRTS Robotic Department
Revision: 1.0
Issue Date: May 2016

Inspection Technique: In-service Robotic Tank Inspection

Description: Generic Procedure for In-service Robotic Tank Inspection

2. Man way cover must be removed prior to the inspection team’s arrival on site.
Manway diameter should be checked prior to deployment and be at least 20”.
3. If required, scaffolding must be erected prior to the team arriving on site.
4. The customer is to supply all equipment for receiving and processing of sludge
removed from the tanks. (Optional)
5. Liquid nitrogen Dewars if needed (similar to Praxair microbulk systems), or another
nitrogen source, and manifold will be provided by customer. (Optional)
6. Vehicle access within 25 feet of the tank must be available.
7. There must be clear access to the sides of the tanks(s) and a minimum of 20 inch
diameter roof man way for the deployment of the ROBOTIC system.
8. There must be a minimum of 20 feet of stored product during the inspection of the
tanks. For tanks with floating roofs, the product level should be as high as possible.
The higher the roof, the faster the ROBOTIC equipment can move in the storage tank.
During the cleaning process the tanks must be near full so as to overcome excess head
pressure.
9. Roof conditions must be sufficient to support the equipment and personnel. It is the
responsibility of the client to assess roof conditions assuring roofs can handle the
weight. Customer must supply plywood to spread the weight if conditions merit it. As
a general guideline Plywood will be required to spread the load when the roof
readings are below 0.15 Inches (3.31mm) but above 0.10 Inches (2.54mm). If the roof
thickness is below 0.10 Inches (2.54mm), scaffolding will also be required.
10. General utilities must be available.
11. All required permits must be provided by the Customer at the Customer’s own
expense.
12. We reserve the right to operate two (2) or more shifts per 24-hour period, seven days
a week, at its absolute discretion, in order to meet other client inspection schedules
and demands. The below estimate is based upon working 10 hour days.

D. Assumptions
1. The product is water with no hydrocarbons or volatile contaminants or other with
MSDS supplied
2. The roof is cone/EFR or as agreed
3. There are no internal obstructions to prevent the lowering of the robot from the
manway to the floor or for the maneuvering of the robot around the tank
4. Any excessive sludge levels that delay the project will be billable at the day rate.
5. There is or is not a requirement to remove the sludge from the tank
6. Any sludge present is not solid and can be pumped if required.
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 IRTS Robotic Department
Revision: 1.0
Issue Date: May 2016

Inspection Technique: In-service Robotic Tank Inspection

Description: Generic Procedure for In-service Robotic Tank Inspection

E. Responsibilities of Customer – the responsibilities of TCR/SABIC. include but not

limited to provide without any back charge all in country assistance and support
which include:
1. Confirmation of the Assumptions in Para D.
2. Visas for team – 4 people
3. Local helpers
4. Local administration
5. Local transportation for personnel and equipment from/to Port of entry KSA and on
site.
6. Custom clearance, transfer of equipment from/to customs and to/from site
7. Local food and drinks
8. Risk assessment and method statement for safe tank operations
9. Provision of safety induction and work permits
10. Supply of all on-site transportation such as: lorries, crane, fork lift, vehicle
11. Scaffolding / working platform (if required)
12. Waste disposal
13. Washing facilities and cleaning facilities for working crew
14. Nitrogen Supply for purging if required
15. Breathing air and equipment
16. Mechanical assistance / pipe fitters for removal of manway covers (if required)
17. Provision of AC Power Generator 220VAC and 120VAC 50 and 60Hz 20A.

Please note – This describes a generic procedure. Job specific instructions will be
assessed on receipt of detailed information of the particular application. A bespoke
procedure and details of additional requirements can only be advised at this stage.

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