21SPTE313-Materials and

Equipment Design in Oil and Gas

Industry
Storage Tank Design

Fall 2022
 Outline
• Introduction
• Types of Storage Tanks
• Storage Tank Design
• API 650 Standard
• Required Equations
• Example Calculation
 Storage Tank

“For safe storage of petroleum products, we have to

consider the product properties such as volatility (RVP,
pour point, flash point and others before we start
designing and constructing the tank.”
 Types of Storage Tanks

1- Cone Roof Tank

2- Dome Roof Tank
3- Internal Floating Roof Tank
4- Floating roof tank
Cone Roof Tank
Dome Roof Tank
Internal Floating Roof Tank
Floating roof tank
 Storage Tank Design
The design discussed here is based on American
Petroleum Institute (API) Standard 650.
API 650 Standard establishes:
1- Minimum requirements for material,
2- Design,
3- Fabrication,
4- Erection,
5- Testing for vertical, cylindrical, and aboveground,
6- Closed- and open-top,
7- Welded storage tanks in various sizes and capacities.
 Methodology
1- Tank Capacity:

“The following design was carried out in consonance with the

requirements of the 11th edition of API 650.”
The tank capacity was calculated using the formula:

C = 0.785 * D² * H eq. (1)

Where:
C =Capacity of the tank in m3
D = Diameter of tank in m
H = Height of tank in m
 Example 1 - Calculation
The desired capacity (C) of the tank under design is
4.45 million liters.

What should be the tank diameter if the height is

restricted to 17.5 m?
 Example 1 - Solution
Solution:
Since C (m3) = 0.785 * D² * H

We know that 1 m³ = 1000 liter

Therefore, the capacity is = (4.45x106) / 1000 = 4450 m³

4450 m³ = 0.785 * D² * 17.5

4450
𝐷= = 17.99 = 18 𝑚
0.785𝑥17.5
 Tank Shell Design
- “Section 5.6.3.1 in the 11th edition of API 650 recommend the
use of one-foot method for calculating shell thickness for
tanks of diameters less than 61m.”

- Based on section 5.6.3.2, the required minimum thickness of

shell plates will be the greater of the values estimated by the
following formulas:

4.9 ∗𝐷 ∗ 𝐻 −0.3 ∗𝐺
𝑡𝐷 = +𝑐 eq. (2)
𝑆𝑑

4.9 ∗𝐷 ∗ 𝐻 −0.3
𝑡𝑡 = eq. (3)
𝑆𝑡
 Tank Shell Design
Where:
td = design shell thickness, in mm,
tt = hydrostatic test shell thickness, in mm,
D = nominal tank diameter, in m
H = design liquid level, in m
G = design specific gravity of the liquid to be stored
c = corrosion allowance, in mm =3mm as in section 5.3.2
Sd = allowable stress for the design condition from ASTM A 36 Carbon
steel as in table 5-2a.
St = allowable stress for the hydrostatic test condition from ASTM A 36
Carbon steel as in table 5-2a.
 Example 2 – Calculating Shell Thickness

Design a storage tank for the given information in next slide

and calculate the following:

1- The number of shell courses required

2- The minimum thickness for the shell course
3- The required number of plates required for each shell
course
4- The total number of plates required to construct the
storage tank.
 Example 2 – Calculating Shell Thickness
Given the following information:
D = nominal tank diameter, in m =18 m
H = design liquid level, in m = 17.5 m
G = design specific gravity of the liquid to be stored, = 0.85
CA = corrosion allowance, in mm =3 mm as in section 5.3.2
Sd = allowable stress for the design condition, =160 MPa for ASTM
A 36 Carbon steel as in table 5-2a
St = allowable stress for the hydrostatic test condition, =171 MPa
for ASTM A 36 Carbon steel as in table 5-2a
Jumbo plates of dimension width 2.5 m and length 10 m were
selected as this means less joint to be welded and hence most
economical.
The plates thicknesses are available in even numbers, i.e. 2, 4,
6, 8, 10, 12 mm
 Example 2 – Solution
Solution:
The first step is to calculate the number of shell courses.

With the jumbo plate of width 2.5m and tank height of 17.5m
The number of shell courses is calculated as follows:

Number of Shell Courses = H / Plate Width

= 17.5 / 2.5 = 7 courses

Example 2 – Solution - Calculating the thickness for the
1st Shell Course
We start with H=17.5 m

4.9 ∗18 ∗ 17.5 −0.3 ∗0.85

𝑡𝐷 = + 3mm = 11.06 mm
160

4.9 ∗18∗ 17.5 −0.3

𝑡𝑡 =
171
= 8.87 mm

tD > tt therefore using the design thickness as basis 12 mm

plate is selected for the first shell course.
Calculating the thickness for the 2nd Shell Course

Now H will reduce by 2.5, therefore, H = 17.5 – 2.5 = 15 m

4.9 ∗18 ∗ 15 −0.3 ∗0.85

𝑡𝐷 = + 3mm = 9.89 mm
160

4.9 ∗18∗ 15 −0.3

𝑡𝑡 = = 7.58 mm
171

tD > tt therefore using the design thickness as basis 10 mm

plate is selected for the second shell course.
Calculating the thickness for the 3rd Shell Course

Now H will reduce by 2.5, therefore, H = 15 – 2.5 = 12.5 m

4.9 ∗18 ∗ 12.5 −0.3 ∗0.85

𝑡𝐷 = + 3mm = 8.71 mm
160

4.9 ∗18∗ 12.5 −0.3 ∗0.85

𝑡𝑡 = = 5.35 mm
171

tD > tt therefore using the design thickness as basis 10 mm

plate is selected for the third shell course.
Calculating the thickness for the 4th Shell Course

Now H will reduce by 2.5, therefore, H = 12.5 – 2.5 = 10 m

4.9 ∗18 ∗ 10 −0.3 ∗0.85

𝑡𝐷 = + 3mm = 7.54 mm
160

4.9 ∗18∗ 10 −0.3

𝑡𝑡 = = 5.00 mm
171

tD > tt therefore using the design thickness as basis 8 mm plate is

selected for the forth shell course.
Calculating the thickness for the 5th Shell Course

Now H will reduce by 2.5, therefore, H = 10 – 2.5 = 7.5 m

4.9 ∗18 ∗ 7.5 −0.3 ∗0.85

𝑡𝐷 = + 3mm = 6.37 mm
160

4.9 ∗18∗ 7.5 −0.3

𝑡𝑡 = = 3.71 mm
171

tD > tt therefore using the design thickness as basis 8 mm plate is

selected for the fifth shell course.
Calculating the thickness for the 6th Shell Course

Now H will reduce by 2.5, therefore, H = 7.5 – 2.5 = 5 m

4.9 ∗18 ∗ 5 −0.3 ∗0.85

𝑡𝐷 = + 3mm = 5.20 mm
160

4.9 ∗18∗ 5 −0.3

𝑡𝑡 = = 2.42 mm
171

tD > tt therefore using the design thickness as basis 6 mm plate is

selected for the sixth shell course
Calculating the thickness for the 7th Shell Course

Now H will reduce by 2.5, therefore, H = 5 – 2.5 = 2.5 m

4.9 ∗18 ∗ 2.5 −0.3 ∗0.85

𝑡𝐷 = + 3mm = 4.03 mm
160

4.9 ∗18∗ 2.5 −0.3

𝑡𝑡 = = 1.13 mm
171

tD > tt therefore using the design thickness as basis 6 mm plate is

selected for the seventh shell course
 Side-view of the Storage Tank

Width

Length
A plate
 Required Quantity of Plates For The Shell

- The circumference of the tank is calculated as follows:

C = π x D = π x 18 = 56.55 m.

- Since the length of each jumbo plate is 10 m, then, the

number of required plates is calculated as follows:

Number of Plates = C / Plate Width

= 56.55 / 10 = 5.655 = 6 jumbo plates are
required for each shell course.
 Calculation Summary
The required number of plates for each shell as well as the required
thickness is as follow:

- 1st Shell: 6 Plates x 12mm x 2.5m x 10m

- 2nd & 3rd shell: 12 Plates x 10mm x 2.5m x 10m

- 4th & 5th shell: 12 Plates x 8mm x 2.5m x 10m

- 6th & 7th shell: 12 Plates x 6mm x 2.5 x 10m

END