APRIL 25, 2014

DESIGNING OF A VERTICAL GASOLINE

STORAGE TANK
PAKISTAN STATE OIL COMPANY LIMITED (PSO), ZOT TERMINAL, KARACHI

MUHAMMAD WAQAS I QASIM NAZIR

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
COLLEGE OF ELECTRICAL & MECHANICAL ENGINEERING (EME), NUST

OBJECTIVE:
Designing of a vertical above ground storage tank as per API 650; diameter = 45.7m, Height 15m with
four exits in PSO ZOT Terminal.

Introduction:
API 650 Standard establishes minimum requirements for material, design, fabrication and testing
for vertical, cylindrical, aboveground, closed- and open-top, welded storage tanks in various sizes
and capacities. This work is based on the eleventh edition of API-650 and completely apply its principles
correctly for the designing of required storage tank.

Product:
The material which is assumed to be stored in the required storage tank is Gasoline.

Material Specifications:
Plates specifications used in the storage tank has the following aspects:
Material Name
Allowable Stress (For Design)
Allowable Stress (for hydro testing)
Yield Strength
Corrosion Allowance

ASTM A36 Carbon Steel

160MPa
171MPa
250MPa
3mm

Capacity of Tank:
The tank capacity was calculated using the following formula:

= 0.785 2
Where:
C= Capacity of tank in m3
D= Diameter of tank in m
H= Height of tank in m
Therefore,

= 0.785 (45.7)(15)2
= 24591960

Tank Shell Specifications:

Shell Plates:
Since, 11th edition of API-650 recommends the use of one-foot method of calculating shell thickness for
the tanks of diameter less than 61m, therefore this technique was adopted.
The required minimum thickness of the shell plates shall be greater of the values computed by the
following formulas:

4.9 ( 0.3)
+

4.9 ( 0.3)

Where:
Td = Design shell thickness in mm
Tt = Hydrostatic test shell thickness in mm
D = Nominal tank diameter in m = 47.7 m
H= design liquid level in m = 15m
G= Specific gravity of the liquid to be stored = 0.739 for Gasoline
CA = Corrosion Allowance, in mm = 3mm
Sd = allowable stress for the design condition
St = allowable stress for the hydrostatic test condition
Plates of dimensions width 2.5m and length 10m were selected as this means less joints to be welded.
With this plate dimension the number of shell course will be:
No. of shell course = 15 2.5 = 6
Shell Course
1st shell course
2nd shell course
3rd shell course
4th shell course
5th shell course
6th shell course

Thickness
18mm
16mm
14mm
11mm
8mm
6mm

Now for the quantity of plates the circumference of the tank is:
C = x 45.6m
C = 143.256m
Since the length of each plate which is used is 10m, then:
143.256 10 = 14.3

Therefore plates used for each shell course has following detailed dimensions:

Shell Course

No. of Plates

Plate dimensions

1st shell course

2nd shell course
3rd shell course
4th shell course
5th shell course
6th shell course

15
15
15
15
15
15

18mm x 2.5m x 10m

16mm x 2.5m x 10m
14mm x 2.5m x 10m
11mm x 2.5m x 10m
8mm x 2.5m x 10m
6mm x 2.5m x 10m

Shell Manholes:
As Per API- 650 Section 3.7. Shell Openings and Table 3-3, Table 3-4 two shell manholes are made at the
opposite ends in the first shell course of storage tank.
Shell Manhole
Shell and Manhole Reinforcing plate thickness
Extended Length
Flange thickness
Flange Diameter
Bolt Circle Diameter
Total bolts
Bolt Diameter
Cover plate diameter
Cover plate thickness
Gasket thickness

Figure 1-Shell Manhole Cover Plate

500mm
10mm
150mm
10mm
720mm
656mm
15
32mm
720mm
13mm
3mm

Figure 2-Shell Manhole

Nozzles:
Four exits from the storage tank are ensured by installing four pipes, two at each opposite end, with the
help of nozzles as per Section 3.7 Shell Openings Table 3-6, 3-7 and 3.8. The NPS of pipe is taken as 48.
NPS
Shell to Flange Distance
Outside Dia. of Flange
Flange thickness
Bolt Circle Dia.
No. of holes
Dia. of bolts
Dia. of holes

48
400mm
1510mm
70mm
1410mm
44
38mm
42nn

Figure 3-Shell Nozzles

Tank Bottom:
Bottom Plates:
According to API-650 the bottom plates should have a minimum thickness of 6mm therefore thickness of
8mm is selected for the bottom plates.
For number of plates,
(45.6)2
=
4
= 1640.296 2
= 10 5
= 502
Now,
No. of bottom plates = 1640.296 50
No. of bottom plates = 33 approx.
Therefore bottom plates have the following specifications:

No. of bottom plates

33

Length
10

Width
5

Thickness
8mm

Bottom Annular Plates:

The minimum thickness of annular bottom plates is determined from Table 3-1 in section 3.6.1.1 of API650 which comes out to be 7mm. Therefore annular plates of thickness 10mm are used to compensate for
the corrosion allowance.
For number of plates:
=
= 45.6
= 143.256
Now,
No of Plates = 143.256 10 = 14.3
Therefore, annular bottom plates have the following specifications:
No. of Annular Plates
15

Length
10m

Width
5m

Thickness
10mm

Tank Roofs:
Fixed Roof:
Plate specifications for the fixed roof of tank are:
Plate thickness
Corrosion Allowance
Overall Plate thickness

5mm
3mm
8mm

Floating Roof:
Since H.4.2.2 Appendix H of API-650 requires internal floating roof to be designed in a way that it can
safely support at least two men (2.2kN over 0.1m2). Therefore for 45.7m diameter,
=

2
4

(45.7)2
4

= 1640.296 2
Now:

12 =
1640.296 2 =

2.2
0.1

2.2
1640.296 2
0.12

= 36086.512
Since:

=
When: = 250

= 0.144346 2
Assuming Columns diameter = 210mm:
=

(0.21)2
4

= 0.034636 2
Therefore,
. =

0.144346
0.034636

. = 4.16
So total number of columns for internal floating roof are assumed to be 6.
No. of Columns
6

Length
5600mm

Diameter
210mm

Plate Thickness
8mm with CA

Figure 4-Floating Roof with 6 Columns

Roof Manholes:
API-650 demands minimum one manhole at the roofs of storage tanks. Two manholes, one for the
internal floating roof and one for the fixed roof, are therefore made in the roofs:

Size of Manhole
Extended Length
Reinforcing Plate thickness
Dia. of Cover Plate
Dia. of Bolt Circle
No. of Bolts
Gasket thickness
Dia. of hole in roof plate

Figure 5-Roof Manhole

600mm
150mm
10mm
750mm
690mm
20
1.5mm
615mm

Figure 6-Roof Manhole Cover Plate

STORAGE TANK ASSEMBLY MODEL