Fitness for Service Assessment of a

Storage Tank
Hervandil Sant’Anna
Murilo Fonseca Leal

Petrobras – Abastecimento – Refino

Presentation Topics

• Brief Company Overview (where we are in

Petrobras);

• Problem Description;

• Methodology;

• Conclusions and recommendations.

Company Overview: Where we are?
Company Overview: Brazilian Refineries
Company Overview: Petrobras Around the
World

INGLATERRA
HOLANDA

PORTUGAL
JAPÃO
ESTADOS UNIDOS
LÍBIA

MÉXICO
BENIN
VENEZUELA TURQUIA
COLÔMBIA NIGÉRIA
CINGAPURA
GABÃO
TANZÂNIA
PERU
ANGOLA
BOLÍVIA
PARAGUAI
NAMÍBIA
URUGUAI

CHILE
ARGENTINA
Company Overview: Refining Production
Capacity
Company Overview: Where we are?
Company Overview: What do we do?
• We perform technical assessments to the company
downstream, concerning inspection techniques,
corrosion and structural integrity of static equipments
Problem Description

• Several types of discontinuities were found

during the inspection of a storage tank:
– Corrosion under insulation;
– Shell deformation.
Issues Raised

• Is it possible to operate this tank without

performing any repair?
• Is there any risk of failure caused by the
interaction of these defects?
Methodology

• API 579 “Fitness for Service” elastoplastic

analysis rules (level 3): chapters B1.2 and
B1.3;
• Deformed shell model using Finite Element
Method;
• Use of a mean thickness considering the
remaining thickness of all pitting
Discontinuities Overview
Material & Design Data

Approximate roof weight 6t Material A-283 gr. C

Gravitational acceleration 10 m/s2 Specific weight 7850 kg/m3
Fluid specific weight 1000 kg/m3 Young modulus 200000 MPa
Nominal diameter 13524 mm Poisson ratio 0,3
Nominal height 11380 mm Yield strength 205 Mpa
Shell courses 8 Rupture strength 380 MPa
Loads

• Hydrostatic fluid column head (Ps);

• Dead weight (D).
Failure Modes, Load Combinations &
Acceptance Criteria
• Failure Mode I: Protection against plastic
collapse:
– 2,25 𝑃𝑠 + 𝐷
– Criterion : analysis convergence

• Failure Mode II: Protection against local

failure:
– 1,53 𝑃𝑠 + 𝐷
𝛼𝑠𝑙 𝜎1 +𝜎2 +𝜎3 1
– Criterion: 𝜀𝐿 = 𝜀𝐿𝑢 𝑒𝑥𝑝 − −
1+𝑚2 3𝜎𝑒 3
Finite Element Model: Elements

• SHELL281: shell and botton plates

• MASS21: roof
• SURF254: soil and concrete stiffness
Finite Element Model: Shell Thickness
Finite Element Model: Boundary Conditions
Finite Element Model: Mesh
Results: Failure Mode I (Corroded Plates)
Results: Failure Mode I (Corroded Plates)
Results: Failure Mode I (Repaired Plates)
Results: Failure Mode I (Repaired Plates)
Results: Failure Mode II (Repaired Plates)

50𝑡 50 × 9,5
𝜀𝑐𝑓 = = = 0,07 𝑚𝑚/𝑚𝑚
𝑅𝑓 6767
Results: Failure Mode II (Repaired Plates)

205 2.2 239.5 + 27 + 0 1

𝜀𝐿 = 0.60 1 − 𝑒𝑥𝑝 − − = 0.251𝑚𝑚
𝑚𝑚
380 1 + 0.6 1 − 205 380 3 × 227.8 3

𝜀𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 = 𝜀𝑝𝑒𝑞 + 𝜀𝑐𝑓 = 3.3 × 10−3 + 0,07 = 0,0733𝑚𝑚

𝑚𝑚
Conclusions

• Some plates must be repaired!

• Remove the insulation (or paitting) in order to

eliminate the corrosion mechanism.
Tank you for your attention!

Questions??