Monitoring of Storage

Tank by AE
Presented by MAPVA Group
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TANKPAC
The test consists of attaching sensors to the outside of the tank and
monitoring for emission resulting from active corrosion of the floor. Noise
sources are eliminated by sophisticated pattern recognition methods, and
experienced operators.

AE signals from on-going corrosion of the floor are transmitted through the
fluid and detected by sensors placed around the tank shell
TANKPAC technology has been developed by PAC in cooperation with
oil industry. It is fast "sorting" system that grades the tank floors their
overall condition, without emptying or cleaning the tank.

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Application
There are many refineries where TANKPAC has been used on virtually all
the tanks, and the results are the key factor in determining when they need
to be removed from service for maintenance. Although refineries and
chemical plants are the major users, the sensitivity of the method for
locating active corrosion can be seen by its ability to locate corroding zinc
anodes in an oilfield production tank.

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TANKPAC Grading
Correlation of the TANKPAC overall grade with actual follow-up internal
inspection shows the reliability of the method. In this case, the
inspection/repair result is rated as follows:

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In Figure for about 600 tanks, tested by PAL worldwide, the AE scores are
given. Almost all of these tanks were scheduled for mandatory maintenance
and/or inspection in accordance with internal, API, EEMUA or local
requirements.

We observe more than 50 % of these tanks have an A- or a B-grade score. If

this indeed would be confirmed by findings that "no maintenance is necessary",
one would be able to save a lot of money

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 "Potential leak" data are indicative for heavy corrosion spots and/or
potential leaks. The value of this additional information can best be
illustrated by Figure. Figure shows an example of 2 tanks with similar
overall C-grades, but distinctively different potential leak indications.

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Advantages
Cost savings depend upon tank condition. Saving the cleaning costs on
50% of your crude tanks can amount to millions, and on very clean
product tanks, where many need no repair, savings can be huge when the
overall cost of shutdown, cleaning, and internal inspection are taken into
account.
a) Significant money savings - No money wasted for opening of good
tanks.
b) Maintenance prioritization - The most severely damaged tanks are
programmed for internal inspection first.
c) Ideal tool for application of risk-based inspection plans.
d) Prevention of environmental losses - Early identification of potential
leaks.
e) Very fast, low-cost inspection with minimal interruption of operations
and tank usage.
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TANK CARE

TANK CARE: A complete above ground storage tank maintenance and inspection
program.
Acoustic Emission non-instructive tank condition assesment (TankPAC).
Ultrasonic inspection (C-scan Imaging) of tank bottoms for Corrosion Mapping.
Ultrasonic B/C scan inspection of Tank walls and roofs.
API 653 certification.

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MTI CEMTANK

For the Acoustic Emission test the normal tank operation is interrupted for
only one or two days.
The test tank must be isolated for 6 to 30 hours depending on tank size and
contents, with all valves closed, with all heaters and agitators switched off.
The Acoustic Emission sensors are mounted in array around the tank shell,
usually in two rows with the bottom row carrying out the monitoring
function and the upper row filtering out noise sources from shell and roof.
Acoustic activity is produced by the fracture of corrosion products under
head of product and sources (higher energy) that can be potential leak
sites/indications
Detection of active corrosion is dependent on this process of fracture of oxide
layer. In situations, such as bacterial corrosion, where no oxide layer is
present, it may not be possible to correctly assess the corrosion condition.

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 Discrete acoustic events can be located by time of flight, (similar to

seismic activity monitor for earthquakes) and clusters of high location
densities can be found immediately. Low level corrosion can cause nonlocatable Acoustic Emission activity
MTI uses the Vallen-Systeme advanced digital Acoustic Emission
equipment with rotatable 2D-3D graphs
Clustering is standard in the presentation of the data (showing
concentrations of activity on the tank floor) and the numbers represent the
channel sensor positions (1 to 18 in this example).

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CEMTANK Grading
The Acoustic Emission test results recommendations to prioritize the tank
for maintenance/inspection are issued using the following grading system:
CEMTANK Analysis recommendations
A No action recommended (Acoustic Emission retest after 5 years)
B Intermediate (Acoustic Emission retest after 3 years)
C Intermediate (Acoustic Emission retest after 1 year)
D Action recommended (perform inspection/repair)

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IRISNDT-Different technique
Pressure test
For most in-service equipment, the requirement is to increase the pressure
or level by 5% to 10% over the operating level while monitoring and
recording AE activity. In some special applications such as on-line
monitoring and storage tank floor assessment the AE signals are
generated by the environmental conditions and no additional loading is
required.
The test requires that a vessel is pressurised or filled to five to ten
percent above its operating level as it is monitored with AE equipment

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Tank floor test

The test is carried out under static conditions and aims to grade the
corrosion activity from 'I' (little or no active damage) to 'IV' (very
active damage). A grade I tank would normally be retested in 4-years or
so whereas a grade IV result suggests the need for near term internal
inspection.

Online test
Remote on-line monitoring with AE is an option for cases where a discrete
AE (pressure) test is not feasible or suitable for detecting process related
damage. In such cases, AE sensors are installed and connected to
instrumentation on site and controlled through an Internet connection.
Thermocouple, pressure and other process data are recorded with the
AE data. The monitoring process is controlled and evaluated remotely
from a Matrix office.
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Cooldown test
Cooldown Testing uses thermal stress generated in piping and vessels as
a unit is shut down. The test uses sensors mounted on acoustic
waveguides to detect acoustic emission as the unit is shut down and
cooled. Evaluation of the AE data helps focus inspection work on areas
producing significant AE activity.

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Application
Refrigerated Ammonia Tank testing with AE can avoid the costs and
downtime of an internal inspection. AE testing is listed as an applicable
non-intrusive test method in the European Fertiliser Manufacturers
Association guidelines. An external AE test is not only less costly than an
internal inspection; it also avoids the risk of damaging the tank through
oxygen contamination and thermal stress during recommissioning.
AE Testing of Composite (FRP, GRP) Tanks, Piping and Vessels, is
effective and relatively simple. In the case of a fibreglass tank, the test
requires attaching AE sensors spaced 1.5 to 2m [5 to 7ft] apart and filling
with the process fluid (or water) after a period at reduced level.

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Limitations
Qualitative assessment, does not characterise a flaws or corrosion damage
in precise
(type of flaw, orientation, size, depth) terms.
Generally not sensitive to fabrication defects such as porosity, slag
inclusions and small lack of fusion defects in operating equipment.
Background noise and other properties of a particular vessel may limit
detection sensitivity.

Although an AE test detects defects, it does not determine their type,

size or exact position. The main purpose and benefit of an AE test is to
determine if there is a structural problem, approximately where it is and
give a measure of its severity. A complementary inspection method
such as (shear wave) ultrasonics is needed to map out and size any
flaw
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Case study

it could be a positive proportional relationship between corrosion rate and AE

activity
Furthermore AE frequency and waveform would determine defect type. As a
case in point while high frequency signals are arisen from slag inclusions and
porosity specimens low frequency signals are generated from the growing
cracks. In addition, porosity would produce continuous type signals but slag
inclusions indicate burst type of waveforms

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 AE sensors should be installed on the outside surface of the tank wall

approximately 0.5 to 2 meters from the knuckle. This distance assures that
sensors are high enough from silt layer of the tank and AE signals
propagate through the oil product liquid
Adjacent sensors could be mounted approximately in a distance of 6 m
along the circumference of the tank wall. However, this distance should not
be exceeded 15 m.
First, AE used to inspect the floor condition of an oil tank. This test is
performed while the tank is filled with oil product
At second part, the oil product is removed from the tank and ultrasonic is
used to measure bottom plates thickness as a tool to identify damage level

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Inspection procedure
Studied oil tank was filled with product level of 70% which provides the
required load pressure for AE. The oil product was gasoline. The tank
diameter was 9.144 m by the height of 7.6 m and total capacity of 4000
BBLS. The roof of the tank was fixed. Tank plates were built from steel of
grade C.
AE sensors were mounted along the circumference of the tank wall by 6 m
space at the level of 1.5 m above the tank bottom
All sensors were 24 kHz resonant frequency with integral preamplifier and
10 kHz high pass filtering
The sensitivity of sensors was calibrated using pencil lead break. The
calibration testing was carried out by threshold level of 70 dB.
A MICRO-II SAMOS-32 from PAC (Physical Acoustic Corporation)
which is a 32 channel acoustic emission system
AE data collection was performed with a threshold level of 40 dB
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AE source location method

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 Time differences
data

are known from recorded AE

By varying it is possible to
minimize these two found source
locations and select the best one as
estimated AE source location

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Results
After pencil lead break test, the tank was tested using AE for 60 minutes

From the figure it can be clearly seen that defective points are located
mainly in a region between sensors s4 and s5.
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Ultrasonic thickness meter

no repair is required. However, it is recommended to be tested

by AE again after three years.
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