Aboveground Storage Tanks (AST) degradation is mainly caused by bottoms corrosion, which occurs on bottoms product-side and soil-side as a result from the interaction between the steel and the surrounding environments. Different corrosion control and mitigation measures have been deployed to minimize the corrosion damage and subsequently increase tanks reliability and integrity. This paper evaluated the effectiveness of different applied AST bottoms corrosion control systems. The paper includes a case study, where historical inspection records of more than sixty (60) AST with different hydrocarbon fluid services and bottoms corrosion control systems were reviewed and analyzed. The study reveals that applied product-side corrosion control systems were effective, whereas, examined soil-side corrosion control systems shared similar shortcomings. In addition, the analysis results were discussed against inspection requirements of two internationally adopted AST inspection codes, namely, American Petroleum Institute API standards 653 and Equipment Engineering Material Users Association EEMUA Publication No. 159.

Subject
Coating inspection, Coatings, Corrosion rate, Climate, Inspection, Internal inspection, Internal coatings, Fluids, Aboveground storage tanks, Crude, Corrosion protection, Tank bottoms, Oil
Keywords:
AST Bottom Integrity, Cathodic Protection (CP), AST Coating, AST Bottom Corrosion Control
© 2017 Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP). All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of AMPP. Positions and opinions advanced in this work are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of AMPP. Responsibility for the content of the work lies solely with the author(s).
2017
Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP)
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