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INDEX
1
2
Introduction ............................................................................................................. 4
Gas/Condensate/Water Separation ....................................................................... 6
2.1 General .............................................................................................................. 6
2.2 Principles of Separation ..................................................................................... 6
2.3 Primary Separation............................................................................................. 7
2.4 Coalescence ...................................................................................................... 7
2.5 Secondary Separation ........................................................................................ 9
2.5.1 General ........................................................................................................ 9
2.5.2 Mist Extraction ............................................................................................. 9
2.5.3 Dissolved Gas Separation ........................................................................... 9
Separator Construction ........................................................................................ 12
3.1 Types of Separator ........................................................................................... 12
3.1.1 General ...................................................................................................... 12
3.1.2 Two-phase Separators ............................................................................... 12
3.1.3 Three-phase Separators ............................................................................ 12
3.1.4 Vertical Separators .................................................................................... 13
3.2 Separator Internal Devices ............................................................................... 13
3.2.1 General ...................................................................................................... 13
3.2.2 Deflector Plates.......................................................................................... 17
3.2.3 Weirs.......................................................................................................... 17
3.2.4 Centrifugal Devices .................................................................................... 17
3.2.5 Demister Pads ........................................................................................... 17
3.2.6 Coalescing Plates ...................................................................................... 20
3.2.7 Vortex Breakers ......................................................................................... 20
3.2.8 Horizontal Baffles ....................................................................................... 20
Separator Controls ............................................................................................... 22
4.1 General ............................................................................................................ 22
4.2 Pressure Control .............................................................................................. 22
4.3 Three-Phase Separator Level Control .............................................................. 22
Condensate Treatment ......................................................................................... 24
5.1 Operation ......................................................................................................... 24
5.2 Stabilizer Construction ..................................................................................... 24
5.2.1 General ...................................................................................................... 24
5.2.2 Tower Trays ............................................................................................... 25
5.2.3 Tower Packing ........................................................................................... 25
Gas Dehydration ................................................................................................... 27
6.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 27
6.2 Dehydration by Absorption (Glycol Dehydration) ............................................. 27
6.2.1 General ...................................................................................................... 27
6.2.2 Process Flow Overview .............................................................................. 28
6.2.3 Glycol Contactor ........................................................................................ 29
6.2.4 Gas/Glycol Heat Exchanger ....................................................................... 33
6.2.5 Glycol Skimmer/Flash Tank ....................................................................... 33
6.2.6 Stripper Column and Reboiler .................................................................... 36
Introduction
Refer to Figure 1.1.
Due to the impurities present in natural gas and hydrocarbon condensate when
initially recovered from the reservoir, they are not immediately saleable products.
The gas and condensate require separation then further treatment to remove or
convert the impurities before they can be sold as product. The type of treatment
depends on the type of impurities present and the final use to which the products
are to be put.
Typical impurities present in natural gas and condensate include:
hydrogen sulphide (H2S)
carbon dioxide (CO2)
water
nitrogen.
H2S and CO2 when mixed with water form weak acids and are thus termed 'acid
gases'. These acid gases are highly corrosive to pipelines and equipment and
need to be removed from the gas stream. In addition, H 2S has the potential to
cause hydrogen embrittlement of steel and is highly toxic even at low
concentrations. H2S and CO2 can be removed by absorption, the specific
absorption process being determined by the amount of unwanted constituents
present in the gas.
Natural gas and condensate recovered from the reservoir are often saturated
with water and the absorption processes used for acid gas removal can also
cause the gas to be water saturated. Corrosion of pipelines and equipment is
accelerated in the presence of water and when water is present in a gas stream
at certain conditions of temperature and pressure, hydrates can form. Hydrates
are a loosely linked crystalline compound of water and hydrocarbons. The
crystals cause plugging of flowlines, valves, exchangers and instrument lines and
can be extremely troublesome in plant operation. Since hydrates only form in the
presence of water, removing the water from the gas can prevent their formation.
Dehydration processes can reduce the water content of the gas (measured as
dewpoint) and these generally involve the use of a solid or liquid desiccant.
Having essentially no calorific value, nitrogen lowers the heating value of the gas,
reducing the sales value. Where there exists a high proportion of nitrogen in the
gas stream it can be removed using permeable membranes or low temperature
separation processes. Both techniques are costly and complex and are not
discussed in this module.
The hydrocarbon condensate from the reservoir may contain high proportions of
methane and ethane, depending on the reservoir pressure. To achieve the
correct specification for shipping or transfer of the condensate by pipeline, ethane
and methane must be removed. This stabilization can be achieved by a series of
'flashes' where a series of pressure drops allows light ends to flash out of solution
in the condensate. Alternatively, a distillation system can be used to stabilize
condensate.
2.1
Gas/Condensate/Water Separation
General
A field production separator is a pressure vessel in which a mixture of well fluids
that are not soluble in one another are separated from one another.
Well stream fluids include gas, condensable and non-condensable vapours,
water vapour, hydrocarbon condensate, water and solids. When well fluids reach
the surface where the pressure is lower than in the reservoir, the capacity of the
liquid to hold gas in solution is reduced and gas separates out of the condensate.
Additionally, the temperature at the surface is lower than the reservoir
temperature and therefore some wellstream vapours condense and combine with
the liquid.
Production separators are used to separate and segregate gas from liquid and
lighter liquid from heavier liquid, e.g. condensate from water.
The main functions of a field production separator are:
to effect a primary separation of gas from liquid
to continue this process by removing entrained liquid from the gas.
Additionally, the separator must have the following characteristics:
allows sufficient time for gas to be released from the condensate
allows sufficient time for the separation of condensate from water
provides controls to prevent gas escaping with the liquids
discharges the separated components in such a way as to render it
impossible for them to be remixed.
2.2
Principles of Separation
Four physical factors are necessary for separators to function:
gravity
fluid insolubility
difference in fluid densities
reduced pressures.
Separation depends upon the effect of gravity to separate the fluids. For efficient
separation to take place, the fluids must not be soluble in one another. For
example, gasoline, diesel oil and crude oil cannot be separated in a separator
vessel because they dissolve in each other. A distillation process must separate
them.
Because a separator depends upon gravity to separate fluids, the ease with
which separation takes place depends upon the difference in the weight of the
fluids. Gas is very much lighter than condensate, and in a separator these
separate in just a few seconds. However, condensate, which weighs only about
two thirds of the weight of the same volume of water, will take between 30 and 60
seconds to separate from water
The density of a fluid is the mass of unit volume of a substance expressed in
units such as kg/m3.
2.3
Primary Separation
Refer to Figure 2.1.
Because of the difference in density between gas and condensate, approximately
90% of gas/liquid separation takes place instantly. This is known as primary
separation or flash separation.
However, some liquid remains in the gas in the form of droplets or fine mist and
this entrained liquid must be removed before separation is complete. If the mist
is not removed from the gas phase in the separator, liquid settles out in the gas
outlet flowline, causing operating problems in downstream treating units. An
amount of condensate product will also be lost.
2.4
Coalescence
The most difficult function of a field production separator is to extract mist from
the gas. Mist consists of liquid droplets suspended in the gas flow (just as water
droplets occur in air as fog). Mist will not fall out of the gas unless the droplets
are forced together to form larger drops that are heavy enough to fall. The
process of combining many droplets into larger drops is known as coalescence.
Coalescing devices are installed in separator vessels to perform this function.
Examples of coalescing devices include:
demister pads
vane type mist extractors
coalescing plates.
The efficiency of mist extraction devices depends largely upon the amount of
coalescing surface area available in the separator.
KIO-4-0127.CDR
PRIMARY
SEPARATION
VAPOUR
DISENGAGING
SPACE
SECONDARY
SEPARATION
GAS
OUTLET
WELLSTREAM
INLET
LIQUID
SETTLING
SPACE
LIQUID
OUTLET
2.5
Secondary Separation
2.5.1 General
In the field production separator there are two stages of secondary separation:
separation of liquid mist from the gas phase (mist extraction)
separation of dissolved gas from the liquid phase.
KIO-4-0127.CDR
GAS
OUTLET
WELLSTREAM
INLET
FLOWRATE
50m3/MINUTE
CONDENSATE
VOLUME
3
50m
RESIDENCE
TIME 1 MIN
LIQUID
OUTLET
3.1
Separator Construction
Types of Separator
3.1.1 General
Field production separators are classified by the number of fluids, which are
separated in the vessel, i.e. two-phase or three-phase. They can be further
categorized as vertical or horizontal.
The water phase flows along the bottom into a chamber on the right where it
leaves under level control.
3.2
3.2.1 General
Internal devices are used in production separators to:
improve separation efficiency
accelerate the separation process
reduce the size of the vessel.
The internal devices used in vertical and horizontal separators are virtually
identical.
A number of internal devices are commonly used, as described in Sections 3.2.2
to 3.2.8 below.
KIO-4-0130.CDR
PC
GAS
OUTLET
WELLSTREAM
INLET
WEIR
LC
LC
CONDENSATE
OUTLET
WATER OUTLET
PC
GAS
OUTLET
WELLSTREAM
INLET
LC
WATER
OUTLET
BUCKET
LC
CONDENSATE
OUTLET
KIO-4-0131.CDR
GAS
OUTLET
DEMISTER
PAD
WELLSTREAM
INLET
DEFLECTOR
PLATE
WEIR
VERTICAL 2-PHASE
PRODUCTION
SEPARATOR WITH
SAND REMOVAL
GAS
OUTLET
HYDROCARBON
LIQUID
OUTLET
VORTEX
BREAKER
DEMISTER
PAD
WATER OUTLET
WELLSTREAM
INLET
VERTICAL 3-PHASE
PRODUCTION
SEPARATOR
DEFLECTOR
PLATE
LIQUID
OUTLET
PRESSURIZED
WATER INLET
SAND
CONE
BLOWDOWN
INLET
SAND
OUTLET
3.2.3 Weirs
Refer to Figure 3.5.
This is a wall installed inside the vessel. The weir increases the liquid residence
time. Condensate overflows the weir to enter the hydrocarbon chamber. Weirs
are also used to form a bucket arrangement inside the separator.
4.1
Separator Controls
General
Refer to Figure 4.1.
Oil production separators have two major operating control points: pressure
control and level control. Separator temperature is usually fixed by the
wellstream inlet temperature.
4.2
Pressure Control
The gas capacity of a separator increases as the operating pressure increases.
The separator operating pressure is controlled as high as possible to achieve
efficient separation. Increasing the pressure reduces gas volume, and decreases
gas flow velocity in the vessel. The operating pressure of a separator is
controlled by a backpressure controller, which regulates the flow of gas leaving
the vessel.
4.3
KIO-4-0139.CDR
PSV
VENT TO
BLOWDOWN
RUPTURE
DISC
TI
PI
PC
GAS
OUTLET
WELLSTREAM
INLET
VAPOUR/GAS SPACE
LC
LC
CONDENSATE
CHAMBER
SETTLING CHAMBER
TI
WEIR
DRAIN
WATER
OUTLET
CONDENSATE
OUTLET
5.1
Condensate Treatment
Operation
The hydrocarbon condensate separated from the gas stream in the separation
section of the plant requires further treatment to minimize its gas content. This
treatment is generally done in a condensate stabilizer system, which removes
residual light ends from the condensate, by conventional distillation.
In the example shown in Figure 5-1, condensate containing a high proportion of
light ends is fed to the condensate stabilizer. In the stabilizer the liquid falls
downwards in a process that results in many flashes at progressively higher
temperatures.
At the stabilizer bottom a proportion of the condensate is removed and passed to
a reboiler to provide the necessary bottoms temperature. The stabilized
condensate from the bottom of the stabilizer is cooled before being passed to
storage or export.
The vapours leaving the top of the tower are cooled to condense any
intermediate components leaving with the light ends, and the overhead product is
routed to a reflux drum. From the reflux drum the condensed intermediate
produce is pumped back to the top of the tower where it assists in stripping out
intermediate product vapour rising up the tower.
The gas evolved in the stabilizer is drawn off the reflux drum, either for recompression or for use as fuel gas.
The reboilers heat requirement depends on the amount of cooling done in the
overhead condenser. The colder the overhead product leaving the condenser,
the purer the liquid in the reflux drum.
The hotter the stabilizer bottoms temperature, the greater the proportion of light
components will be boiled out of the bottoms liquid and thus the lower the vapour
pressure of the bottoms liquid.
5.2
Stabilizer Construction
5.2.1 General
The number of flash stages required determines the number of trays required.
The more trays in the tower the more efficient the split of light ends from
condensate but this makes the tower taller and more costly.
6.1
Gas Dehydration
Introduction
Where gas is to be transported long distances by pipeline, or where it is to be
chilled to very low temperatures, there is a requirement to reduce the water
content of the gas. This is to obviate the problems of corrosion within pipelines
and the problem of hydrate formation and, in the case of low temperature
applications, to prevent water freezing out in pipelines or equipment. In addition,
free water, produced by condensation in a pipeline, can give rise to two-phase
flow and reduce the capacity of the pipeline.
This water removal, known as gas dehydration, can be achieved either by an
absorption process where the gas is contacted with a hygroscopic absorption
medium such as glycol, or by an adsorption process where water removal is
achieved by contact between the gas and a solid dehydration medium such as a
molecular sieve.
6.2
6.2.1 General
The most common field process for gas dehydration to normal pipeline
requirements is by dehydration using a liquid desiccant (desiccants are
substances, available in either liquid or solid state, having a great affinity for
water). A commonly used liquid desiccant is tri-ethylene glycol (TEG).
The dehydration process may be regarded as comprising two phases:
Phase One
Phase Two
The process is a continuous one with Phases One and Two running concurrently.
Absorption takes place in a vessel called a contactor. In this vessel the wet gas
and the liquid glycol desiccant flow in opposite directions. The gas flows up and
the glycol flows down. The gas exits at the top and the used desiccant (glycol)
exits at the bottom to flow into a skimmer/flash tank, which separates any liquid
and gaseous hydrocarbons from the used glycol. These two items of plant
comprise Phase One, the absorption phase. The used glycol desiccant from
Phase One is referred to as rich glycol (the glycol has been enriched with
absorbed water from the gas).
The rich glycol flows next to the regenerator system, which comprises Phase
Two.
atmosphere. A manual valve controls the rich glycol reflux flowrate through the
coil.
For the final regeneration of the rich glycol, the glycol is heated to 240C to
270C in the reboiler.
After regeneration, the lean glycol is cooled to
approximately the temperature of the gas before contacting. To minimize the
amount of energy used in the reboiling operation, it is economical to conserve the
heat from the hot lean glycol solution by heat transfer with the cold rich glycol
solution. This also reduces the solution temperature of the lean glycol to the
pump and into the contactor. The lean/rich glycol exchanger decreases the
temperature of the lean glycol solution to 140C.
After being pre-heated in the lean/rich glycol exchanger, the rich glycol flows to
the stripper column. On entering the stripper the rich glycol flows downward
through a packed section where it contacts and mixes with hot vapours rising
from the reboiler below. On contact the rich glycol becomes heated and some of
the water boils and is released from the solution as water vapour. This water
vapour leaves the stripper column from the atmosphere vapour outlet or vent
located at the top of the column section. From the stripper the glycol enters the
reboiler where further heating to 240oC to 270oC takes place to obtain the
required dry lean glycol concentration or purity. The reboiler glycol level is
maintained above the top of the heater by a standpipe, and the glycol
temperature is controlled by a temperature controller.
The hot regenerated lean glycol overflows the reboiler standpipe and enters the
integrated surge tank, then flows through the shell side of the lean/rich glycol
exchanger to the glycol pump. The glycol pump raises the lean glycol solution
pressure slightly above that of the contactor. The lean glycol is pumped through
the gas/glycol exchanger where it is cooled against outlet gas, and enters the top
tray of the contactor tower.
skimmer/flash tank where any dissolved hydrocarbons are separated from the
glycol.
A mist extractor section above the top tray removes any glycol entrained in the
outlet gas stream. This reduces the losses of glycol solution from the circulation
system.
The bubble cap trays cause the rising gas to disperse through the glycol and
allow the required contact and mixing for absorption to take place. The gas flows
through a riser such that the gas diverts from the top of the cap down through the
annulus formed between the riser and the cap. The gas then disperses through
slots in the bottom of the cap rim and bubbles up through the glycol liquid. The
level of glycol is maintained near the top of the caps by weirs on the tray decks.
The deeper the glycol level around each cap, the more intimate the glycol/gas
contact, and the greater the absorption efficiency. Glycol flows in an alternating
flow path from one tray down on to the tray below via a series of weirs and
downcomers; this tray arrangement is called single pass.
The intimate contact on the trays allows the glycol, with its high hygroscopic
ability, to absorb the water vapour from the gas stream. The largest amount of
water is removed on the bottom tray, where the gas contains the most water.
Progressively the gas contains less water as it moves through each successive
tray; therefore, the glycol absorbs less water and is more hygroscopic higher up
the tower. On the last few trays, the glycol is at its leanest and only trace
amounts of water vapour remain in the gas. These top trays remove the last
trace amounts of water in the gas to meet the specified outlet gas dewpoint or
water content.
Rate of gas and glycol flow is crucial in the contactor. If the gas velocity is too
high it may result not only in the gas having too little contact time (exposure) with
the glycol, but also cause the bubble caps to lift off. The caps on some
contactors are, therefore, tack welded into place on the tray.
In this exchanger approximately 65% of the heat in the hot lean glycol leaving the
stripper column is transferred to the cool lean glycol entering the contactor. The
temperature of the lean glycol leaving this exchanger is around 110 oC. Typically
rich glycol will flow through the tubeside of the exchanger and lean glycol through
the shell side.
6.3
6.3.1 General
Adsorption is the process of removing an unwanted constituent from a fluid
stream by contacting the fluid stream with a solid desiccant.
In molecular sieve dehydration units, multiple beds are used on a continuous
basis in cyclic operation. Such units may employ two or more molecular sieve
dryers; typically one will be in service, one on regeneration and one or more on
standby.
+
Figure 6.10 - Three Dryer System
7.1
Pipelines
History
For many centuries pipelines have been used to carry water for industrial and
domestic use. Oil and gas pipelines are a much more recent development and
although it is reported that the Chinese used bamboo lines to transport gas from
seepages around the year 900 CE, modern hydrocarbon-carrying pipelines date
only from the latter part of the 19th Century.
In 1876 a pipeline was laid to carry natural gas from Kane, Pennsylvania to
Buffalo, New York. This pipeline was 20 centimetres in diameter and some 140
kilometres long.
An oil pipeline 15 centimetres in diameter and 170 kilometres long was laid from
Bradford, Pennsylvania to Allentown, Pennsylvania in 1879.
These early pipelines were made from threaded lengths of steel pipe and were
screwed together by workers using large tongs. It was not until the 1920s that
welding pipelines become common construction practice. Also, in the 1920s,
oxy-acetylene welding was introduced, only to be superseded by electric welding
later in the decade.
Welding technology and inspection techniques have since developed to keep
pace with the demands of new pipeline materials, vastly increased pipeline
distances, greater pipeline diameters and the demands of off-shore and Arctic
environments.
In the early 1950s major pipelines were built in Canada and the Trans Arabia
Pipeline (the Tapline) was built to carry crude oil from the Persian Gulf to the
Mediterranean Sea.
As it became apparent that oil and gas could be moved economically and
efficiently using pipelines, the expansion of the worlds pipeline system expanded
rapidly. Significant pipelines now include the Trans-Alaska pipeline and the
pipeline system carrying gas from Siberia to Europe.
7.2
Types of Pipeline
Pipelines can be categorized in three main groups:
gathering
transmission
distribution.
Other pipelines are required in oil and gas fields to inject water, gas or other
fluids into the reservoir to enhance hydrocarbon recovery.
Smaller diameter pipelines called flowlines are used to gather oil and gas and to
transport them to processing facilities in the field.
These field facilities export product through larger diameter transmission
pipelines to refineries or processing centres.
Distribution networks made up of smaller diameter pipelines and metering
facilities are used to finally deliver product to domestic or industrial users.
7.3
Pipeline Materials
While steel is the most common material used for the construction of pipelines in
hydrocarbon service, other materials such as PVC can be used in a limited
number of specialist applications.
Pipe thickness and diameter are determined by the pressure and flows required
through the pipeline. The selection of pipe thickness and diameter is always
made on economic grounds and pipe weight per metre is an important
consideration in this respect.
7.4
Pipeline Protection
The huge investment in pipeline systems, which include pipe, pumps,
compressors and drivers as well as other equipment, makes protection of
pipelines of critical importance.
To protect pipelines internally, coatings are applied. The type of coating depends
on the service to which the pipeline is put and the length of time it is expected to
be in service.
A common method of protecting pipeline is to lay the pipeline underground.
Buried pipelines are usually externally coated to prevent corrosion and since
maintenance of underground pipelines is particularly costly, further steps are
taken to reduce corrosion.
One such method of protection is cathodic protection. Corrosion of underground
steel pipeline can result from the flow of electrical current between areas of
different electrical potential. This current flows from an area of higher potential
through an electrolyte to an area of lower potential. The area of lower potential
(the anode) will be corroded and the area of higher potential will not be corroded.
In the case of an underground pipeline, the soil is the electrolyte. These areas of
different potential exist along the full length of a pipeline. The magnitude of the
potential difference depends, among other factors, on the soil conditions.
In a cathodic protection system, anodes are installed and an electrical current is
made to flow between the pipeline and the anodes so that the pipeline becomes
more electronically negative. The pipeline becomes the cathode of the system
and its corrosion rate is decreased. The anodes (the part of the system to
become corroded) are sacrificed.
Power requirements for a cathodic protection system are very small and in
remote locations solar power is often used for this purpose.
7.5
Pipeline Operation
Oil and gas carrying pipelines have a good safety record and pipeline operations
are regarded among the safest of industrial operations. This is largely due to the
operation of pipeline leak detection systems.
Traditionally overground pipelines were inspected visually, often by aircraft. This
is not possible, however, in the case of underground or sub-sea pipelines. Leak
detection is accomplished in these cases using sophisticated instrumentation and
monitoring techniques.
Metering accuracy plays a key role in the leak detection; an important way to
detect leaks being direct monitoring of pressure drop and volume loss in a
pipeline.
Acoustic emission systems use the noise generated by fluid flow through
pipelines to detect and locate leakage. This system can be used to continuously
monitor for leaks. Detectors are installed at points in the pipeline, which pick up
noises in the pipeline. These are transmitted to a system, which compares the
noises to normal pipeline background noise. Differences in noise, indicating
leakage, generate an alarm.
Instrumented (intelligent) 'pigs' can also be used to detect pipeline leakage. A
leak-detecting pig can be moved to various positions in the pipeline by the fluid
flowing in the pipeline. When stopped at a test point, pressure is equalized in the
test segments. If a leak exists, fluid will flow through the pig in the direction of the
leaking segment.
8.1
Pipeline Pigs
General
Refer to Figure 8.1.
Pipeline pigs are used for a number of purposes in oil and gas pipelines,
including:
wax, water and dirt removal
product separation
pipeline inspection and leak detection
application of internal coatings.
Pigs and spheres are transported through the pipeline by the pressure of the
flowing liquid. A pig usually consists of a steel body with rubber or plastic cups
attached to seal between the pig and the pipe internal wall. Brushes and
scrapers can be attached to the pig for pipeline cleaning.
The brushes and scrapers on a pipeline pig remove dirt and wax from pipe
internals and several passes might be required to clean a section of pipe
adequately. This type of cleaning pig contains holes which allow fluid to bypass
the pig and to prevent build-up of debris in front of the pig which might cause
plugging.
Pipelines are often pigged initially after construction and prior to hydrostatic
testing to push out air and to prevent mixing of air with the test water.
Following testing, the test water is displaced by the pipeline fluid, a pig running
between the two to keep them separate.
Pigs can be fitted with instrumentation, which can detect leaks or construction
faults in a pipeline such as dents or buckles.
In pigging operations care must be taken to avoid foreign material or debris being
introduced into compressor pumping systems. Instrumentation lines must also
be protected during pigging operations.
8.2
A key factor in determining the distance between launcher and receiver is the
amount of lubrication in the pipeline. Gas having lower lubricating properties than
oil or hydrocarbon condensate, the distance between traps is less for gas
pipelines.
In gas transmission pipelines the maximum distance between pigging stations
has been recommended as 160 kilometres.
In crude oil systems the recommended distance is 450 kilometres for pigs and
600 kilometres for spheres. These distances, however, represent extremes and
the actual distance depends on local conditions.
9.1
General
Constraints on the export of product by pipelines or other means dictates a
requirement for product storage. In addition, there is a need for storage for
various chemicals used in the process and for the storage of by-products prior to
disposal.
Typical of the above are produced water and condensate product. Gas storage,
either as liquefied petroleum gases or as liquefied natural gas, is highly
specialized and is not considered in this section of the training module.
9.2
9.3
The shell of the tank is slightly larger than the circumference of the pontoon and
the space between is sealed with a flexible fabric. If this fabric is worn or not tight
fitting there is loss of vapour and a risk of fire at the tank rim.
The pontoon is designed with buoyancy compartments to allow the roof to float
on top of the tank contents and rise and fall with rising or falling tank contents.
9.4
Tank Construction
Most tanks are constructed on-site by welding steel plates to form a vertical
cylinder. Tank foundations must be capable of bearing the downward weight of a
fully laden tank for several years. The area should have good drainage to avoid
collection of water around the tank base, which might be a cause of corrosion.
A bund wall capable of containing liquid spillage and to prevent the propagation
of fire is used to separate tanks.