Issue 1 - May 2009

Technical Articles
Floating Roof Design
Impact on Working Volume, Emissions and Operating Costs
Floating roofs have been in existence for over half a century, providing operators and regulatory bodies a reliable,
time proven safety and emission control system. Floating roofs function by reducing the formation and release of
environmentally harmful and potentially explosive volatile organic chemicals in above ground storage tank
systems.

Floating roof design generally

varies with the material used for
construction. External floating
roofs which are exposed to the
elements use carbon steel
construction with pontoon or
double deck designs. These
designs allow the floating roof to
support potentially heavy loads of
rain and snow and are also usually
coated to prevent corrosion from
weather exposure. Carbon steel
floating roofs use heavy leg
supports when landed as well as
large air-filled 'compartments'
known as pontoons for buoyancy.
External carbon steel floating roofs
also incorporate some form of
articulating pipe or flexible hose
deck drainage system to remove
excess precipitation from their
surface.
For tanks that use fixed covered
roofs, like steel cone roofs or
aluminum geodesic domes, the
internal floating roof systems are
typically constructed using light-
weight materials because they
don't have to support the
environmental loads placed on the
external floating roof systems.
While materials vary, internal
floating roofs typically use
aluminum as their structural
material, though some use
fiberglass, thin gauge stainless
steel or other composite panels.
Depending on design, internal
floating roof systems can usually
be cable supported from the tank
fixed roof structure, due to their
low mass.
One of the key differences between
tanks with carbon steel external or
aluminum internal floating roof is
their working volume. Each
floating roof has a different cross
External Floating Roof
(Image Courtesy of Mesa Rubber)
Image 1 - Typical Floating Roof Designs
sectional area displacing volume
that would otherwise be filled with
stored product, translating into lost
working volume due to the profile
depth of the floating roof system.
Carbon steel external floating roofs
use large perimeter pontoons to
not only support environmental
live loads but also their own mass,
which varies from about 12 to 16
psf. Pontoon thickness varies
based on design and tank diameter
but generally ranges from 32” to
48” in depth. The weight of the
floating roof will immerse the
pontoon anywhere from 4” to 12”.
Also, external floating roofs require
primary and secondary perimeter
seals to reduce emissions in the
rim area (area between the
pontoon and tank shell wall). The
primary seal is typically contained
within the pontoon rim area while
the secondary seal extends
anywhere from 18” to 24” above
the pontoon level. For external
floating roof pontoon designs, that
total volume loss profile equates to
about 42” to 72” or more above
product level.
Internal Floating Roof
(Image Courtesy of Sandborn Roofs)
Internal floating roofs do not have
any direct exposure to
environmental loads like rain or
snow, and are typically very light in
mass, varying from about 1 to 2.5
psf. Internal floating roofs use
either air filled aluminum or
stainless steel pontoons, air filled
honeycomb panels or composite
foam filled panels for buoyancy.
Air filled pontoons vary in size but
are typically eight to ten inches in
diameter and immerse in the
stored product approximately 4” to
5” inches. Honeycomb Panels or
composite foam filled panels float
in full contact with the liquid
surface and only immerse into the
product by about ½” to 1”.
Internal floating roof systems only
require a single liquid mounted
seal, which typically extends above
the liquid level by 8” to 12”. For
internal floating roof a design and
depending on the perimeter seal
system used the total volume loss
profile will vary from about 9” to
18” above product level.

www.sandbornroofs.com
Issue 1 - May 2009
Technical Articles
The difference between a carbon
steel external floating roof and a
internal floating roof volume loss
height is anywhere from roughly
36” to 54”. Depending on tank
diameter, that represents a
significant amount of working
volume loss for identical sized
above ground storage tanks, as
shown in Image 2.
With all floating roof systems, the
floating roof has to remain floating
and not land to work effectively.
Floating roofs tanks have
restrictions on how high you can fill
the tank with product. External
floating roof systems need to
operate below the tank shell or
foam ports. Internal floating roof
systems must not make contact
with the underside of the tank fixed
roof or support rafters. As a result,
the net capacity of tanks is
restricted to a certain minimum
(low) and maximum (high)
operating levels.
Chart A shows the difference in net
operating volume between a
pontoon External Floating Roof
(EFR) system and full contact
Internal Floating Roof (IFR)
system. In this example, the IFR
systems adds 7% more Net tank
operating volume compared to the
EFR systems on the same sized
tank and operating low/high level
conditions.
Chart A
150' dia. x 48' Shell Barrels % Volume
Total Tank Capacity 151,092 100%
Steel Pontoon EFR 113,319 75%
Full Contact IFR 124,336 82%
Difference 11,017 7%
Based on 3'-6” Low Operating, 4'-0” Head Loss
54” EFR vs 12” IFR
Elevated Liquid Surface Temperature
in Direct Sunlight
Fixed Roofs Shelters product
from Direct Sunlight
Elevated Seal Losses caused by wind
and vacuum effect.
and wind effects.
Sealed Cables
No Emission Paths
Emission Paths
Max Fill Height
at Leg Locations
36” ~ 54” Loss
Low Fill Height
Steel Pontoon Full Contact
External Floating Roof Internal Floating Roof
Image 2 - Tank Working Volume by Floating Roof Design
Floating roof design also has a operating to a higher maintenance
significant impact on the total position allowing clearance for
amount of volatile organic workers underneath. Adjustable
chemicals (VOCs) product leg supports provide an emission
emission losses. VOC emissions path for VOC vapors to escape into
vary based on several conditions the atmosphere.
including tank turnovers (shell
losses), vapor pressure, atmos- Aluminum Internal floating roofs
pheric conditions (heat/wind) and can use thinner legs supports or
floating roof design. The floating suspended cable supports from the
roof components affecting tank fixed roof. Suspended cable
emission loss include the perimeter supports are adjusted from the top
seal design (single/double), of the tank fixed roof and have no
support type (legs/cables/grid), emission paths from the sealed
penetration seals for columns and deck connections.
ladders, as well as the floating roof
deck construction (if its External Floating Roofs are also
bolted/welded/sealed together). subject to higher overall emission
losses due to the heating effects of
Carbon steel EFR systems require solar radiation and vacuum effects
steel legs for supports when landed of wind traveling across the top of
due to their significant mass. the tank. Internal Floating Roofs
Most EFR systems use an are sheltered from the direct wind
adjustable leg with support collar and sunshine and as a result
penetration sleeves to allow the environmental factors have a much
operators to increase or decrease smaller impact on the VOC
the landed height from low emission loss on IFR tanks.
www.sandbornroofs.com
Issue 1 - May 2009
Technical Articles
Type
Years 1 5
Steel Pontoon EFR 7,480
Full Contact IFR 5,490
Difference 1,990
Based on Crude Oil (RVP 5), Results generated from EPA Tanks 4.0.9d Software
215’ dia. x 60’ Tank Size
Chart B is a sample VOC emission
calculation for a Steel Leg
Supported Pontoon EFR versus a
Cable Supported Full Contact
Aluminum IFR system on the same
size tank. In this sample, the EFR
equipped tank system shows 27%
higher emission rates than the IFR
equipped tank system.
Another impact of floating roof
design is the ongoing maintenance
costs for the floating roof seals and
drainage systems. Perimeter seals
on both designs, external or
internal floating roofs may require
replacement in approximately 10
to 20 year cycles. EFR perimeter
seal systems are larger than IFR
seal systems and are significantly
more expensive to replace on an
on-going basis. Some IFR storage
tanks use several steel columns to
support the fixed steel cone roof
system, so each column will have a
corresponding penetration seal
that are typically replaced at the
same time as the perimeter seal
system.
External floating roof system tanks
require a drain system, consisting
of either an articulated pipe or
flexible hose to drain the rainwater
and melted snow off the surface of
Chart B
Emission Losses (lbs per Year)
10 15 20 25
37,400 74,800 112,200 149,600 187,000
27,450 54,900 82,350 109,800 137,250
9,950 19,900 29,850 39,800 49,750
the floating roof. These drainage
systems need to be replaced after
a few maintenance cycles to
ensure they don't leak and result in
rainwater contamination of the
stored product or possible
contamination of groundwater
(and the corresponding disposal
costs).
Chart C shows the approximate
maintenance costs of replacing the
perimeter seal, penetration seal
and drain systems on a large 215' x
60' diameter tank in 20 year
service intervals.
Chart C
Materials
Years
Steel Pontoon EFR Perimeter
Seals & Hose Drain
Full Contact IFR Perimeter
Seals & Columns Seals
Difference
*Materials Only, Averaged based on 20 year lifespan
of seal & drain materials. 215' dia. x 60' Tank Size.
2008 Pricing. US Dollars
In this example, the on-going seal
maintenance costs of the IFR
system is approximately 37% the
equivalent costs of the EFR seal
maintenance. Depending on the
design and construction quality of
the aluminum IFR system, their
expected life-span can be as long
as their steel EFR counterparts.
While these comparisons concern
floating roof design, tank operators
will have to weigh the operational
and lifetime benefits versus the
difference in capital costs of tank
construction between the two
systems.
Both systems offer industry-
proven solutions to safe storage of
VOCs, however the floating roof
design and its ongoing
maintenance costs, emissions and
operational limits all play an
influential part of the process of
deciding which system provides
you the best solution.
About the Author
Sandborn Roofs is the manufacturer
of the patented Sandborn full contact
internal floating roof system.
Maintenance Costs
20 40 Sandborn Roofs is also a major
$144,700 $289,400 Canadian supplier of mechanical seal
systems used on internal and
$54,700 $109,400 external carbon steel floating roofs,
$90,000 $180,000 foam log seal kits, wedge wiper seal
materials and external floating roof
hose drain systems.
Sandborn Roofs is a full service
provider for floating roof installations
and inspections with experienced
staff to provide reliable and talented
source of labor, supervisors and
floating roof inspectors.
For more information on Sandborn
Roofs and our products, visit our
website at: www.sandborn.ca
Sandborn Roofs Inc.
801-25th Avenue
Nisku, Alberta, Canada
T9E 7Z4
Telephone 780 • 955 • 8761
Fax 780 • 955 • 8781
Toll Free 1 • 866 • 955 • 8781
www.sandbornroofs.com