know the main methods used in the safe storage of liquids and gases.
There are many different types of equipment used for the storage of liquids and gases
in industry. In a course such as this it would not be possible to cover all the equipment
used. However, we have included sufficient examples for you to understand the
principles of storing liquids and gases and the major problems involved.
As you work through this lesson, keep in mind that the method of storage chosen
depends upon:
the physical state of the material, i.e. its temperature and pressure.
For a full understanding of this lesson you will need to know the meaning of the
following terms:
[I] corrosion
[ii] density
[iii] pressure
[iv] temperature
[vi] volatile.
An explanation of the meaning of each of these terms is given in the Appendix which
you will find at the end of this lesson.
Storage of Liquids
Before process engineers can choose suitable storage methods, they must have
answers to the following questions:
What is the maximum quantity of liquid I shall have to store?
This is an important consideration because if the storage capacity is not sufficient
then the manufacturing process may have to stop.
How toxic is the liquid?
This is important because special precautions may have to be taken and there may
be legal requirements.
How flammable is the liquid?
Again, there may be legal requirements regarding the size and location of storage
vessels.
How corrosive is the liquid?
A highly corrosive liquid would require a container made of special materials.
How volatile is the liquid?
A volatile liquid is one which evaporates quickly. Special precautions need to be
taken to avoid losses of product by evaporation, particularly if the liquid is
flammable or toxic.
Does the liquid need to be stored in a hot state?
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If it is necessary to store the liquid hot, and keep it hot, then special insulation
techniques will be required.
Is the liquid under pressure, other than that due to its own weight?
If the liquid is under pressure, then the storage vessel would have to be
constructed to withstand such pressure.
Keep these points in mind as you study the methods used to store materials.
STORING LIQUIDS
Small quantities of liquid are usually stored in carboys, large quantities in drums and
bulk quantities in tanks. We can examine each one in turn.
Carboys
For many years carboys have been spherical in shape, with a flat base for stability,
and made from glass, which will resist the corrosion from most chemicals.
This type of carboy is now being replaced by others, cylindrical or rectangular in
shape, of the same capacity but made from plastic material. Carboys usually hold 20
litres, or more, of liquid. From a safety point of view, carboys must not be pressurized,
rolled or exposed to heat sources.
Drums
Larger quantities of liquids are stored in drums, which are cylindrical and usually hold
200 litres of fluid [approximately 45 UK gallons]. They can be made from a wide range
of materials to suit the fluid being stored; for example, stainless steel, aluminium, or
mild steel with a rubber or plastic lining. The material that a drum is made from can
therefore be chosen so that the chances of corrosion are reduced.
Drums, like carboys, must be handled with care. They must not be pressurized or
stored near sources of heat, e.g. steam pipes.
All containers should carry labels showing their contents and any safety hazards
associated with the liquid they contain.
Unlabelled containers should not be used under any circumstances. Similarly
containers labelled as containing one type of liquid should not be reused by
filling with another type of liquid.
Storage Tanks
Very large quantities of liquid are usually stored in the open, in squat cylindrical
storage tanks fitted with conical roofs. Several hundred of these storage vessels may
be grouped together in an area called a tank farm.
Tank farms are located in remote areas to reduce the safety hazards involved when
potentially flammable and toxic materials are stored in very large quantities.
Tanks of up to 100 000 tonnes capacity [about 80 metres in diameter and 25 metres
high] are in common use in the oil industry. The bigger the tank the lower the capital
cost per tonne of liquid stored.
Let us now look at the main features of this type of storage tank. It should be noted
that not all storage tanks will have all these features. For example, some storage tanks
will be open and therefore not require a relief valve, some will be shallow and not
require an access manhole. What we have included here, for completeness, are all the
main features that you could find on a storage tank. Refer to
Figure 1 as you read on.
A wall surrounding the tank, high enough to hold all the liquid in the tank should
the tank burst or leak. In this way any leaked flammable, toxic or corrosive liquid
will be contained in a small, safe, isolated area.
Alternatively the tank is situated in a cylindrical hole in the ground, deep enough
to contain all the contents of the tank should it burst open or leak. [This type is
shown in Figure 1.]
RELIEF VALUES
These are necessary in case the pressure inside the tank exceeds the tanks safe limit.
INERT GAS BLANKET INLET
Some liquids produce vapours which become flammable, or explode, when mixed with
air. This hazard can be reduced by replacing the vapour above the liquid at the top of
a tank with an inert gas, that is a gas which will neither react chemically nor produce
explosive mixtures with the tanks contents. Nitrogen gas is often used for this
purpose. The inert gas would be fed in as shown in Figure 1.
FOAM INJECTION BOX
In an emergency the foam injection box allows foam to be sprayed into the tank and
over the surface of the liquid. Thus, hazards arising from toxic or flammable vapours
can be reduced.
VAPOUR VENT
The vent allows air to enter the tank when it is emptying, and to leave when the tank is
being filled. A tank without a vent would burst open during filling, and collapse in on
itself when being emptied.
HATCH FOR SAMPLING AND GAUGING
It is often necessary to take samples from tanks for laboratory analysis. These can be
taken safely and conveniently through this hatch.
A dip-stick, or a dip-tape, can also be passed down through the hatch, either to
measure the level of liquid in the tank or as a check on automatic liquid level
measuring devices.
EARTH CONNECTIONS
The possibility of a build-up of static electricity, and its associated hazards, can be
eliminated by the use of earth connections. Such connections are essential, as static
electricity does tend to build up during filling and emptying operations.
If a build-up of static electricity was to occur where the liquid being stored was
flammable, then a fire hazard would arise.
Venting Tanks
We have already touched on venting problems in the Vapour Vent section above.
When a tank is being filled, then the air above the rising liquid must be allowed to
escape, otherwise very high pressures would occur due to the compression of the air
in the tank as the liquid is pumped in. This excess pressure is released through a
specially designed valve called a vent valve.
When the tank is being emptied, air must be drawn in through the vent to take the
place of the liquid, otherwise the tank would collapse in on itself due to the vacuum-like
conditions being created inside the tank. In the event of a safety hazard, then the
vapour vent [as well as the inert gas blanket valve] can be used to create an inert gas
safety shield.
The storage of large volumes of liquid in tanks can lead to problems arising from the
daily and seasonal variations in the weather. The most important factor to vary is the
air temperature.
Such variations lead to:
Expansion of the stored liquid inside the tank
Evaporation of liquid [particularly volatile liquid] in the tank.
Expansion is allowed for by leaving a space above the liquid.
Evaporation can take place through the vent valve before the pressure of the vapour
becomes higher than the safe working level. Such evaporated material disperses
safely into the atmosphere. Vent valves are sometimes called breather valves.
On larger vessels a flexible roof is fitted beneath the fixed roof, and floats on the
surface of the stored liquid as the level rises and falls; this is called an internal
floating roof tank.
A flexible seal is fitted around the edge of, and moves with, the roof. This eliminates
leakage and does not interfere with the roofs movement.
Legs [see Figure 2[b]] are fitted to the underside of the roof to allow access into the
empty tank. These support legs are approximately 2 3 metres long. When the tank
is empty the legs rest on the base of the tank and support the roof in such a way as to
allow access, and to provide a space at the base of the tank for maintenance and
repair, etc.
The roof will thus move up and down, but will not rest on the base of the tank whilst the
support legs are in position.
Roof drainage is essential and the roof must be strong enough to support the weight of
snow. Floating roof storage is usually used for the storage of large quantities of petrol
and other very volatile liquids.
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SPERICAL STORAGE
Spherical storage vessels are preferred for storage of gases or liquids at high
pressure. A sphere is a very strong structure, since there is an even distribution of
stresses on the surface of the sphere. Hence, there are no weak points. However, they
are very much more difficult to manufacture and insulate than rectangular or cylindrical
storage vessels of similar capacity.
Storage is usually at atmospheric temperature.
This type of storage vessel must be fitted with a pressure relief valve which, in an
emergency, is able to vent off any vapour formed in the vessel without the pressure
rising above the relief valve setting.
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Table 1 shows the typical range of storage pressures used for different spherical
storage vessel capacities.
CAPACITY (TONNES)
200
212bar
26bar
2000
24bar
4000
Table 1
Another major advantage of spherical storage vessels is that they have a lower
surface area per unit volume than any other shape of vessel.
This means that the quantity of heat transferred from warmer surroundings to the liquid
in the vessel, will be less than that for rectangular or cylindrical storage vessels.
Thus, liquid stored in spherical vessels will not warm up as quickly as liquid stored in
other types of vessel. The heat leakage into the cold liquid will [say on a hot
summers day!] be kept to a minimum.
For this reason, liquids such as liquified petroleum gases [LPG] and ammonia [which
require storage at low temperatures] are usually stored in spherical insulated vessels.
Substances such as these, which have to be cooled down to low temperatures before
they become liquids, are often referred to as cryogenic liquids.
CYLINDRICAL
Cylindrical storage vessels are less expensive to make than spherical types. They are,
however, also less strong, since they have a weak point at each end. This mechanical
weakness is reduced by providing the cylinder with rounded end sections, as indicated
in Figure 4. The whole vessel is made from thicker metal than a comparable spherical
type of similar capacity. Using the thicker material, storage pressures can be similar to
spherical storage.
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ULLAGE
When filling vessels with volatile liquids under pressure it is always necessary to leave
adequate space above the liquid. This space is called ullage and is there to allow for
expansion arising from climate temperature changes.
The amount of space left depends upon the density of the volatile liquid being stored,
and usually increases with increase in fluid density.
GAS CYLINDERS
To store very small quantities of gases at very high pressures [up to 15 bar] gas
cylinders are used. You probably see them every day on various plants. They are
convenient in size, but have thick walls and, as a result, are very heavy. When a
cylinder is in use a special head is attached which contains a needle valve for fine
pressure adjustment. The outsides of cylinders are painted in a BSI [British Standards
Institution] colour code. In addition, toxic or hazardous gases have BSI colour bands
around the neck of the cylinders as given in Table 2. However, BS 349 Identification
of the contents of industrial gas containers places greater emphasis on marking the
cylinders with the name of the gas and its chemical formula or symbol at the valve end.
This naming of the gas is an essential requirement and is, therefore, in addition to the
colour bands.
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NATURE OF GAS
Nonflammable and
nonpoisonous
EXAMPLE GASES
AND FORMULAE
Oxygen [021
Hydrogen [H2]
COLOUR OF BANDS ON
CYLINDER NECK TO
DENOTE
HAZARD PROPERTIES
None
Golden yellow
Signal red
Signal red and golden yellow
[red band next to valve at the
top with yellow band between
red and colour of cylinder]
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The water sealed gasholder [Figure 5[a]], is constructed in sections that telescope
either up or down according to the quantity of gas the holder contains. Seals fitted at
the base and between section joints are filled with oil or water to facilitate the up and
down movement.
The piston type, shown in Figure 5[b], has a sealed piston which moves up and down
inside the gas holder as the gas is either fed into or withdrawn from the equipment.
Materials of Construction for Gas Storage
As already mentioned the materials used in the construction of a vessel depend upon
its duty. Some materials used are:
stainless steel
aluminium
mild steel [often lined with protective material].
Since gases are usually stored as liquids at high pressure, then materials used in
vessel construction need to be made thicker in order to give them greater mechanical
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SUMMARY
Liquids are usually stored out of doors in safe, remote areas called tank farms.
Storage tanks are fitted with a variety of safety devices [which are shown in Figure 1].
Floating roofs are often used to facilitate the filling and emptying of tanks, and to
reduce problems due to liquid expansion, contraction and evaporation. Gases are
usually converted to liquids and stored in spherical vessels at high pressure to reduce
costs of providing storage space.
APPENDIX
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CORROSION
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Most density figures are given as relative density, that is, the ratio of the actual
density of a material to the actual density of water at a given temperature [usually 20
C]. As the figures are ratios, there are no units. Therefore, the relative densities for
the three substances above are aluminium 2.7, lead 11.34, and alcohol 0.8 [i.e. lighter
than water].
PRESSURE
This is defined as the force per unit area and is calculated from the formula:
P = F/A
Where P = pressure in pascals [Pa]
F = force in Newtons [N]
A = area in metres squared [m2]
In the SI system the unit of pressure is the pascal with the symbol Pa. This is a very
small unit and usually the kilopascal, kPa, is used. Atmospheric pressure is 101 325
Pa or approximately 101 kPa. This is approximately equal to 14.7 psi where psi stands
for pounds per square inch, a unit of pressure that is still commonly used especially in
Great Britain and the USA.
TEMPERATURE
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The following diagrams illustrate the way in which heat flows from a substance at a
higher temperature than the surroundings [Figure 6[a]], and to a substance at a
lower temperature than the surroundings [Figure [6b]]
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VOLATILE
A volatile liquid is one which easily evaporates into a gas above the liquid surface. If
the temperature of a liquid increases then this usually results in an increase in the
amount of the liquid which evaporates into the gas. If a volatile liquid becomes warmer
then a substantial increase in the amount of liquid evaporating into the gas will occur.
The following diagram [Figure 7] illustrates the increased amount of evaporation that
takes place for a volatile liquid compared to a less volatile one at the same
temperature.
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