Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries 13 (2000) 8389

www.elsevier.com/locate/jlp

Protecting atmospheric storage tanks against vacuum collapse

Michael L. Griffin
Corporate HSE Department, The Procter and Gamble Company, Sharon Woods Technical Center, Heekin Building, 11310 Cornell Park Drive,
Cincinnati, OH 45242, USA
Received 1 November 1999; received in revised form 13 November 1999; accepted 13 November 1999

Abstract
Vacuum collapse causes many accidents involving equipment with low pressure ratings such as atmospheric storage tanks and
bins. This paper presents methods to establish the appropriate relief capacities and specify pressure relief devices to protect atmospheric storage tanks and other similar equipment against this hazard. Calculations are based on simple heat balance and fluid flow
calculations. 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Vacuum; Collapse; Tanks; Condensation; Protection

1. Introduction
One of the more common accidents involving atmospheric storage tanks, road tankers (tank trucks), and
other low pressure equipment is vacuum collapse under
external pressure (Figs. 1 and 2). These accidents result
either from failure to recognize the hazard, or from failure to provide sufficient relief capacity to maintain the
internal pressure above the maximum allowable vacuum
capability of the equipment. Many accidents of this type
are described in the literature (Sanders 1990, 1993).
The principle means of protecting equipment against
vacuum collapse is relatively simple provide sufficient gas or vapor (usually air or an inert gas) to replace
the volume of any liquid withdrawn plus any vapor condensed to keep the minimum pressure in the equipment
within acceptable limits.

covered in API RP 2000 (American Petroleum Institute,

1998). The third, condensed vapor, is often overlooked.
The vapor, usually steam, is condensed inside the equipment by either ambient cooling or by a cool liquid spray
into the head space of the equipment.
A much less likely hazard, cooling of hot gases in the
equipment following a fire is not covered here; but the
methods used for normal gas cooling due to heat losses
can be extended for this case when it is a credible risk.
This equipment will probably also need to be protected
against an external fire exposure. This will often require
a relatively large vent that may well determine the
required vent size.
The first step in providing protection for vacuum hazards is to determine the required flow rate of makeup
gas or vapor.

3. Gas cooling due to ambient heat losses

2. Vacuum collapse hazards
There are three common sources of vacuum other than
those purposely used for process reasons such as blowers, eductors, fans, vacuum pumps, etc. These vacuum
sources are liquids pumped or drained from the equipment, ambient cooling of gas in the head space, and
vapor condensed inside the equipment. The first two are

E-mail address: griffin.ml@pg.com (M.L. Griffin)

The venting requirement for ambient cooling of gas

in the equipment is relatively small. API RP 2000 recommends a volumetric dry air venting capacity (at
atmospheric pressure and 15.6C [60F]) equal to 18%
of the volume of the equipment per hour up to a volume
of 3180 cubic meters (840,000 US gallons). Above this
capacity the volumetric allowance is reduced, declining
to 9% of the total volume for a capacity of 28,500 cubic
meters (7,500,000 US gallons), or higher. This allowance is based on a heat transfer rate of 63 W/m2 (20

0950-4230/00/$ - see front matter 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 9 5 0 - 4 2 3 0 ( 9 9 ) 0 0 0 7 4 - 1

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M.L. Griffin / Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries 13 (2000) 8389

Nomenclature
A
AO
C
Cp
dO
Hv
T
gC
Hv
HL
k
M
MAV

P1a
P2a
P
Q
Rg
TAMB
T0
TSTM
U
VAIR
VL
WAIR
WCOND
WH2O
r

Heat transfer surface area, m2 (ft2)

Open vent relief (vent) area, m2 (in2)
Orifice discharge coefficient, dimensionless. Use a value of 0.8 for a length-to-diameter ratio 2
(short, straight vent) and 0.6 when the 2L/D ratio 4 (180 long radius return bend).
Heat capacity of the liquid spray, J/kg-C (BTU/lb-F)
Diameter of open vent, meters (inches)
Latent heat of vaporization of the vapor condensed, J/kg (BTU/lb)
Temperature difference between ambient and the vapor inside the equipment, or temperature increase
of a cool liquid spray, C (F)
Gravitational constant, 980.32 cm/sec2 (32.174 feet/sec2)
Initial enthalpy of the vapor condensed, J/kg (BTU/lb)
Final enthalpy of the condensed vapor, J/kg (BTU/lb)
Ratio of the heat capacities Cp/Cv
Molecular weight (29 for air)
Equipment maximum allowable vacuum rating referred to atmospheric pressure, kPa (psi). For
example, a MAV of 2.55 kPa (0.37 psi) corresponds to a absolute pressure limit of 98.75 kPa (14.33
psi).
Upstream (atmospheric) pressure on vent, Pa (psia)
Downstream pressure (at the MAV) in equipment during vacuum venting, Pa (psia)
Pressure difference across the vent, Pa (psi)
Ambient heat loss, or heat transferred to cool liquid spray, J/sec(BTU/hr)
Universal gas constant, 8314.3 J/kg-mole-K (1545 ft-lbm/lb f-R)
Ambient air temperature, C (F)
Initial temperature of makeup gas, K (R)
Steam temperature, C (F)
Overall heat transfer coefficient, J/m2-sec-C (BTU/ft2-hr-F)
Volumetric flow of makeup gas at 15.6C (60F), m3/hr (ft3/hr)
Volumetric liquid pump-out or drain-out rate, m3/sec(ft3/hr)
Mass flow of makeup gas, kg/sec(lb/hr)
Mass of condensed vapor, kg/sec(lb/hr)
Mass flow of cool liquid spray, kg/sec(lb/hr)
Density of air, kg/m3 (lb/ft3). The density of dry air at 21C (70F) and one atmosphere pressure is
about 1.2 kg/m3 (0.075 lb/ft3).

BTU/ft2-hr). This value does not include the condensation of steam or other vapor in the equipment. RP 2000
recommends an engineering review when the vapor
space temperature in an uninsulated tank exceeds
48.9C (120F).
Example: A 100 m3 (26,400 US gallon) capacity storage tank contains a low vapor pressure petroleum fraction. How much makeup air is required to offset the
effects of ambient cooling of the gas in the head space
of the tank?

WAIR18 m3/hr1.2 kg/m3hr/3600 sec0.006 kg/sec.

VAIR0.18100 m3/hr18 m3/hr

1. Determine the maximum liquid volumetric flow rate

in m3/sec(ft3/hr)
2. Provide sufficient relief capacity to replace this volume with gas or vapor.

To convert from this volumetric basis to a

kg/sec(lb/hr) weight basis, multiply by the density of air
at 1.2 kg/m3 in SI units, or 0.075 lb/ft3 in English (foot
poundsecond) units.

4. Liquids pumped or drained from the equipment

Calculating the makeup rate is simple for the liquids
pumped or drained from the equipment:

WAIRr VL1.2 VL

(SI units)

M.L. Griffin / Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries 13 (2000) 8389

Fig. 1. Atmospheric storage tank after a vacuum collapse.

85

vice. The pressure vacuum vent valves that normally

protected the tanks against vacuum collapse were isolated from the tank to avoid a material incompatibility
problem with the wash solution. To decrease the time
required to fill the tanks, the normal transfer pump supplying the tanks was temporarily replaced with another
pump with about ten times larger capacity. The wash
solution was pumped into the three interconnected tanks
(Fig. 3). When the solution overflowed from the last
tank, the supply pump for the wash solution was turned
off. Soon after the pump was turned off, the last tank in
the series began to collapse (Fig. 4).
Subsequent investigation revealed that this accident
was caused by wash water siphoned from that tank. The
tank was not capable of withstanding the vacuum produced and collapsed. The flow rate through the overflow
prevented air from entering the tank through the overflow to break the vacuum. The higher liquid flow rate
and the location of the overflows at the top of the tank
rather than on the shell below the shell-to-roof connection contributed to the failure. The overflow location was
chosen to make sure that the entire interior surface of
each tanks was washed.
Example: The maximum transfer rate from a tank is
15 liters/sec (240 US gpm). Calculate how much makeup
air is required to replace the liquid removed from the
tank.
WAIRr VAIR1.2 kg/m30.015 m3/sec0.018 kg/sec.

WAIRr VL0.075 VL (English units)

Consider liquid siphons as potential liquid discharge
hazards. Several years ago, a manufacturing facility
needed to chemically wash three new stainless steel,
atmospheric storage tanks before placing them into ser-

Fig. 2.

5. Condensation by ambient cooling

The amount of vapor condensed by ambient heat
losses, Q (kg/sec or lb/hr), can be calculated from the
elementary thermodynamic equation:

Road tanker after vacuum collapse.

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M.L. Griffin / Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries 13 (2000) 8389

Fig. 3.

Flow diagram for storage tanks involved in siphoning incident.

Fig. 4. Top of atmospheric storage tank collapsed by a vacuum produced by a siphon.

WCONDQ/HVUAT/HV
The major difficulty in calculating these ambient heat
losses is to determine an appropriate value of the overall
heat transfer coefficient, U (J/m2-sec-C or BTU/ft2-hrF) to use. There are a number of articles on this subject
going back forty years (Stuhlbarg, 1959; Kumanna &
Kothari, 1982).
It is important to recognize that short-term events such
as a sudden rainstorm can significantly increase the

instantaneous rate of heat loss, especially for uninsulated

equipment. These events are not significant in the calculation of average heating requirements, but can be critically important in sizing over-pressure protection. A
higher heat transfer coefficient is necessary to protect
equipment against these transient conditions. Stuhlbarg
(1959) recognized the effect that condensing vapors have
on heat transfer rate and used a higher U value for cases
where steam would condense inside the equipment.
Similarly, rain water flowing across the uninsulated roof
of a tank changes the mode of heat transfer and substantially increases the heat loss.
The Company practice on which this article is based
initially used a coefficient of 28 J/m2-sec-C (5 BTU/ft2hour-F) for uninsulated equipment. This heat transfer
coefficient proved to be too low in practice and the coefficient was increased to a more conservative value of 56
J/m2-sec-C (10 BTU/ft2-hour-F). This higher value has
provided adequate relief area over many years of experience.
This coefficient does not include any credit for insulation. Credit for insulation can be taken. This substantially reduces the ambient cooling load and the venting
capacity required for this hazard.
The heat transfer area generally used is the area of the
top and of the shell above the minimum liquid level in
the equipment. Include the bottom area if the equipment
does not contain liquid.
Example: The head space of a 4 m diameter8 m high
flat-bottom storage tank (exposed surface area=113 m2)
with an MAV=3.5 kPa (0.51 psi) contains steam from a
steam blowout at atmospheric pressure. Calculate how
much makeup air is required to replace the steam condensed by ambient heat losses, if no credit is taken for
tank insulation.
U0.056 kJ/m2 secC
TAMB21C
TSTM99C (saturated steam at 3.5 kPa)

M.L. Griffin / Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries 13 (2000) 8389

HV2399.5 kJ/kg
WCONDUAT/HV0.056 kJ/m secC113 m
2

(9921)C/(2399.5 kJ/kg)
WCOND0.21 kg steam/sec
Correcting for the weight of air and neglecting any
volume increase due to temperature rise, the equivalent
amount of air required to make up for the steam condensed by the ambient losses and the water spray is:

87

flammable vapors when part of the accompanying water

vapor in the surge tank condensed on the side of the
uninsulated tank. The flammable vapors, more volatile
than the water vapor, are by-products of the Kraft pulping process. The investigation team identified the most
likely ignition source for the explosion as pulp falling
15 to 20 feet through the head space to the pulp level
in the tank.

6. Condensation by cool liquid spray

WAIR0.21 kg steam/sec(m3/0.5783 kg steam)

(1.2 kg air/m3)0.436 kg air/sec.
The density used is the density of steam at the saturation temperature, 99C.
Condensation by ambient cooling can introduce
another hazard if the vapor space in the tank contains
water vapor or steam that keeps any flammable vapor
below its lower flammable limit (LFL). Partial condensation of steam or water vapor can allow the flammable
vapors to reach the LFL, especially when condensing
steam is replaced with air from an open vent.
An explosion occurred in a surge tank between the
digester and pulp refining in a South Georgia Kraft pulp
mill early one morning. The ambient temperature at the
time of the explosion was approximately 0C (32F),
unusually cold for the area. The explosion separated the
top from the 32-foot diameter surge tank and it fell to
the ground 140 feet below (Fig. 5). The investigation
team attributed the explosion to the concentration of

Fig. 5.

Similarly, the amount of vapor (gm/sec or lbs/hr) that

will be condensed by a cool liquid spray can be calculated using a basic heat balance:
WCONDQ/(HVHL)WH20CpT/(HVHL)
where HV is the initial enthalpy of the vapor and HL is
the final enthalpy of the condensed vapor at a saturation
pressure equal to the MAV of the equipment.
Example: A 20C water spray enters the same steamfilled storage tank with a MAV=3.5 kPa (0.508 psi) at
5 liters/sec(80 US gpm). Calculate how much makeup
air is required to replace the steam condensed by the
spray.
The saturation temperature of water at 3.5 kPa vacuum (97.8 kPa absolute) is 99C. Then,
WCOND5 kg/sec4.1868 kJ/kgC(99
20)C/(2673.9583.86)kJ/kg
WCOND0.64 kg steam/sec condensed.

Tank top on ground below the digester surge tank following an explosion of by-product flammable gases.

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M.L. Griffin / Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries 13 (2000) 8389

Correcting for the weight of air as before:

WAIR0.64 kg steam/sec(m3/0.5783 kg steam)
(1.2 kg air/m3)1.33 kg air/sec.

Do not use these equations to size vents for other gases

or vapors or for other inlet conditions.
Starting from:
WAIR1891 d 2oC(P r)0.5
and substituting the values for r(0.075 lb/ft3 for air at
one atmosphere and 21C) into the equation, the corresponding equation in English units is:
do[(WAIR/310.7C(P)0.5)]0.5

7. Relief device sizing

Add the individual makeup requirements that can
occur simultaneously to get the total requirement. This
is usually the total of the hazards present unless there is
a specific reason why one hazard will not be present
simultaneously with the others.
The next step is to size an appropriate relief device.
The usual relief used is a pressure-vacuum vent valve
(PVVV) or an open vent. Even if an inert gas blanket
maintains positive pressure on the equipment, good practice is to provide a backup relief source to prevent collapse should the inert gas supply fail.
When use of an open vent is not appropriate, use the
manufacturers capacity data to select an appropriate
PVVV. Standard PVVV capacities are usually given in
Nm3/hr at either 0C or 15C in metric units (SCFM at
60F in English units) based on 100% over-pressure; that
is, with the final pressure in equipment double the pressure at which the PVVV begins to open. This means that
the pressure at which the PVVV begins to open must be
50% of the maximum allowable vacuum rating of the
equipment to use the maximum capacity of the PVVV.
This span can be reduced by the use of a pilot-operated PVVV.
Use an orifice calculation to size open vents. It is
possible to use the simpler equation for a non-compressible fluid (Crane Company, 1982) if the inlet-to-outlet
absolute pressure ratio, P2a/P1a, is 0.975, or greater
(MAV2.55 kPa, or 0.37 psia) without introducing a
significant error.
WAIR0.0003512 d C(P r)
2
o

0.5

(SI units)

Solving for do:

do[(WAIR/(0.0003512 C(P r)0.5))]0.5
Substituting the value for r(1.20 kg/m3 for air at one
atmosphere and 21C) into the equation, the final
result is:
do[(WAIR/(0.0002720 C(P)0.5))]0.5
60.63[(WAIR/C(P)0.5)]0.5
NOTE: This and the following equations for sizing
vent diameter are specific for air at atmospheric pressure.

0.04394[(WAIR/(P)0.5)]0.5
If the pressure ratio, P2a/P1a, is less than 0.975
(MAV2.55 kPa, or 0.37 psi), use the orifice equation
for compressible fluids (Crowl & Louvar, 1990, p. 99).
This is to prevent errors caused by changes in gas density with pressure
WAIRCAoP1a[(2gcM(k/(k1))(P2a/P1a)(2/k)
(P2a/P1a)((k+1)/k)/RgTo)]0.5
Using the specific SI units defined earlier, this equation is:
WAIR5.88104CAoP1a[(2gcM(k/(k1))(P2a/P1a)2/k
(P2a/P1a)(k+1)/k/RgTo)]0.5
The introduction of a new term, l, simplifies the equation. This term includes the functions of k, (Cp/Cv), and
the pressure ratio (P2a/P1a), plus several constants:
l[(2gcM(k/(k1))(P2a/P1a)2/k(P2a/P1a)(k+1)/k/Rg)]0.5
Substituting the values of gc (9.80665 m/sec2), Rg
(8314.3 J/kgmole-K), and of k (1.40), and M (29) and
for air into the equation gives the result:
l0.4893[((P2a/P1a)1.4286(P2a/P1a)1.7143)]0.5
where:
0.4893[(2gcM(k/k1)/Rg)]0.5
This equation for l is valid for critical P2a/P1a ratios
down to 0.5275 for air. At lower values of P2a/P1a, set
l equal to 0.1266.
Fig. 6 is a graph of l versus P2a/P1a.
Then the equation for WAir expressed in terms of l
and solved for A is:
Ao3.122WAIR(To)0.5/CP1al
The corresponding equations in English units, using
the value of l from Fig. 6 is:
Ao6.579105WAIR(To)0.5/CP1al

M.L. Griffin / Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries 13 (2000) 8389

89

Fig. 6. Graph showing l versus ratio of P2a/P1a.

Example: The total makeup air flow required for

liquid withdrawal, gas cooling and condensation by
ambient air cooling and water spray calculated above is
1.875 kg/sec. Size an open vent with 180 return bend
(C=0.6) to protect the tank (MAV=3.5 kPa) against vacuum collapse.
P2a/P1a(101.33.5)/101.30.965

0.5 diameter downstream of the orifice. The diameter

of the vent is usually much smaller than the equivalent
diameter of the vented equipment. At b=0.1, the permanent pressure loss is approximately 97% of the measured
drop and at b=0.2, the permanent pressure loss is about
93.5% (McCabe & Smith, 1956, pp. 107108). The calculated pressure drops are good, conservative approximations of the permanent pressure drops.

Since, P2a/P1a0.975, use the calculation method for

compressible flow.
Ao3.122WAIR(T)0.5/CP1al

References

l0.0480
Ao3.1221.875(293.15)0.5/(0.61013290.0480)
Ao0.0343m2 or 343cm2
and the minimum vent diameter is 0.209 m or 20.9 cm
In these examples, the vent area required for condensation by ambient cooling alone (56.7 cm2) is almost 20
times larger than the area required for gas ambient cooling and liquid transfer (3.1 cm 2). Overlooking a condensation hazard can easily result in an undersized vent,
and the potential for vacuum collapse.
8. Permanent vs. temporary pressure drops
The pressure drops defined in the preceding equations
are for flange taps at one pipe diameter upstream and

American Petroleum Institute (1998). RP 2000, Venting Atmospheric

and Low-Pressure Storage Tanks, Non-refrigerated and Refrigerated (5th ed.), American Petroleum Institute, April, (pp. 57).
Crane Company (1982). Flow of Fluids through Valves, Fittings and
Pipe (Metric ed.) SI Units. Technical Paper No. 410M, Crane
Co., (pp. 35).
Crowl, D. A., & Louvar, J. F. (1990). Chemical Process Safety: Fundamentals with Applications. Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Kumanna, J. D., & Kothari, S. P. (1982). Chemical Engineering, 10
(5), 127132.
McCabe, W. L., & Smith, J. C. (1956). Unit Operations of Chemical
Engineering. McGraw-Hill Book Company.
Sanders, R. E. (1990). Plant/Operations Progress, 9 (1), 61.
Sanders, R. E. (1993). Management of Change in Chemical Plants:
Learning from Case Histories. Oxford (UK) and Boston (MA):
Butterworth-Heinemann.
Stuhlbarg, D. (1959). Petroleum Refiner, 38 (4), 143.