On most of the production units, oil and gas are directly piped to a refinery or tank terminal. It is difficult to store gas locally, but in certain cases underground mines, caverns or salt deposits can be used to store gas.

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OIL AND GAS STORAGE
Mechanical Engineering

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Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction 3
2.0 OIL AND GAS STORAGE 3
3.0 TYPES OF STORAGE TANKS USED IN REFINERIES 3
3.1 Fixed roof tanks 3
3.2 Floating roof tanks 3
4.0 Additional references 4
4.1 You Tube Channel 4
4.2 Official blogs 4

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1.0 Introduction
On most of the production units, oil and gas are directly piped to a refinery or tank terminal. It is difficult
to store gas locally, but in certain cases underground mines, caverns or salt deposits can be used to
store gas. On production units without a pipeline, oil is stored in onboard storage tanks to be transported
by shuttle tanker.
2.0 OIL AND GAS STORAGE
On most of the production units, oil and gas are directly piped to a refinery or tank terminal. It is difficult
to store gas locally, but in certain cases underground mines, caverns or salt deposits can be used to
store gas. On production units without a pipeline, oil is stored in onboard storage tanks to be transported
by shuttle tanker. The oil is stored in storage cells above the shafts on concrete platforms, and in tanks
on floating units. On some floaters, a separate storage tanker is used. To balance the buoyancy in both
cases when the oil volume varies, the usage of ballast handling is very important. For onshore, fixed roof
tanks are used for crude, floating roof for condensate.
Special tank gauging systems such as pressure, level radars or float are used to measure the level in
storage tanks and cells. The conversion of level measurement to volume is done via strapping table and
a satisfied temperature to provide standard volume. Float gauges can also calculate density, and so
mass can be established.
A tank farm consists of 10-100 tanks of different volume for the maximum total capacity in the area of 1-
50 million barrels. Storage or shuttle tankers normally store up to two weeks of production, one week for
normal cycle and one extra week for delays, e.g., weather and climate conditions.
3.0 TYPES OF STORAGE TANKS USED IN REFINERIES
Tanks for any specific field fluid are chosen according to the flash-point of that substance. Generally in
refineries and especially for liquid fuels, there are floating roof tanks, and fixed roof tanks.
3.1 Fixed roof tanks
Are used for liquids with very high flash points, (e.g. fuel oil, water, etc.,). They are insulated to
prevent the coating or thickening of certain materials, wherein the heat is provided by steam coils
within the tanks. When the storage pressure is slightly higher Dome roof tanks are used.
3.2 Floating roof tanks
Are broadly divided into external floating roof tanks (usually called floating roof tanks: FR Tanks) and
internal floating roof types (IFR Tanks).

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Fig.1-floating roof tank
IFR tanks are used for liquids with low flash-points (e.g., ethanol, ATF, gasoline). These tanks are
nothing but cone roof tanks with a floating roof inside which moves up and down along with the
liquid level. This floating roof traps the vapor from low flash-point fuels. Legs are provided at the
bottom to support floating roof .Floating Roof tanks do not have a fixed roof (it is open in the top)
and has a floating roof only. Medium flash point liquids such as naphtha, kerosene, diesel, and
crude oil are stored in these tanks. One of the common types used in mining areas is the open roof
type tank, usually to store ore slurries. The manufacturing of this type tank is quite easier
4.0 Additional references
4.1 You Tube Channel
i. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfufdF0-Hs3sLu1IX52ZJYA/videos
ii. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GQDS-IyzXc&t=6s
4.2 Official blogs
iii. Techshore Inspection Services : Tech Wizard
iv. Techshore Inspection Services : Video Tutorial
v. Techshore Inspection Services : MEP Encyclopedia
vi. Techshore Inspection Services : Events & News letters
vii. http://techshore.in/blog