PROCESS EQUIPMENT DESIGN

II. DESIGN OF STORAGE TANK

Focus on: liquid material storage tank

Important physical properties of liquid to take into account in

storage tank design:
- Volatility, i.e.: non-volatile liquid (Tb > Tb water), volatile
liquid (Tb < Tb water), more volatile liquid (condensed
gases)

Volatility of liquid can be known from Antoine equation

This property will determine operating conditions
including temperature (T) and pressure (P)
Important physical property of liquid:
- Corrosion capacity:
The ability of liquid material to cause corrosion
The materials are divided: corrosive (easy to cause
corrosion); non-corrosive (hard to cause corrosion)

This property will determine types of material

construction of tank
Types of Storage Tank

Based on operating pressure (P):

1. Atmospheric tank (vertical cylindrical tank): to keep
non-volatile materials as well as volatile ones at
atmospheric pressure,

2. Pressured tank (vessel): to keep more-volatile

materials at P > 1 atm
Design of Atmospheric Tank

Designed items include:

- Operating conditions (P, T)
- Main dimensions: height (H), diameter (D), thickness
of shell plate (ts), thickness of roof/head plate (th),
thickness of bottom plate (tb)
Design of Atmospheric Tank
Operating Conditions ..

Pressure:
As its name the operating pressure (P) = atmospheric (1 atm)

Temperature:
- Environment temperature (for non-volatile &volatile materials having
boiling points above or same as the environment temperature)
- Boiling point (for volatile materials having boiling points below the
environment temperature)

If operating T is below the environment temperature, to minimize

evaporation due to heat transfer from the environment: the tank is
insulated; if not enough, the tank is equipped with refrigeration
system
Design of Atmospheric Tank
Operating Conditions ..

If the liquid material consists of several liquid components or a

liquid mixture and is considered as an ideal solution, the
boiling point of the liquid mixture can be determined from
bubble point equation, as follows:

y K .x
o
1 Pi
i i i Ki
P
where y, x = mole fractions in vapor and liquid phases,
respectively
K = equilibrium constant
Design of Atmospheric Tank
Tank Dimensions ..

Design equation of tank volume: 2

V 1,....V f D H
4

V = volume of tank = design capacity

Vf = volume of liquid material that will be stored
.. = over design (20-40%)
Design of Atmospheric Tank
Tank Dimensions ..

D / H optimum = yielding minimum annual cost

Small tank:
c1
D 2H
c2 c3 c4 c5
Criteria of small tank:
- If the value D*(H 1) 1720 (for butt welded shell)
- If the value D*(H 1) 1515 (for lap welded shell)
- Diameter of tank 45 ft
- Thickness of shell plate in
- Volume of tank 71.534 ft3
Design of Atmospheric Tank
Tank Dimensions ..

D / H optimum
Large tank:
c1
D 4H
c2 c3 c4 c5

c1 = annual cost of fabricated shell

c2 = annual cost of fabricated bottom
c3 = annual cost of fabricated roof
c4 = annual cost of foundation
c5 = annual cost of land
Design of Atmospheric Tank
Tank Dimensions ..

Thickness of shell plate:

P.D
ts , min c
2. . max
D = diameter of tank
= joint/welding efficiency
= strength of material construction
c = corrosion allowable = 0,125 in

P is usually approached with hydrostatic pressure at 1 ft

above tank bottom, P = . g/gc. (H 1)
Design of Atmospheric Tank
Tank Dimensions ..

Thickness of bottom plate:

.H .D
t s ,min c
2. . max
D = diameter of tank
= joint/welding efficiency
= strength of material construction
c = corrosion allowable = 0,125 in
Design of Atmospheric Tank
Tank Dimensions ..

Thickness of roof plate:

P.D
t s ,min c
2. . max . cos
D = diameter of tank
= joint/welding efficiency
= strength of material construction
c = corrosion allowable = 0,125 in
= slope angle of roof
P = design pressure = 1,. x operating P (atmospheric)
Design of Atmospheric Tank
Standard Sizes ..
Pressurized Tank (Vessel)

For elliptical dished head, volume of vessel:

2 3
V 1,...Vf D L D
4 12

V = design capacity
Vf = storage capacity = volume of liquid
D = diameter of tank
L = length of tank
Pressurized Tank (Vessel)

(L/D) optimum
For ts 2, L/D = 6

For ts > 2, L/D = 8