Environmentally Friendly Corrosion Control Method for Fuel Storage Tanks

Inert Gas Padding of Fuel Storage Tanks. Inert gas nitrogen blanketing is a simple practice that is widely used in the chemical, food processing, petroleum storage and refining industries. Inert gas blanketing (padding) is the process of applying a dry and inert gas to a storage container or vessels empty spaces in order to control its composition and containment integrity. It can be implemented during production, storage, and transportation. It can be used in a wide variety of containers ranging in size from storage tanks with capacities of millions of gallons to quart-size or smaller bottles. Nitrogen is the most commonly used gas for blanketing because it is inert, widely available, and relatively inexpensive.

Primary Bene?ts. Blanketing helps protect stored product, product storage integrity and fueling system assets by reducing the oxygen content in the vapor space of a storage tank or process vessel, making it inert. This eliminates the possibility of fire or explosion, decreases evaporation, and protects the tank from structural corrosion damage caused by air and moisture. It also prevents air, moisture, or other contaminants from entering the vapor space and causing product degradation.

Quality of Product Stored. Some sensitive materials, especially refined fuels may experience quality degradation when they come into contact with oxygen, moisture, or other contaminants. Blanketing with an inert dry gas creates a slight positive pressure inside storage containers, which prevents air, water moisture wetting of containment surfaces and other contaminants from infiltrating and causing oxidative moisture degradation (corrosion).

Other Benefits. Blanketing a fuel storage tank with an inert dry gas has further advantages with regards to its ability to maintain a regulated low and or remotely monitored pressure to continually test tank top fittings and system piping. It has been shown that maintaining slight positive pressures will prevent water ingress through loose and exposed fittings at grade and within connection fitting and secondary containment sumps. Relatively inexpensive dry inert gas generation equipment once on site provides other optional revenue generation benefits such as nitrogen and dry air bulk and tire inflation vending.