Waterworks: Aboveground Storage
Corrpro services aboveground and underground storage tanks that store hazardous liquids and other industrial materials. We also provide protection for breakout tanks that relieve surges in pipeline systems.
Federal mandates have required storage tanks and pipelines that store hazardous materials to be outfitted with a protective coating and cathodic protection since August 16, 2012. Additionally, 25 percent of states require cathodic protection to be installed on new, refurbished or repaired tanks in contact with soil or sand foundations. This helps to ensure the safe containment of hazardous materials.
Corrpro's team of certified NACE engineers provides clients with the expertise to design these systems and help prevent failure and corrosion. Corrpro provides storage tank coating for corrosion protection as well as services to routinely monitor and inspect these systems to guarantee that they remain in compliance.
Federal mandates have required storage tanks and pipelines that store hazardous materials to be outfitted with a protective coating and cathodic protection since August 16, 2012. Additionally, 25 percent of states require cathodic protection to be installed on new, refurbished or repaired tanks in contact with soil or sand foundations. This helps to ensure the safe containment of hazardous materials.
Corrpro's team of certified NACE engineers provides clients with the expertise to design these systems and help prevent failure and corrosion. Corrpro provides storage tank coating for corrosion protection as well as services to routinely monitor and inspect these systems to guarantee that they remain in compliance.
The Corrpro/WRA Tank Mean Time to Corrosion Failure (MTCF™) program provides tank owners with a cost-effective means of minimizing the risk of leaks and of meeting regulatory requirements.
The Corrpro/WRA MTCF™ program of selected tank replacement and upgrading allows the tank manager to plan and budget for activities to minimize exposure to risk and meet regulatory requirements. Corrpro and WRA have developed procedures to:
- Provide the tank manager with definitive information based upon field corrosion engineering tests
- Enable the tank manager to prioritize tank replacement and upgrading activities in descending order of risk
- Protect good tankage with cathodic protection and tank lining retrofit programs
The Corrpro/WRA MTCF™ program is based on proven procedures that allow tank managers to plan, program and budget for tank integrity. It is a proactive means to identify requirements for upgrade and replacement to meet current applicable Federal (EPA) requirements
Recognizing that tank replacement is costly and that a significant number of tanks can be safeguarded against further deterioration by retrofitting with cathodic protection at a tenth of the cost (on average) of replacement, a number of major oil companies set out to determine if they could predict when tanks would fail. At first, they assumed that the rate of external corrosion was a function of age. However, they soon discovered that leaks and tank age were totally unrelated. In 1979, the American Petroleum Institute asked Warren Rogers Associates to examine the physical process of external corrosion to determine if a reliable means of predicting failures could be developed.
The rate of corrosion is a function of the characteristics of the backfill in which the tank system is installed. These include the resistivity, PH, electrical potential, moisture, chlorides, sulfides and stray DC. When taken alone, none of these characteristics when incorporated in a multi-variate statistical model were adequate for predictive purposes. However, a reliable means of predicting the rate of corrosion was developed. Using this model, the mean time to corrosion failure (MTCF) and probabilities of a leak could be established.
Since the corrosive characteristics of backfill vary greatly, even within a small geographic area, predicting MTCF for USTs is a site-specific task. The formulation of a mean age to leak establishes a narrow range of useful ages in which the likelihood of failure rapidly increases.
The rate of corrosion is a function of the characteristics of the backfill in which the tank system is installed. These include the resistivity, PH, electrical potential, moisture, chlorides, sulfides and stray DC. When taken alone, none of these characteristics when incorporated in a multi-variate statistical model were adequate for predictive purposes. However, a reliable means of predicting the rate of corrosion was developed. Using this model, the mean time to corrosion failure (MTCF) and probabilities of a leak could be established.
Since the corrosive characteristics of backfill vary greatly, even within a small geographic area, predicting MTCF for USTs is a site-specific task. The formulation of a mean age to leak establishes a narrow range of useful ages in which the likelihood of failure rapidly increases.
Federal EPA upgrade compliance requirements for existing underground storage tank systems have renewed interest in the problem of leaking tanks. The requirement that unprotected steel tank systems be replaced or upgraded is a common feature of federal, state and local government regulations.
Those responsible for underground tanks can benefit from the experience of major oil companies who have had tank management programs in place for nearly two decades. These companies have discovered that the cost of such a program can vary tremendously depending on the approach taken.
Corrpro and Warren Rogers Associates (WRA) joined forces over a decade ago to provide the most cost-effective tank integrity assessment technology called MTCF™ which has been implemented on a nationwide basis for major gasoline retailers, including Chevron-USA, Texaco, Getty and Southland (7-Eleven). Corrpro/WRA's joint experience in evaluating more than 70,000 tanks at some 22,000 sites in North America is unmatched.
Those responsible for underground tanks can benefit from the experience of major oil companies who have had tank management programs in place for nearly two decades. These companies have discovered that the cost of such a program can vary tremendously depending on the approach taken.
Corrpro and Warren Rogers Associates (WRA) joined forces over a decade ago to provide the most cost-effective tank integrity assessment technology called MTCF™ which has been implemented on a nationwide basis for major gasoline retailers, including Chevron-USA, Texaco, Getty and Southland (7-Eleven). Corrpro/WRA's joint experience in evaluating more than 70,000 tanks at some 22,000 sites in North America is unmatched.
