Storage tanks are an important object in the technological chain of the processes of extraction, transport, and processing crude oil and gas condensate. The planned service life of the storage tanks is 20--40 years. However, in a number of cases, failures of storage tanks, associated with corrosion, are already detected after 1.5-2.5 years in service. According to the data of the American Petroleum Institute, approximately 19% of all leakage of hydrocarbon products is caused by corrosion damage in storage tanks [ 1]. It is therefore important to examine the existing storage tanks, and carry out the justified selection of the method of technical diagnostics and organization of diagnostic technology. Inspection of the storage tanks and recommendations, developed on the basis of the inspection results, should guarantee failure-free operation of the container up to the next inspection. At the same time, the frequency of inspection and the methods of diagnostics used for this purpose must be economically justified and have no influence on operating expenditure, i.e. the frequency of inspection and also the required sensitivity of the diagnostics devices, used in inspection, should not be too high. This can be achieved as a result of the careful analysis of the main reasons for premature failure of storage tanks and the data on the nature and intensity of damage.It is well-known that corrosion is one of the main reasons for failures of storage tanks [2]. Depending on the phase and chemical composition of the working product, service temperature, the system of anticorrosion measures, climatic conditions, etc, corrosion failure can take place on both the internal and external surface of the storage tank. In most cases, corrosion damage develops most rapidly from inside at the lower belt (the interface between well water and liquid hydrocarbons) and the dished end under the effect of well water (corrosion rate -0.4-4).6 mm/year), and also in the upper belt (phase boundary between the liquid hydrocarbons and the gas-air mixture) and the roof under the effect of the water condensate, atmospheric oxygen, and acid gases (corrosion rate -0.4 mrn/year). Corrosion damage is usually of the crevice type. Sometimes, when storing products with a high hydrogen sulfide content, corrosion cracking and hydrogen delamination is observed in components of the systems. However, crevice corrosion takes place most frequently, and in the currently valid standard documents for the inspection of storage tank corrosion failure is usually represented by this type of damage.The main devices for inspecting the development of corrosion damage are thickness gauges. The currently valid Russian standard documents specify that when examining the storage tanks to determine the wall thickness and detect the rate of corrosion failure, it is necessary to use devices with the measurement error not exceeding +0.1 mm [3]. The corrosion state of the internal surface of the storage tank is inspected usually once every 2-5 years. The periods of inspection are sele...
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