PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to predict the residual life of liquid-storage tank to ensure safety and long-term service life of the structure.Design/methodology/approachThe paper carried out the stress analysis of the wall plate and bottom plate of the liquid-storage tank, and the influence of circumferential stress on the tank is considered. On the other hand, considering the influence of the tank wall surface on the tank life, based on the Paris law, the surface processing coefficient and surface roughness coefficient are introduced to improve the Paris law.FindingsThe effectiveness of the improved model is verified by comparing with theoretical and experimental data, which provide a new method for the prediction of the remaining service life of the tank. Combined with the fatigue crack data in the test report and the calculated circumferential stress, the residual life of the storage tank is predicted.Originality/valueThe improved model provides a new method for the prediction of the remaining service life of the tank.