The Influence of Sulfurization of Rust in Oil Tanks

Abstract

Hydrogen sulfide reacts with the corrosion products (Fe 2 O 3 ) in oil tanks to form iron sulfides. The oxidation and released heat of iron sulfides can lead to spontaneous combustion of iron sulfides and fire of oil tanks. In this article, the simulating production process of iron sulfides in oil tanks and the effects of flow rate of hydrogen sulfide, environmental temperature and setting time on the quantities and types of iron sulfides are studied.

SVM application in hazard assessment: Self-heating for sulfurized rust

“…In Sinopec Group or China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), these initial accidents occur regularly (Zhao et al, 2011(Zhao et al, , 2007. Such events can also trigger secondary sequences and cascading accidents leading to domino effects.…”

“…As the maximum temperature cannot be easily derived from the governing parameters values by explicit or theoretical relationship, several authors have investigated the oxidation process to determine the maximum temperatures based on experimental results (Walker et al, 1996;Zhao et al, 2007;Li et al, 2011Li et al, , 2006. However, for the purpose of monitoring and early warning, the maximum temperatures of oxidation self-heating cannot be entirely covered by experiments.…”

“…Nevertheless, the sulfurized rust in the inner cavity of respiratory/safety valve reacts with hydrogen sulfide and oxygen recurrently because of the oil delivery and reception as well as the big and small breath which gives more possibilities of self-heating (Qiao and Li, 2013). The oxidation self-heating process of sulfurized rust is susceptible to internal or external factors which comprise pH, water content, mass and constituents of sulfurized rust and operating temperature in oil tank, flammable gas volume fraction in ullage space, air flow rate through the respiratory/safety valve as well as flowing oxygen concentration from several studies (Walker et al, 1997(Walker et al, , 1996(Walker et al, , 1988Li et al, 2005;Zhao et al, 2007;Li et al, 2011Li et al, , 2006 and our previous experimental work. Furthermore, on the basis of the available literature (Yang and Wu, 2013;Wu et al, 2008;Hu et al, 2007), the temperature about 70 C is not only the critical temperature at which chemical oxidation takes place but also the smoke point temperature at which SO 2 formation occurs.…”

Density Functional Theory Investigation of the Sulfur–Iron Compound Formation Mechanism in Petrochemical Facilities

“…Most of the research on H 2 S corrosion of rust focuses primarily on experimental studies. Many scholars have studied the formation principle of iron sulfide compounds. − At the same time, some scholars have directly studied the corrosion products formed by the reaction of H 2 S and rust through experiments. − However, the formation conditions and processes of elemental sulfur and various iron sulfides in the product as well as the impact of elemental sulfur on the formation and spontaneous combustion of iron sulfides remain as areas that require further understanding. In particular, the effect of elemental sulfur on the formation and spontaneous combustion of different iron sulfides is not clear and is difficult to achieve in experiments.…”

Numerical Analysis of the Spontaneous Combustion Accidents of Oil Storage Tanks Containing Sulfur

“…Man [20] found that the smaller the particle size of ferric sulfide, the easier it is to ignite. Zhao [21] studied the effects of flow rate of hydrogen sulfide, environmental temperature, and setting time on the quantities and types of iron sulfides. The effects of the existence of water, oil, and monocrystal sulfur were discussed by Li [22].…”