Water injection facility
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Why are water injection facilities required for spherical tanks, and according to what standards are they designed?
It is mainly to prevent leaks at the bottom seal points, by allowing a water seal to be formed through the density difference between water and liquid hydrocarbons.
Sinopec – Design Specifications for Water Injection Systems in Liquefied Hydrocarbon Spheres – and – Design Specifications for Emergency Shutoff Valve Selection
The idea behind injecting water is to pour fire-fighting water into the tank after a leak occurs at its bottom, thereby raising the level of the liquefied hydrocarbons; this allows for backflow to be utilized in order to seal the leak. This approach not only reduces the amount of material leaking and thus lowers the risk, but it also facilitates the process of sealing the leak. To date, no design standards have been established for this method; only an internal document from Sinopec has been found as a reference.