Should nitrogen blanketing be installed for the heavy aromatic hydrocarbons and MTBE storage tanks? ? ? Help needed
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I am designing an oil depot that features two 2,000-cubic-meter storage tanks used to hold heavy aromatics and MTBE respectively; both tanks are equipped with internal floating roofs. Is it necessary to install a nitrogen blanketing system? ? Are there any regulatory requirements? There is no nitrogen source available at the oil depot for now. . . :(
Internal floating roof tanks don’t require a nitrogen seal – can you actually achieve such a seal? ? Does the crown have ventilation holes? ? Just a breathing valve? ?
I’ll answer your question! Let me see if I can help you. Our facility has a dome tank with a capacity of 3,000 cubic meters; it was originally designed for storing fuel oil, but later it was modified to store heavy aromatics. This dome tank doesn’t have a floating roof nor a nitrogen seal. As you mentioned, your design involves an internal floating roof tank for storing heavy aromatics, and it should be possible to do without a nitrogen seal. I’m not sure if there are any regulations regarding this. We also store MTBE in dome tanks without using a nitrogen seal; hope this can help you.
Does anyone know how to deal with this situation?
There are probably no regulatory requirements for installing a nitrogen seal; it is implemented for safety reasons, mainly to prevent fires. You’re referring to environmental protection requirements, and there are likely no mandatory rules in that regard
For chemical products such as MTBE, internal floating roof tanks are recommended to reduce losses, while nitrogen sealing is used for alcohol-based products. :(
Nitrogen is an inert gas, and using nitrogen sealing for items with strong volatility can be quite effective! If you have a floating roof, then a nitrogen seal isn’t that important!
Are internal floating roof tanks also required for the storage of heavy aromatics? We are dome tanks
This post was last edited by Liu Fengrui on 2016-9-3 at 10:43. In my opinion, it is not necessary to install a nitrogen seal. The purposes of installing a nitrogen seal are: 1. The intermediate materials are prone to oxidation and deterioration due to exposure to air； 2. The product is a volatile medium; safety and environmental protection must be ensured ； 3. Toxic substances, to protect the environment and human health ； Internal floating roof tanks already have an internal floating disk, so there is no need to install a nitrogen seal. But now, **with increasing demands for safety and environmental protection, it is also feasible to install a nitrogen seal.