How should the instrument cables in the tank farm be arranged?

1. There is no specific requirement regarding the parallel distance from the process pipelines; it can be determined based on specific circumstances, as long as the requirements for installation and maintenance are met. If it is a steam pipeline, a certain distance is necessary to prevent overheating； 2. It’s not good to place it directly on the tank; if there is a steel platform, angle steel can be welded to provide support ； 3. There must be something in the process; otherwise, it would just be a few empty jars placed there ； 4. Personally, I think it is better to run the instrument cables in the tank area through protective tubes and bury them underground, before leading them to the external wiring box outside the tank area. This approach results in a neater and more attractive appearance, and it also facilitates maintenance in the future.

Just to add. I think it’s okay not to bury it. Lay it using small trough boxes.

Just use trough boxes; process pipelines definitely have pipe racks.

We use tray boxes; they run along the process cable trays outside the tank area, and along the bottom of the protective walls inside the tank area. The tray boxes are buried beneath the tanks, and the section from the base of the tanks to the connections is protected with galvanized pipes.

Cable trays have not been used before; what do they look like exactly? Are they similar to cable trays without covers?

1. If the process system includes support pipe racks, this is the ideal situation; the instrument trays can be installed along these pipe racks. It is important to ensure that the trays are not directly below the process pipelines, in order to prevent corrosion caused by drips of process fluids. 2. When there are no supports, it is pulled directly from above the tank; can my cable tray also be placed on the tank? The cable tray needs to be supported; generally, there is one support every 6 meters. The distance between tanks is usually more than 6 meters, so it is not appropriate to place the cable tray on top of the tanks. 3. When there are no specific process requirements, should I choose a cable tray or embedded installation? What are the advantages of each option? There’s nothing for the process – how can you set up the cable tray? If a separate control pillar were provided for the structure, the cost would be too high, and the owner would not agree to it. Therefore, in such cases, cables generally have three ways of being laid: buried in trenches, buried directly with armor, or buried underground through official channels. The biggest inconvenience of burying it compared to using a cable tray is that once it’s buried, any changes require digging it out, which is rather troublesome. The landlord needs to learn more about the installation specifications for instruments, haha.

5# nihaomaaa, could you please explain to me in more detail what a slot box is? Thank you

For tray lengths over 300, a support can be installed every 3 meters; for tray lengths under 300, a support can be installed every 1.5 or 1.2 meters

9# dys-zwy: Is this based on standards or something you’ve derived from your work experience?

The tray boxes we use can be considered as cable trays as well – they are essentially cable channels with covers; ours are made of fiberglass, with support every three meters.