When Timing Is The Key

A tank leak can lead to a number of serious issues. A leaking tank, even with leaks as small as pinholes, may lead to costly repairs, tank failure and severe environmental contamination. Ultimately, it can lead to unfortunate consequences for operations. For these reasons, inspections are essential to identify potentially catastrophic tank issues. Unfortunately, many tank leaks go unnoticed until they create irreparable damage to an asset.

The Right Technical Capacity to Locate the Leak

A customer in East Asia suspected that their tank was leaking. Despite numerous previous attempts, they were unable to locate any leaks. More importantly, the operator lacked the technological capability to locate and confirm the leak. Since early detection of the presence or absence of small leaks is highly vital to avoid further tank damage, the operator reached out to ROSEN Asia Pacific to help identify the failure.

TBIT Ultra Tank Bottom Leak Identification Inspection Service

Without any inspection history with this tank, our ROSEN team had no reference regarding the actual condition. Most importantly, due to an already existing leak, we needed to push our limit to assess and complete the inspection as soon as possible. ROSEN proposed a combination of technologies, including the TBIT Ultra service to inspect the tank.

The TBIT Ultra service allows for a maximum coverage of the tank floor, including difficult-to-access areas such as under piping or heating coils. The main advantages of the TBIT Ultra technology are highlighted in this video.

The operator was provided with inspection findings quickly and now has reliable reference data regarding the leakage, as well as other potential features. After the inspection, the report specified 2 leaking areas with through-holes with minimum diameters of 3 mm at the bottom plate. Apart from leaking areas, the bottom plate was also affected by topside and soil-side corrosion with metal loss ranging from 10% to 100% in several areas.

The general image of the bottom plates’ interior condition:

The high-quality data provided by ROSEN enabled the client to take countermeasures and necessary actions to ensure safe operation of their tank. Based on the comprehensive tank bottom assessment, ROSEN experts recommended that the operator repair features above the previously identified repair threshold with patch plates for soil-side corrosion features. Additionally, we suggested to do full blast on the near-white condition as per SSPC sa 2.5 before coating application to achieve full intact coating.

By identifying the leak, the operator managed to avoid various liability costs while at the same time operating their tank safely and efficiently for a minimum of 10 years after inspection.

Watch a video of the inspection here.

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