CASE STUDY:

Control of above ground storage tank (AST) tank bottoms is a serious concern over the life of a
tank. An essential type of corrosion control has been the utilization of cathodic protection (CP).
Over the long run, this existing method may fail at the end of their life cycle. Lately, vapor
corrosion inhibitors (VCI) have been prescribed to guarantee protection of tank bottoms. VCIs is
added as an aqueous slurry mixture under tank bottoms as a component of a retrofit of corrosion
control frameworks.
PROBLEM STATEMENT:
Failure of the AST takes place due to two root causes:
1. Failure at the bottom brought about by the presence of corrosive bacteria in the soil.
2. Failure of the Tank roof and the support beam.
This caused several tanks to fail in eight years of appointing, bringing about following losses:
(Reference:2)
1. Productivity Loss
2. Oil Contamination in Environment
3. Critical component downtime
Costs Associated with losses: ( Reference: 1)
Estimated Cost of Corrosion $0.40 per barrel of oil produced
Maintenance Cost 60% of all related to corrosion
Loss of Oil Production 10%
Production Industries $12.8B per year

FAILURE OF AST TANK BOTTOM:

Penetration due to corrosion in the tank bottom has been shown below:

Fig: (Reference: 1)
 ACTION OF VCI UNDER TANK SURFACE
Amine carboxylate based VCIs are utilized underneath ASTs. They are viable for counteraction
of metal corrosion when a VCI item is presented inside the interstitial space between the base
plate and sand pad. The instrument for corrosion control is the arrangement of a monomolecular
layer all through the soil-side surface of the tank floor. VCI atoms adsorb on the steel surface to
stifle both metal dissolution and the decrease reduction reaction. This adsorption is achieved
without the requirement for direct contact of the VCI substance on the metal surface.

EXPERIMENTAL SETUP:
1. For the purpose of demonstration of effectiveness of VCIs the following setup was considered –
two tanks, Test tank and control tanks were considered. While VCI was injected under the
bottom plate in the space between the plate and the sand pad, no VCI was injected under the
control tank.
2. Test Coupons made up of the 1018 Carbon steel material were inserted at the bottom of each
tank as shown in the figure below

Fig: ( Reference: 1)
3. The test coupons were taken out after 4 years of being under the tanks. The Corrosion rate
evaluations were carried out according to the standard ASTM G1-03.
4. The results for the Test tank and the Control Tanks was compared to see the effectiveness of the
VCIs.

TEST RESULTS:
The following test results were obtained:
CONCLUSIONS:
1. VCIs can be used in combination with other Corrosion prevention techniques or alone. They
can be installed under any tank and the design of the tank determines of the VCIs can be
placed while the tank is in service or if it is out of service.

2. VCIs can be replenished at anytime as needed over time without taking the tank out of
service.

3. Testing indicates that VCI has significant impact on reducing pitting corrosion. The samples
without VCI underwent pitting corrosion at higher rates, while with VCI more area was
corroded but the rate of corrosion was low, and the specimen underwent uniform corrosion.

4. Reduction in corrosion rate extended the life of the equipment and decreased the frequency
of maintenance.

FAILURE OF TANK ROOF:

The failure of the tank roof top mainly occurs due to crevice corrosion in the unprotected parts of
the top frame. Flexing of roof plates allows electrolyte to creep into the small spaces as cause
corrosion. Basic composition of atmosphere for crude oil storage tank is given below in table:

Component O2 SO2 H2S Cl- N2 CO2 H2O

Content % 4 1 1 0.5 70 12 0.5

As shown by the diagram below the coating do not cover the whole surface, also sharp corners
and joints are vulnerable to crevice corrosion. Also, the relative humidity inside the tank around
the roof top is nearly 100% and the temperature reaches up to 80°C. All these physical
conditions along with the presence of gases like SO2 lead to formation of Sulphuric Acid.

Reference 1
VCI ACTION NEAR THE TANK ROOF TOP:

VCI dispensers are installed on the roof of the tank. There are small VCI bottles inside the VCI
dispensers which contain the VCI. Liquid VCI inside the bottles volatizes into vapors. The Vapor
pressure forces the VCI molecules down through the opening into the tank vapor space. These
VCI molecules subsequently saturate the environment and form a protective layer which adhere
onto the metal surface. This layer prevents corrosion at molecular level. The action of VCI has
been depicted in the photo below:

EXPERIMENTAL SETUP:

Following procedure was followed to study the effectiveness of VCIs in preventing corrosion of
Tank Roof.

1. Two crude oil storage tanks were considered for the study purpose. Tank 1 did not contain
VCI and had less aggressive environment, whereas Tank 2 has more aggressive environment,
but it contains VCIs. The composition of atmosphere in each tank is given below:
2. Rate of corrosion was measured after 90 and 185 days of exposure. The readings were noted
down, and the experimental results have been discussed in the preceding Results section.

TEST RESULTS

After 90 and 185 days of exposure following results were obtained:

Even with more aggressive environment, 4 folds reduction in the rate of thickness loss was
obtained with application of VCIs.

CONCLUSIONS:

1. Four times reduction in rate of loss of thickness in the roof top was achieved by usage of
VCIs.
2. This decrease in the rate of loss of thickness translates to increased tank service life.
3. This corrosion protection system eliminates the need of expensive construction material i.e.
more corrosion resistant alloys. Instead inexpensive Carbon steel can be used in conjunction
with VCI.
4. Reduces the risk of environmental contamination, fire and explosion.