Bottom plates inspection of storage tank (on service). 1

[Eduardo1982]

Hey guys. Hope everybody is fine.
Do you know is there are any method, technique or other test that could be carried out to check bottom plates of a storage tank (it contains molten salts at 500°C)? We wish to know bottom plates integrity. We can access to bottom plate external (as it can be seen in picture attached).

ANy ideas?

 

[bala93]

Hello Eduardo1982,

It is possible to know the bottom plate of High temperature insulated tank integrity externally, but upto what extend matters,

There are methods such as Guided Wave Ultrasound Inspection and Acoustic Emission Testing(AET), If you want to know more about these techniques, please let me know

 

[Eduardo1982]

Yes Bala. It sounds great. How could i get more info about this technique? do you know any company what execute this test?

 

[LittleInch]

Just search Guided wave ultrasonic inspection.

The problem with GWUT and many other similar techniques is that they don't like welds and seeing past a weld gets difficult and less accurate.

As the base plate of your tank is likely to have many plates and many welds, you need to be able to tell the companies what they are facing so that they can tell you what is possible.

also if the tank is at 500C (WOW), hot hot is the bit of plate sticking out the edge of the insulation?

The only good way is to drain and clean the tank and the do a UT sweep of the entire floor.

What happens if you find a defect or a section with very little metal left?

Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.

 

[MJCronin]

Is this a molten salt storage tank for a Solar Energy Thermal Storage Facility ?

What was the Code of Record for this flat bottomed tank ?.... Certainly not API-650 or 620 ... The 500C temperature is waaaaaay too hot

What are the ASTM/EN/UNS designation used for the materials in the baseplate and shell ?

Is there any protection for the concrete ringwall from long term exposure at this high temperature ?

MJCronin
Sr. Process Engineer

 

[Eduardo1982]

MJCronin.
Yes.. service is molten salts. and API650 is the only code that these tanks follow-up up to now.