Technical Brief

sensors was installed around the circumference of the tank floor.

Monitoring of Above Ground Baseline data were collected to establish that the test system was
stable. A circular defect was introduced and the tests repeated. In
Storage Tank Floors Using this test a circular defect 50mm in diameter was detected and is
visible on the reconstructed image of the tank floor, Figure 3.
Ultrasonic Guided Waves
Leakage of fluids from above ground atmospheric storage tanks is
a major issue. Most countries have stringent regulatory
requirements for the avoidance of leaks of potential pollutants from
tanks, so that there is considerable pressure on tank and terminal
operators to ensure that leaks do not occur.

The monitoring technology, which has been under development at

TWI for a number of years, involves the use of low frequency
ultrasound to examine the whole of the tank floor from a number of Figure 2 8.5m diameter tank floor at Vopak (left) and 4m diameter
permanently attached sensors around the perimeter on the outside tank at TWI (right)
of the tank. The long distance propagation characteristics of the
ultrasonic guided waves used allow signals from one side of the
tank to be received by a sensor on the other side (up to 30m
diameter). By using combinations of transmit and receive amongst
the set of sensors, it is possible to cover the whole floor area. By
taking readings from the sensors regularly, long term trends in the
condition of the floor can be determined.

The circular geometry of these tanks allows a tomographic method

to be used to reconstruct an image of the tank floor from the
transmitted ultrasonic signals. The image is formed by collecting
information at many angular positions around the circumference of
the tank. Figure 1 shows the concept. A number of sensors are
placed around the edge of the tank floor. The transmitted signal
from a single transducer is captured by a number of similar sensors
on the opposite side of the tank. This process is repeated for each
sensor transmitting.
Figure 3 Tomogram (left) showing the response from a 50mm
diameter circular defect in the 4m diameter tank and a schematic
showing the defect location (right).
Further studies examined the effect of multiple defects on the
images produced. Figure 4 is an example where there are two
clearly-discerned 70mm diameter defects. There is also a diffuse
image from a 20mm diameter defect near the edge of the tank.

Figure 1 Typical fan beam data collection. One transmitter,

many receivers. Schematic of transducer arrangement (left);
an FEA image of wave propagation across a circular tank floor
(right).

Each ray path contains information about the ultrasonic propagation
along its length, so that the effects of any welds, attachments or
other features are all captured within the reconstructed image. This
is the same process as is used for medical tomography using X-
Rays or magnetic resonance effects. Such an image therefore
becomes a baseline of the tank floor condition at the start of
monitoring.
If the test system is stable the baseline signal from the floor should
not change over time. (There will be short-term fluctuations in the
signals arising from factors such as temperature, level of fluid in the
tank, and these need to be accounted for.) However, if a change
occurs in the condition of the floor, for example if a patch of
corrosion is initiated, then this will be reflected in the signals.
Figure 4 Image of tank floor containing two 70mm diameter defects
and a 20mm diameter defect towards the outside.
TWI is now launching a Joint Industry Project to validate that the
technique developed can be applied to tanks in the field and the
assessment meet the needs of the industry and for sufficient
operational data to be gathered in a controlled manner in order to
demonstrate to both tank operators and regulators that the
approach is valid. Organisations are sought to support this
innovative method of reducing tank operating and inspection costs.
The authors would like to thank the UK Technology Strategy Board
for funding this investigation and Nustar, Shell and Vopak for their
support with the project.

The capability of the technique has been demonstrated on an 8.5m For information on this project then please contact us by email
diameter tank floor provided by Vopak at their site in Thurrock, UK at info@plantintegrity.com or by telephone at our Cambridge,
and on a 4m tank at TWI, Figure 2. An array of 48 equally-spaced UK headquarters on 0044 1223 893994.

Plant Integrity Ltd

Granta Park, Gt Abington, Cambridge CB21 6GP
T: +44 (0) 1223 893994 F: +44 (0) 1223 893944
info@plantintegrity.com
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