Brittle Fractures of Cylindrical Steel Storage Tanks for Petroleum and Petroleum Products in the North

• Published in: IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science
• Main Author: Buslaeva, I I
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: IOP Publishing 2022
• Subjects: Yakutia
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/988/5/052057; https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1755-1315/988/5/052057; https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1755-1315/988/5/052057/pdf

Abstract This article discusses brittle fracture accidents of petroleum and petroleum products storage tanks that occurred in Yakutia. Operational safety of tanks in the cryolithozone is reduced by harsh natural and climatic conditions, the uniform and differential settlements of the shell and bottom, long-term operation associated with the degradation of structures and materials in such climatic conditions. The main factor contributing to brittle fracture is extreme low ambient temperature, which reduces the ductility and resistance to brittle fracture of steel of structures and welds. The uniform and differential settlements of the tank lead to appearance of dangerous stress-strain state of shell and its general and local deformations. A sharp change in the air temperature causes thermal stresses in the statically indeterminate structures of the tank. Analysis of tank accidents in Yakutia shows that places of crack initiation are assembly welds and their heat-affected zones, the metallurgical and corrosion defects of the base metal. Dangerous areas of the tank are shell-to-bottom connections and attachments of piping nozzles to the shell. The main cause of the considered accidents is the use of low-carbon steel that does not recommend to the oil tank operation in the climatic conditions of the cryolithozone.