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Category: Bristle Blaster

CS-011 Floating roof repair of the crude oil tank

Tank parks are located all over the world. Many of these tanks contain crude oil or derivates of oil. Characteristic for these tanks is the floating roof. This floating roof moves up and down in relation to the volume of the tank. These roofs are subject of corrosion attack. Holes due to corrosion in these roofs need to be fixed for safety reasons.

Challenge

Oil storage tanks are huge and the floating roof of a tank can have a wingspan of tens of meters. Wrapping the complete roof would be a ridiculous task and a very costly operation. Also hot work in these areas is not possible because of the flammable and explosive materials in the tank. In such cases we will perform the repairs by using a combination of plates, to cover the holes glued to the roof itself, and carbon cloth patches. Also here Putty (compressive modulus filler) and Primer are applied prior installing the carbon patches. Preparation of the roof is done by using pneumatic tools to roughen the surface.

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CS-007 Repairing a carbon-steel pipeline 11 meters above the ground

Repairing a tee using composites needs a special training program. During Level-1 training courses applied by CTE BV applicants will be trained according ISO 24817 and/or ASME PCC-2 standards. If applied correctly the number of layers over the defected area should count 4-8 layers. In this case one of the girth welds needed to be strengthen by applying a carbon fiber and epoxy composite repair. This operation is a very common activity that trained installers perform daily.

Challenge

The particular challenge in this case was working at height and with a High Temperature solution. Access to the repair area was complicated due to the lack of being able to bring in aerial platform equipment. Scaffolding was the only possibility for the installers to save repair the tee. Although the cost for scaffolding and other safety precautions did increase operational costs, the composite repair was preferred above replacing this part of the pipe. Finally the high ROI (Return on Investment) did decide management to carry out the repair.

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