Calibration.

of Storage Tanks
Class # 2070

Srini Sivaraman
SK Japan

Summary

The. paper deals with. an overview of various, tank Manual Method of Calibration
calibration technologies, from the. old and
conventional manual method to the most advanced
electro optical methods.. All the. technologies
presented herein have achieved standardization
status under API (American Petroleum. Institute)and. , C ircum ference M easurem ent L ocations

ISO (International Standards. Organization).. The

technologies presented, are. applicable, for vertical
cylindrical storage, tanks.

Background

The oldest and perhaps, the most conventional

method is. the calibration of tanks, by manual
strapping first issued as. an. API. Standard 2550 in
1965. Since. then new technologies have emerged, Thickness
however the. manual method continues, to be. the |
referee, method against which all. new and. emerging Butt Welded Lap Welded

technologies are tested, for industry acceptance.

FIGURE 1: Manual. Strapping. Method
Each of the. technology presented herein has its
unique place in the field of calibration, and. each.
presents itself ideally for application under specific
circumstances.. All. tank owners, should have a
general knowledge of various methods so that they
can make. an intelligent decision as. to the. choice, of
any given, method under a given field condition.

The methods, presented are: tank internal, diameter at each course knowing the.
course, thicknesses. The method is. covered under
1. Manual. Method API. Chapter 2.2A and.
2. Optical. Reference. Line Method ISO 7507-1 ..
3. Optical Triangulation Method
4.. Electro. Optical Distance Ranging. Method. As the. tank diameter and. tank height increases,.
determination, of tank circumferences at higher.
The. method, involves measuring tank diameters by elevation (other than the bottom course, generally).
manually strapping the. tank with. a tape at each. tends to. be more. and more. difficult and propagation.
course.. Depending on. tank diameter this can be of random errors, is. also likely at higher elevations.
achieved with. one. single, strap around, the tank or Yet the. method, has. been. in use of for more. than. half
strapped sequentially using the. tape. till the tank a. century and. is still regarded as the referee method.
circumference, is fully covered. The. method, results in for evaluation of all. existing. and future, emerging
external, circumference that is. then. converted into technologies..

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 Optical Reference Line Method ( O R L M ) trolley as seen. from the optical device)is, measured
at the. bottom course and the. reference
circumference is measured at the same location
using conventional, manual method.

E The magnetic trolley is then moved along the tank

shell wall and the deviations in. the shell wall at each
course are measured optically. The. reference, offset
/
, Optical Device and the. deviations from reference offset along the.
tank shell wall are measured at a number of
G . . . . . ~ C horizontal stations around the tanks. (Figure 2A). The
number of horizontal stations selected is. a function
of tank diameter. Using the reference offset,
reference circumference and the deviations,, the
A
diameter at each course is computed
HORIZONTAL STATIONS mathematically.
OPTICAL REFERENCE LINE METHOD
The. method can be applied externally and internally
FIGURE 2A N O T E : Plan view shown for 8 stations on floating roof and fixed roof tanks. The main
advantage of this method is that measurements at
higher elevations, are taken optically and. no. physical
strapping is involved. The method is covered under
API Chapter 2.2B and ISO 7507-2.

Optical Triangulation Method (OTM)

Optical Reference Line : A, B .... Horizontal Stations T, L = Theodolites ~ ,,_ _.,

A(X,Y): Coordinates //
s/"S
D ,
~ Reference Line T,," /

T2 1
ws I !.
Seam
Magnetic Trolle Tl , T2 .... For External Calibration
[~ - -. .L. . . . . . . . ~ ~aeference Diameter T...D, For Internal Calibration AI, A2....ANHorizontal Stations
Scale ~ -~ Reference Offset
D - ReforenceDistance
a, 13: Coordinate.Angles
t
/ / ~ Optical Device
F I G U R E 3A: Optical Triangulation Method Internal

FIGURE 2B" Optical R e f e r e n c e Line M e t h o d i

0

i
,

Target Poi.ls ~

Ring3

{
, ,

E
ii Ring2
! i
1
i
A21 AN
i Ring1
1
An optical reference line is established using an
optical device. A magnetic trolley traverses the tank 1

height intersecting the optical reference line. The

reference offset (the scale reading on the magnetic F I G U R E 3B: op~c~ TriangulalionMethod

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 Electro Optical Distance Ranging Method
(EODR)
i
|

: D "

| f r, ¢z, 13: Spherical Coordinates

i A

!
E a
2 rmters Stada
~ : Vertical angle / / ~

T' and T2: ~ i t e s

B
Rgure 3C~Optical Detawination of Distance'17'

~ t i c a l Device

F I G U R E 4"Electro Optical Distance Ranging Method

The optical triangulation method also known as. OTM This method is. by far the. most sophisticated and.
is. an extension, of the optical, reference, line. method most advanced, compared, to all others. This is
and more advanced in technology application. The. primarily an. internal, calibration, technology where in.
method can be applied internally or externally. the. tank profile, is. established using spherical.
However OTM is better suited and more easily coordinates (distance,. and angles), as. illustrated.
adopted, for internal application as. the optical under Figure 4. The. spherical coordinates, are
devices, can be located, in one single, location for the established at each course at various, horizontal.
entire calibration.. The method is covered under API. stations on. lines similar to. the previous methods.
Chapter 2.2C and ISO 7507-3. Once the tank distance, is. measured from a fixed
optical ranging device, location inside, the tank, the.
There. are. two. theodolite stations, located at a. tank diameters, can. be. computed mathematically
distance. "D', as. illustrated in. Figure. 3A.. This distance. using the distances and. the angles..
is first measured accurately using the optical devices.
(with. a 2. meter invar stadia)as illustrated, under The method can. be. automated to scan the. tank
Figure 3C.. By measuring the angles o~.and 13 at the automatically both. horizontally and. vertically.. This.
target points, on 2 meter stadia the distance. "D" is. method is covered under ISO 7507-5. for internal.
computed mathematically. application.

With the two. theodolites, at a known, distance "D", the. Application

target points on tank shell wall are. determined, by
triangulation, as illustrated, under Figure. 3A.. For each For tanks that are. not insulated the manual method
course, the tank is. traversed, horizontally (A~ ...AN). is. applicable in all. tanks as. has been the case for
and tank shell, wall is defined, by triangulation.. The more. than. half a century. However these, alternate.
number of such horizontal stations, for each. course. technologies offer distinct advantages. ORLM. is
will. depend, on. the tank diameter.. From. the distance. ideally suited, for internal, and. external, application of
"D" and the. angles of the triangle the best fit circle is. floating roof tanks and. for external, application, of
computed mathematically using regression, analysis. fixed, roof tanks..

This. method, provides, capability to carry out OTM and EODR are. applicable for fixed, roof tanks
calibration from. ground level, and without any with tank entry while, retaining the. insulation outside.
manual strapping.. In the final analysis the. choice, will depend on a

162
number of factors, such as entry or no entry,
insulated, or not insulated, space, around the tank,
and the availability of the technology locally to name
a few parameters of importance.

API Chapter 2.2A provides, guidelines, for technology

selection.

Other Corrections

Irrespective of method used for field calibration,

other corrections, will be. required, in accordance with
API Chapter 2.2A or ISO 7507-1 for development of
the tank capacity table.

• Floating roof correction

• Dead wood correction (distribution)
• Tilt correction
• Tank shell, temperature correction
• Hydrostatic head correction

In addition based on roof leg position and the.

floating roof pontoon design, the critical zone should
be established for floating roof tanks.

Conclusions

The tank owner has now multiple choices, for

calibration and or re calibration of tanks.. Technology
selection guidelines presented in API Chapter 2.2A
may be used to in selection of any given, technology.
There is. no need to blindly select manual, strapping
(as the only method) for calibration.

Equally the new technologies do. provide added

safety and reliability as well. In the final analysis
these may very well. dictate mandatory selection of
new optical methods, for calibration. The manual
method may still be maintained as the. referee
method for use under controlled environment.

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