Underground tank is most often used forstorage of specific liquids in various industries. Its use eliminates the influence of external factors on the content, allowing you to preserve the properties of the product for a long time.
Underground tanks are used not only inindustries, but also in people's daily lives. They are often used as fire tanks in enterprises where there is no water source. In industry, an underground tank is used to store petroleum products, acids, fuels and lubricants, oils, drinking and industrial water. They are located strictly horizontally, on the basis of concrete. In the oil refining sector, the main purpose is to preserve the products obtained from oil refining. Underground location of the tank reduces the possibility of contamination of the surrounding area and protects the contents from exposure to high temperatures in the summer. Also storage of containers under the ground allows to substantially free up the production area and use them with maximum efficiency.
Underground tank is equipped with two hatches.One is used to fill and collect the liquid, the second is intended for inspecting the tank and assessing its condition. Each tank has sensors that determine temperature, pressure and fuel level. Filling or intake of fluid is carried out using special pumps equipped with an explosion-proof system.
At the device of the underground tank it is consideredthat the ambient temperature may fall below the freezing point of the stored fuel. In this regard, tanks are equipped with a heating system. If they are located in the northern regions, the heating system is equipped with a pit in which the reservoir is located. Also, the pit should be at a depth below the level of soil freezing. Such measures are necessary to conserve heat and reduce the influence of climatic conditions on the contents of the tank.
Among other things, the underground tank is equippeddevices that determine the pressure, temperature and level of fluid inside. There are also instruments for sampling and determining content.
The tank is a container of steel.Depending on the future content, they are available with different bottoms. The cylinder with a flat bottom is designed to store products with oil content, the pressure of which does not exceed 40 kPa. The conical bottom makes it possible to store the same flammable substances with pressures up to 70 kPa. Also, depending on the destination tanks can be single-walled or double-walled. The former are most often used for storing industrial or drinking water. Double-walled tanks are used for aggressive liquids.
Installation of underground tanks made of steel for water storage reducesfluid losses due to the influence of solar radiation, reduces heat loss, and also due to the underground location allows rational use of the area of industrial enterprises. Tanks for the storage of petroleum products help protect the fuel from external factors. It is also necessary to provide for the construction of an access road in case of an emergency and the need to pump out the fuel. Underground tanks are designed to operate in a temperature range from -40 to +40 degrees Celsius and air humidity up to 80%.
The installation of the tank takes place on a speciallyprepared site. The bottom of the pit is settled down with a sand pillow up to 30 centimeters thick and compacted with rubble. Then the waterproofing layer is laid and the site is filled with concrete. The thickness of the concrete pad should not be less than 20 centimeters.
The height of the well depends on the height of the tank, andlayer of land above the tank should be up to 1.2 meters. Well cover slab of reinforced concrete with holes for the hatches. The surface of the slab must be insulated; for this, bitumen is usually used, which is hot applied to the surface. In order to bring the reservoir hatches to the surface, cast-iron hatches are installed in the openings of the slab, and around them wells are made of bricks 2 x 2 meters in size. The surface near the wells must be equipped. To do this, a blind area is made of stone fastened with a concrete solution, and after solidification a layer of sand is laid. The walls of the well are also treated with liquid bitumen.
The construction of underground tanks is carried out withtaking into account the terrain. The following factors are taken into account: the maximum summer and minimum winter temperatures, the wind rose, the maximum load of snow cover and the type of soil. If there is a large percentage of groundwater in the ground, the tanks are additionally attached to a concrete base.
The operation time of underground tanks depends onthe type of liquid that is stored in them, and can be from 10 to 50 years. Despite the fact that these tanks are intended for underground use, sooner or later metal corrosion occurs. The dismantling of the underground tank should be carried out by specialists using special equipment, since there is a danger of poisoning by toxic vapors and gases. The removed tank is sent for recycling, and the room in which it was located is cleared for future use.
В настоящее время резервуары пользуются огромным in demand due to its advantages. When using such storage facilities, a significant place remains on the territory of enterprises, and the contents of tanks are not exposed to external factors and retain their properties for a long time. The location of tanks below the surface of the earth helps protect fuel or other liquids from temperature extremes and possible seismic activity.
