Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Frangible roof design of anchored tanks

At the API committee meeting in November I brought up the subject of the frangible roof design requirements. In particular I asked about the requirement if 5.10.2.6.d which says "For anchored tanks of any diameter, the tank shall meet the requirements of 5.10.2.6.a and the anchorage and counterweight shall be designed for 3 times the failure pressure calculated by F.6 as specified in 5.12." One of the requirements is in 5.10.2.6.a.5 which gives the maximum area of the compression ring that you can have and still be considered frangible. I asked if this requirement can be removed when the tank is anchored since we have to design the anchorage for 3 times the failure pressure which is based on the actual area of the compression area. After some discussion the committee as a group decided that you still must meet the area requirement of 5.10.2.6.a.5. What this means is that for smaller diameter tanks meeting the frangibility requirements is very difficult. For shop built tanks built to Appendix J meeting the frangibility requirements is next to impossible.