Still in perfect condition after four years of direct exposure
to the UAE desert environment

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• Still in perfect condition after four years of direct exposure to the UAE desert environment

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Project Details

A major UAE Operating Company at the heart of the UAE hydrocarbon chain that is engaged in the extraction of Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) from associated and non-associated gas has been successfully utilising the Denso Steelcoat™ Tank Base Protection System for the past four years.

The company plays a strategic role in the UAE’s hydrocarbon chain and are a vital enabler of industrial and economic progress. Other industries in this highly integrated chain include on and offshore oil production, petrochemicals, refining, fertilisers, water and electricity agencies and infrastructure industries such as steel, cement and aluminium smelting.

In 2013 and featured in a previous Denso Digest (Vol 31. No4: pages 10-11), the Denso Steelcoat Tank Base Protection System was chosen to seal the bases of a purified water tank in Qatar and a crude oil tank in the UAE.

The bases and chimes of Aboveground Storage Tanks (AST) present challenging conditions for corrosion prevention. Salt ladened aerosols and industrial pollutants can be deposited on the walls of an AST. Rainwater run-off from the walls will transport these accumulated deposits to the base of the AST forming a strong electrolyte and facilitating electrochemical corrosion. This can corrode the periphery of the tank base, the weld area and the lower wall. It can also cause crevice corrosion in the underside of the tank base. This will lead to metal loss, perforation and structural problems. The concrete annulus can also spall and degrade and any seal initially installed to the base of the tank at the time of construction can degrade by the action of weathering or become irreversibly displaced/compressed/debonded by the cyclic movement caused by emptying and filling the tank.

Corrosion of the steel, degradation of the concrete, and loss of an effective seal can create a route for the ingress of water to the underside of the tank causing damaging and unseen corrosion to the external base of the AST.

This can be particularly likely if the external periphery of the AST does not drain properly. The solution is the Denso Steelcoat Tank Base Protection System. During a recent visit to this important UAE customer to look at two new Denso Steelcoat Tank Base Protection System installations, the original 2013 application was inspected and proved to be in excellent condition after four years tough service.