The future of AST life cycle management

Dr Steve Ziola considers non-invasive, in-service leak detection, bottom plate assessment and sludge gauging for decades aboveground storage tank (AST) owners and operators have struggled, and spent millions, working to balance operational constraints, contractual requirements and AST integrity management. Even with no known leaks, state and federal regulations mandate costly and time-consuming periodic openings and inspections. Robotic technology has found its way into the industry and allowed for AST bottom plate inspection without personnel entry and in some cases, while the AST is in service. Even without personnel entry, AST’s must still be opened, bringing into play certain regulatory requirements and the associated cost. Robotics are not the only leak and bottom plate assessment technology breakthrough. In the early 1990s, in an effort to provide AST owners/operators a cost effective, non-invasive, AST assessment tool, the American Petroleum Institute (API) funded extensive research on the effectiveness of external, non-invasive, acoustic monitoring to interrogate AST bottom plating for leaks. This work addressed both development and implementation. That research led...