MISTRAS TankPAC® is a surveying tool for assessing the tank bottom condition in aboveground storage tanks (AST) through comprehensive corrosion monitoring and defect identification.
Effective tank monitoring and inspection is essential in ensuring that storage tanks maintain their structural and operational integrity. Traditional inspections require complete asset shutdown before inspections can occur, which slows down production for the facility and creates a safety risk for inspection personnel.
MISTRAS offers comprehensive non-destructive testing (NDT) inspection for the non-intrusive screening and analysis of aboveground storage tanks with the TankPAC system. Bypassing the need to shut down and clean storage tanks before inspection is performed, TankPAC ensures that internal defects do not accumulate into more serious damage.
TankPAC assessments also enable tank owners and operators to remain in compliance with regulatory standards, including API 653 and EEMUA 159.
TankPAC® Tank Bottom Inspection Services
MISTRAS can thoroughly test your aboveground storage tanks to identify leaks early with a low-cost inspection that is designed to minimize operation interruptions. Sludge and debris within storage tanks can prevent actual leakage from occurring, so serious damage can build up within the asset before any physical signs are present. AE testing helps owners identify the early warning signs of tank flaws, allowing for better planning of future repair, inspection, and maintenance.
TankPAC® is not an inspection method, but a “sorting” system that separates “good” tanks from “bad” and directs maintenance to where it’s most needed. Following a period of conditioning during which valves are closed and heaters/agitators turned off, highly-sensitive acoustic emission (AE) sensors are attached to the tank wall and the tank is monitored for the emissions that result from active corrosion on the tank floor.
The fracture of corrosion products is detected along with leaks that are active during the actual monitoring period. A percentage of this data is located by triangulation, but the most important information gained from a maintenance management point of view is the overall condition of the floor, which is given a grading on an scale of “A” to “E.”
Grades are based on empirical data, comparing TankPAC to out-of-service inspections gathered from thousands of tank inspections and validated through user groups along with many multinational oil & gas companies.
Using these results, tank owners and operators can determine when to open tanks for decontamination and internal inspections. In previous tests conducted by MISTRAS Group, more than 50% of tanks that were opened were shut down and opened for inspection were proven not to require offline inspection at all. TankPAC’s non-intrusive application enable tank operators to keep their assets in service, reduce maintenance costs, and enhance profitability.
Some advantages of TankPAC include:
- No need to empty or clean the tank before inspection
- 100% tank floor inspection capability
- Verified reliability
- Inspection and evaluation of annular ring
- Immediate results
- Rapid testing- 50-meter tank in one day
- Repair and inspection identification
- Avoidance of shut-down and cleaning costs for suitable tanks
TankPAC + Risk-Based Inspection (RBI)
By increasing tank reliability and efficiency, TankPAC cuts inspection costs and helps prioritize maintenance, making it easy to apply a risk-based inspection (RBI) plan and optimize your plant’s production.
TankPAC® annular ring inspections utilize AE testing and MISTRAS’ advanced AE software solutions, providing tank operators with plot diagrams that illustrate the location where potential damage is occurring.
For larger areas, like the tank’s shell and roof, automated ultrasonic testing (AUT) automatically maneuvers ultrasonic thickness transducers over a predetermined area of the tank, collecting and recording thickness readings, transferred to our proprietary UT software. The result is a color-coded display of tank wall thickness – an extremely useful visual representation of your tank condition, thinning areas, and locations of corrosion.
A focused RBI program manages the risk associated with operating assets like aboveground storage tanks. By managing that risk and implementing an RBI program supported by TankPAC’s™ real-time condition reports and MISTRAS’ non-intrusive inspection methods, tank owners and operators are now able to effectively address compromised sections of a tank’s mechanical integrity (MI) program.
Supplemental RBI programs can help extend inspection intervals of tanks in good condition between one and five years, as well as reduce intervals for tanks operating in poor condition.
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