integral fuel tank in skid?
integral fuel tank in skid?
(OP)
People who claim long experience in "the oil patch" tell me that it's acceptable/ customary to construct a Diesel fuel tank within a steel skid simply by welding 1/4" plate between the channels that comprise the skid structure.
I.e., no leak detection, no alarm, no secondary containment.
Please direct me to any US or global standards that address the issue.
Thanks.
I.e., no leak detection, no alarm, no secondary containment.
Please direct me to any US or global standards that address the issue.
Thanks.
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA





RE: integral fuel tank in skid?
I have a bit of experience with Caterpillar gensets fitted with the skid doubling for the fuel tank. Never been any problems. I'm unable to guide you to a specific standard, but they have presented all the standards on the Earth for those gensets. There was some MIL standard compliance, I wouldn't be surpised with the White House stamp also. By the way, I suppose that you have a very complex fuel leak alarm in your car's tank, don't you?
cheers,
gr2vessels
RE: integral fuel tank in skid?
http://virtualpipeline.spaces.msn.com
"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." -Albert Einstein
RE: integral fuel tank in skid?
I submit that the chance of a leak going undetected is greater for an unattended Diesel genset, the extant case.
I asked because yacht and workboat builders are starting to require double wall tanks with leak alarms, as are now customary (and I think required in the US) for terrestrial stationary Diesels.
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: integral fuel tank in skid?
I think the yacht and workboat builders have to comply with zero discharge into navigable water regs. Which makes me think that if the diesel tank is going to an offshore platform, the platform guys will have built a drip pan underneath the space they are planning to put it in already.
http://virtualpipeline.spaces.msn.com
"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." -Albert Einstein
RE: integral fuel tank in skid?
I think it's going onto a platform. Is it customary for platforms to have drip pans under everything that could leak? Or is it required by some set of rules?
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: integral fuel tank in skid?
It will take years to corrode through 1/4" plate of a diesel fuel tank, skid enclosed underneath the engine. With some care, it might never corrode, despite the water content of the beast quality of diesel oil. Using a good coalescer on the fill line will help a lot;- you could have a handhole for inspection and test the thickness regularly, once a year, to identify the potential trouble spots. Once in a while, you might even clean the tank to remove any water accumulated in the botoom of the tank, painting inside is not impossible...Also, many good diesel tanks lasted longer than the ship itself...
RE: integral fuel tank in skid?
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: integral fuel tank in skid?
http://virtualpipeline.spaces.msn.com
"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." -Albert Einstein
RE: integral fuel tank in skid?
3.3.11 Drain Systems: Planning and construction of offshore production facilities should include methods to collect and direct escaped liquid hydrocarbons to a safe location in an “open drain”(deck or drip-pan drainage) system. All components subject to leaks or overflow should be protected by curbs, gutters or drip pans that drain to a sump.
This is similar to the guidance provided in NFPA 37 Standard for the Installation and Use of Stationary Combustion Engines and Gas Turbines
Protection is generally limited to an overflow line, a high level alarm and an automatic pump shutoff. Secondary containment is an alternative to the curbs, gutters & dikes mentioned above.
For a full blown discussion of the design of fuel tanks see NFPA 30 Flammable and Combustible Liquids Code.
RE: integral fuel tank in skid?
http://virtualpipeline.spaces.msn.com
"What gets us into trouble is not what we don't know, its what we know for sure" - Mark Twain