UNDERGROUND STORAGE TANK REQUIREMENTS

 Kerb wall of minimum 300 mm height shall be provided in the UG tank Farm Area to
contain accidental overflow.
 A minimum of 3 M clear distance around the tank shall be maintained (from
structures / boundary wall etc.,).
 Vents shall be located / terminated at a distance of 15 M from electrical hazards.
 Pressure / Vacuum vents for Class - A product and free vents for other class of
products shall be provided. Vent shall be at minimum 4 M height from the grade
level.
 The open end of free vent pipe shall be covered with two layers of non- corrodible
metal wire gauze having not less than 11 meshes per linear centimetre and shall be
further protected from rain by hood or by suitably bending it downward.
 The petroleum products shall enter a tank through closed piping system / coupled
electrically continuous and sound hose.
 The manholes should be 30 cm above the grade level.
 Corrosion control measures shall be undertaken.
 Hydrocarbon (HC) detectors shall be installed near all potential leak sources of class
“A” petroleum products i.e tank dykes, tank manifolds and pump house manifold.
These detectors shall be placed in a way that entire possible source of leaks and
collection of products is continuously detected and alarm is set at 20% of lower
explosive limit of class A.
 Flash Back Arrester (Flame arrester) should be fitted to Vents as per IS 11006:2011.
 The breather valves for the blanketed tanks and low pressure tanks shall be provided
as per API STD 650 and API STD 620 respectively. Where tanks are blanketed,
breathing-in will be from the blanketing gas system. Necessary control valve shall be
provided for supply of blanketing gas at constant pressure. The tank shall be
provided with a safety valve by way of lift disc/diaphragm or any other suitable
device. Gauge hatch and other manholes shall be of gas tight construction.
 The tanks shall have provision of level instruments for sending audio visual alarms to
the control rooms. All the alarms shall be of different type so that the “H” level
alarm, “HH” alarms can be distinctively identified
 Piping shall be designed for handling of hydrocarbon liquid as per “ASME B 31.3:
Process Piping” or API 5L or equivalent as applicable.
 Buried piping shall be protected against physical damage and corrosion with suitable
protective coating.
 Steel flanges should conform to the applicable provisions of ASME B 16.5 or
equivalent.
 Steel screwed fittings and couplings shall conform to ASME B 16.11 or equivalent.
 Pumps shall be located in an exclusive paved area with drainage facilities routed to
ETP.
 Tank lorry loading / unloading pump house shall be positioned at an elevated level
and shall be well ventilated on all four sides.
 Open roof Pump house are to be provided with suitable IP protection for the
equipment.
 A network of drainage system shall be provided to collect oil drains from various
equipments, gantry areas, pump houses etc. They should also collect surface drains
from places where oil spillages are likely to occur.
 Electrical equipment including the lighting system shall conform to hazardous area
classification. The hazardous area shall be classified as per IS: 5572. The electrical
fittings / equipment in the respective classified area/ zone shall be of a type suitable
for the particular area/zone as per classification in line with IS: 5571.
 The resistance value of an earthing system to general mass of the earth should not
exceed.
o 4 Ohms for electrical systems and metallic structures.
o 7 Ohms for storage tanks
o 1 Ohm for main earth grid, and bonding connections between joints in
pipelines and associated facilities.
o 2 Ohms for each electrode to the general mass of the earth.
 Installation earthing design shall be carried out in accordance with the requirements
of Central Electricity Authority Regulations -2010 and IS: 3043 or equivalent system
recognised by statutory authorities under the petroleum act / electricity act All earth
connections should be visible for inspection to the extent possible.
 In tank truck loading and unloading gantry, 6 mm Sq. braided copper wire with one
end firmly bolted to the Loading Unloading Arm / hoses and the other end provided
with G.I / Copper / Non corrodible metal crocodile clips are to be used, the crocodile
clips being attached to the tank-truck under loading or discharging. (For External
Bonding of Loading unloading arms/hose with the Tank Truck).