Challenge
A nationwide petroleum company had an API inspection deadline on a 110’ diameter External Floating Roof Tank containing sour crude product. There was an acute hazard in the tank for pyrophoric materials, materials which ignite in the presence of oxygen without an ignition source. The petroleum company understood that they would need an all-star team to degas, clean, and inspect this tank.

Solution
Envent has degassed numerous sour tanks with pyrophoric hazards. In fact, this extremely sensitive operation is standard procedure for Envent. Many rounds of planning occurred to prior to the project to ensure that every piece of equipment and every fitting was in place. Nothing can be out of place with tank degassing, and especially for pyrophoric tanks. Envent coordinated with a nitrogen supplier to provide the inert atmosphere required to safely degas the tank. Envent’s thermal oxidizers were staged to burn down the explosive atmosphere of the tank. By carefully controlling the pressure and atmosphere of the tank, Envent’s expert technicians were able to carefully bring the tank to an inspection-ready state, two weeks prior to the deadline.

Benefit
While a safe sour tank degas has no small price tag, it is well worth it to the tank owner. With such an acute hazard, there is no room for error. Otherwise, the costs could include property damage, or worse, a life. With Envent’s extensive experience with rare and dangerous tank operations, shouldn’t you trust them to provide you with these degassing services?