Flight of the roof section of a storage tank

Abstract

Various storage tanks are employed in wind turbine, solar cell, and bio-mass energy systems to regulate fluctuation caused by weather or process transits. However, this accumulated energy might be released uncontrollably causing fire and explosions. The roof section of a storage tank is separated from the side wall by a preset pressure increase to minimize the explosion effect. In some cases, the separated roof moves beyond the planned limit; thus, damaging the missile. In an oil tank safety study, it was found that a small diameter tank generates a higher pressure increase than a large diameter tank, and that this pressure induces the lift of the bottom section. In this study, a simple model is proposed to estimate the flight velocity, angle, duration, and energy of the roof section of a storage tank.