Oil Storage and Transport Equipment, with Special Reference to the Application of Welding
Primarily owing to the special nature of the fluids handled in the oil industry, welding has thoroughly established itself, and is being increasingly employed in all phases of oil refining and handling. Various types of tanks, treatment vessels, and pipe lines of all-welded construction are now being used for the most searching fluids, with complete absence of the joint leakage which occurred with the older methods of construction. Welding methods also show substantial reductions in material and site costs. In order to indicate the very large number of examples of welded construction as applied to the storage and transport of oil, the subject is dealt with on the basis of a flow sheet which shows generally how an oil, found abroad and conveyed to this country for refining, is handled from the time it leaves the well until it is ready for the consumer. Reference is mostly made to commonly used liquid petroleum products such as motor spirit, lubricating oil, furnace, and Diesel oil. The handling of these products is described with reference to the methods employed by one or two well known concerns, but such methods are typical of those employed in other parts of the world.