Traditional Water Conservation Techniques in India

Water conservation is a practice needed for survival. In India, various techniques are used to save water, which are practical and climate-responsive. From the age of the Indus valley civilization, till today many practices are seen in different parts of India. The traditional practices used for conserving water and even cooling buildings in ancient times. Forts surrounded water bodies for protection from enemies. Indians continue to build structures to catch and store the monsoon rains. Some unique water conservation techniques are still practiced in India and are efficient. These are sometimes better than the presentday water-saving techniques. The paper summarizes the transformation over the years in the construction and advancements of water conservation practices in India. In dry regions, these practices have helped people survive tough times. Keywords: Rain water harvesting, Storage, Tanks, Traditional methods, Water conservation

Research on the Safety and Security Distance of Above-Ground Liquefied Gas Storage Tanks and Dispensers

Many countries lack clear legal requirements on the distance between buildings and petrol station facilities. The regulations in force directly determine the petrol station facilities’ required distance to buildings, and such distances are considered relevant for newly designed and reconstructed buildings. Public buildings must be located no closer than 60 m to the above-ground liquefied gas tanks and liquid gas dispensers. Still, based on engineering calculations and the applied technical measures, it is possible to determine a safe distance for buildings that are constructed, extended and reconstructed, to which superstructures are added or whose utilisation method changes. The paper presents the results of calculations devoted to determining a safe distance between public buildings and LPG filling station facilities, using selected analytical models. The analyses were carried out for the LPG gas system commonly used in petrol stations, consisting of two gas storage tanks of 4.85 m3 capacity each, and a dispenser. It is legitimate to eliminate the obligation to observe the 60 m distance between LPG filling stations and public buildings and the mandatory distance of 60 m between liquefied gas dispensers and public buildings is not justified in light of the implemented requirements to use various protections at self-service liquefied gas filling stands.

Vinyl Acetate Emission Rates and Explosions in Tank Farms in Dilovasi and Yumurtalik, Turkey: A Case Study

The emission estimations for vinyl acetate from storage tanks located in Dilovasi and Yumurtalik, Turkey, were completed by using the US EPA standard regulatory storage tanks emission model (TANKS 4.9b). Total annual emission was determined to be 7,603.15 kg/year for Yumurtalik and 6,057.06 kg/year for Dilovasi. In addition, ALOHA software was used in order to define emergency responses required in the case of vinyl acetate leakage based on different scenarios. According to ALOHA program modelling results, the threat regions occurred were 113 and 236 m for the red threat region, 299 and 663 m for the orange threat region, and 790 m and 2.0 km for the yellow threat region for vinyl acetate toxic vapour in Dilovasi and Yumurtalik, respectively. The threat regions determined were 10 and 15 m for the red threat region, 9.14 m for orange threat region, and 20 and 49 m for the yellow threat region for modelling of flammable area for the vapour cloud of vinyl acetate in Dilovasi and Yumurtalik, respectively. The amount of thermal radiation was determined to be 10 kW/m2 at a distance of 9.96 m from the tanks in both Dilovasi and Yumurtalik during a jet fire.

Reliability improvement of steel storage tanks for phosphoric acid

The paper describes the one-sided welding method for steel structures based on the rational choice of the inverse angle of butt-welded elements of Belgian steel for the manufacture of tank bottom elements of intended for phosphoric acid storage in a construction site. It is shown that the most expedient method for ensuring the design geometry of the tank with a minimum stress of 1.4507 of the material structure, is the bottom sheets preset for welding at a reverse angle of 12 degrees.The proposed method improves the tank reliability for storing aggressive products, its trouble-free and technical safety during the operation. The need is shown for studying the replacement of imported steel by Russian steel to manufacture tanks from alternative nonmetallic materials.