The api 650 standard for building a steel tank is a standard above the rest. It’s one of the most common standards used for building tanks that are used primarily to store gasoline, oil, chemicals, and water storage. They’re commonly found across the country in places like pipelines, refineries, and terminals, and production plants. The api 650 standard is so highly regarded that its even used as a guideline to how storage tanks are constructed — from how they’re designed, to how their processed, inspected and installed.
Developed by the American Petroleum Institute, specifically for above-ground petroleum storage tanks, the api 650 standard has become the standard across the globe for constructing an above-ground liquid storage tank. Well known companies, like Heartland Tank Services, swear by the API-650 standard, and wouldn’t go with anything less when building their tanks.
Heartland Tank Services is a well-known, U.S-based company that provides solutions for high quality, liquid fertilizer tanks. The company has over 70 years of experience meeting the demands of their customers, and has a containment solution for every possible situation. Known for using high quality materials and tried and true construction methods, their experienced team ensures that each tank they build meets the api 650 specifications — a standard that many states actually require.
But why do some many states require the api 650 standard for building their storage tanks? It’s simple. Many simply believe that the api 650 standard ensures the strongest and safest tank possible. And individual states aren’t the only ones singing praises of the api 650 standard. In fact, The Fertilizer Institute also recommends following the api 650 standard when constructing new tanks.
The api 650 standard also ensures that tanks meet certain requirements. For instance, to stand up to the api 650 standard, any Aboveground Storage Tanks (ASTs) are required to be surrounded by a secondary containment area. These secondary containment areas must be able to hold 100% of any content that might be in the largest tank in the containment area at any given time. Also, any above ground storage tanks that are exposed to precipitation must have at least 10% capacity. Additionally, any secondary containment areas that are made from materials like concrete or other impermeable materials must pass a weekly safety check, whereas secondary containment areas made from other materials require a safety check every 72 hours.
The api 650 standard also makes sure that any welding done on any ASTs is carried out in accordance requirements like the Weld Procedure Specifications (WPS) and the supporting Procedure Qualification Record (PQR).
All of these requirements and standards are in place to ensure that only the best, safest, and strongest storage tanks are being used to store materials like liquid-based fertilizer, oil, gasoline, chemicals, etc. It’s standards like the api 650 standard that help prevent disasters from occurring, like oil spills that can have a domino effect of negative consequences. It’s better to be safe than sorry.
