Analysis and design of a vertical sectored tank

This article describes the conceptual design and the structural analysis of a vertical cylindrical partitioned tank for an international chemical company. Vertical cylindrical tanks are commonly used in the chemical industry worldwide as vessels to contain liquids. Most of these plants have reduced area for the installation of the container tanks. Many of them need to renew their manufacturing process according to the new technologies and requirements. In addition, in some cases, the preparation of mixtures is carried out on small surfaces. All this factors led to the idea of designing a vertical sectorised tank, considering that alternative hydrostatic pressure cases can lead to eccentric loads on the upper surfaces. Therefore, bending stresses and compression and tension stresses will occur. A Finite Element Method calculation was performed to determine the wall thickness fulfilling the structural requirements for two distinguishing design alternatives. This article describes the particular models designed and the detailed FEM simulation and mechanical calculation carried out to determine the optimized solution of partitioned tanks with a diamond-shaped inner bracing system that manages to meet all the structural, manufacturing, constructive and environmental needs with a target thickness of 12 mm.