Research On Lightning Protection And Fire Prevention Strategies For Large Storage Tanks

Against the backdrop of the rapid development of China’s petrochemical industry,the safety issues of large storage tanks have attracted much attention.Lightning strikes on storage tanks can lead to accidents such as explosions and fires,leading to severe domino effects and huge economic losses.Therefore,studying the prevention and control of lightning strikes on storage tanks is crucial for the safety of tank farms.At present,research on tank lightning protection mainly focuses on using lightning protection devices to protect tanks.In addition,the preventive measures for subsequent accidents of tank fires only consider the influence of thermal radiation and set tank spacing,ignoring the factor of lightning risk.Based on this,this article conducts research on lightning fire prevention and control of storage tanks.By optimizing the height and thickness of the tank wall to prevent lightning strikes,analyzing the lightning protection range of the tank at different wall heights and thicknesses,and combining the safety accidents caused by the domino effect,probability of occurrence,and lightning risk,reasonable spacing,wall height,and wall thickness of the tank are obtained.The main research content is as follows:Firstly,this article identifies and analyzes specific risk factors in three stages:oil and gas leakage,lightning damage to storage tanks,and fire spread in tank farms,based on specific cases.Among them,targeted research has been conducted on the main causes of oil and gas leakage,the main influencing factors of lightning damage to storage tanks,and the reasons for the occurrence of domino accidents caused by lightning strikes on storage tanks.Secondly,according to the theory of lightning protection,it was found that the walls of large storage tanks can serve as lightning protection,and their protection range is affected by the difference in height between the floating plate and the tank wall,as well as the difference in radius between the outermost tank wall and the floating plate.Analyze its feasibility,rationality,and scientifically,and combine it with the calculation of mathematical models to convert it into the impact of tank wall height and thickness on the lightning protection range.It is concluded that the lightning protection range of the tank will expand with the increase of tank wall height and thickness.Finally,the numerical simulation method is used to simulate the fire scenario of two adjacent storage tanks.With the tank height as the control variable,the distribution of thermal radiant intensity of the storage tank during combustion at different heights（21m,23m,25m,27m）is analyzed.According to the simulation results,based on the ALARP principle,the mathematical model is used to calculate and divide the risk area of the storage tank（unacceptable,allowable,acceptable）.By optimizing the height and thickness of the tank wall to prevent lightning strikes,combined with the probability of safety accidents caused by the domino phenomenon and the risk of lightning strikes,the optimized spacing of the tank is64m,the wall height is 24.5m,and the wall thickness is 15.75cm.At this time,the probability of a domino accident is 2.96×10^-7,lower than the national risk standards required by regulations,can effectively prevent and control the occurrence of lightning fire accidents.Finally,this article verifies the rationality,reliability,and economy of tank parameter optimization from the perspective of economic,personnel,and social impacts.