Ultrasonic Thickness Testing for Compliance with AST Fuel Tank Inspection Requirements

There is much confusion about non-destructive testing as it relates to aboveground storage tank (AST) inspections.  Frequently, contract managers are unaware of what type of services are even being employed in the conduct of mandatory tank testing inspections for their respective facilities.  This paper shall focus on accomplishing ultrasonic thickness testing for API 653 and STI SP-001 AST Inspections.  Examples of state of the art as well as typical UT testing protocols shall be explained along with the advantages and weaknesses of each.  Enhanced graphical presentations of numerical data shall also be shown to illustrate ways to learn faster what the UT data streams are saying about the condition of a given fuel tank and its fitness for continued service.  The author conducts AST inspections on a routine basis and teaches the Certified AST Inspection course for the Steel Tank Institute across the country.  Neither the author nor his firm, Datanet Engineering, Inc. are affiliated with any manufacturer of UT equipment.