Life Cycle Cost Calculation Software for Storage Tanks shows that Stainless Can be Best

Life Cycle Cost Calculation Software for Storage Tanks shows that Stainless Can be Best

Industeel has created a user friendly software program which provides a comparison of investment and life cycle costs for storage tanks.

The CalRes software has been developed to facilitate a quick comparison of the initial investment cost for high capacity storage tanks fabricated from different materials, including coated carbon steel and stainless steel grades. The program also allows you to compute a detailed cost analysis of the maintenance costs over the expected life of the equipment.

The CalRes software is based on the American standard API 650 and the French CODRES code for the wall thickness calculation. These standards, developed for the storage of oil based products, may be used for storage tanks for other products or for other industries. The development of this software has been carried out with the technical assistance and the contribution of companies specializing in each stage of tank manufacture.

The configuration studied for the cost comparison program represents a vertical, cylindrical tank, with a flat bottom and a self-supporting cone or dome roof.

This program will show that in many cases the use of stainless steels for building storage tanks may constitute a very competitive solution when compared to building tanks in carbon steels which require protection by painting the external surface and coating the internal surface.

Due to the increased mechanical properties of duplex stainless steel grades, it is possible to reduce the tank wall thicknesses and consequently obtain important cost savings related to material, welding and erection costs.