Abstract: It is usually difficult to carry out tank opening inspection for atmospheric storage tanks when they reach the maintenance cycle. On-line detection technology has become an effective means for the general survey of corrosion status of storage tanks because of its advantages such as no need for tank opening, back-flow and tank cleaning. As an important reserve tool commonly used in petroleum and petrochemical industries, serious accidents may occur once atmospheric storage tanks leak or fail due to corrosion. Therefore, it is particularly important to use online detection technology to regularly monitor the corrosion state of storage tanks. This paper introduces in detail two emerging on-line detection technologies including electromagnetic ultrasonic wall climbing detection and alternating current field measurement from such aspects as the detection principles, adaptabilities, the advantages and disadvantages. Comparative analysis with the previous detection technologies indicate that the application of new on-line detection technology has positive significance for maximizing the protection of tank safety, as well as providing data and methods for the safety evaluation of storage tanks.

Key words: atmospheric storage tank, on-line detection, electromagnetic ultrasonic wall climbing detection, alternating current field measurement