Aluminum, used for major aboveground-storage tank (AST) components, had advantages and disadvantages when compared to the conventional steel materials of construction.
For fixed-roof tanks, refiners can save money and gain imporved quality if they consider the advantages of aluminum over steel.
This article is the first of a two-part series that discusses the use of aluminum structural components for ASTs. The first article presents a comparison of covered tanks vs. uncovered tanks (tanks with a floating roof but no fixed-roof) as well as a comparison of aluminum-dome roofs (ADRs) vs. steel-cone roofs (SCRs). The second article compares various types of aluminum and steel internalfloating roofs.