Ammonia Tank – Dakota Gasification

26 Dec Ammonia Tank – Dakota Gasification

Thermacon has designed, engineered, manufactured and installed storage tank insulation products throughout the world for over forty years. They have designed innovative products that have exceeded the needs and satisfied very specific and vigorous industry standards for various clients in multiple industries. We are very proud of the work that we do at Thermacon so in this blog and some of our upcoming blogs we would like to focus on some successful projects that Thermacon has completed.

The Dakota Gasification’s Great Plains Synfuels plant is the only commercial-scale coal gasification facility in the United States that manufactures natural gas. Rated as the cleanest energy producing plant (based on stack emissions) in North Dakota, the synfuels plant uses anhydrous ammonia as the reagent for its groundbreaking scrubbing system.
Anhydrous ammonia is key to the plant’s processes and the range of co-products the synfuels operation produces. In 2013, Dakota Gas was ready to expand its anhydrous ammonia storage in Beulah, North Dakota. The design, fabrication and construction of the 30,000 ton ammonia storage tank presented a number of challenges – including potentially frigid temperatures in the extremely harsh North Dakota winter. The vast size of the storage tank, temperature requirements and aesthetic requirements all promised a challenging project.
The 170’ diameter single containment tank was designed and fabricated per API 620 Appendix R and API 625. The tank weighs approximately 1000 tons empty; with 11 million gallons of product inside, it weighed in at nearly 93 million pounds. In addition to the tank’s 685 tons of steel, an extensive insulation system was required to maintain a very low operating temperature of minus 28 degrees Fahrenheit.

We used a Thermacon Insulation System by Vertarib Inc., a panel system with four inches of polyisocyanurate foam with an aluminum outer sheathing. Insulation was applied to the tank’s exterior after the exterior coating system was applied. The specially designed lap roof was constructed, painted and insulated on the ground inside the tank and air raised into place. Once the roof was in place, the tank’s exterior insulation and the roof insulation were connected and sealed.

The result was a mammoth tank, capable of holding over 11 million gallons of anhydrous ammonia, that will safely serve the customer’s multi-product clean power system and the surrounding communities for decades to come. This API 620 low pressure liquid storage tank was a recipient of the Field Erected Tank of The Year Award.

If your business or commercial industry is interested in any thermal cooling or insulation solutions, contact the professionals at Thermacon. Their engineers will work with you to select the proper materials that meet your operational needs and stay within your budget. Thermacon has been in business since 1971 and they provide the highest quality products and service in the industry. Give them a call at 877-815-8610 or 516-802-3766. Thermacon can design an insulation system that meets the needs of any industry.