Vapor Leak Detection for an Underground Storage Tank System
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 132, Issue 8
Abstract
This paper presents a mathematical model for the pressure inside the vapor space of an underground storage tank (UST). Using mass balances based on dispensing activities, vapor recovery, evaporation, leaks, and the safety vent, the model resulted in a system of nonlinear differential equations with unknown parameters, leak rate and evaporation rate. Given the leak rate and evaporation rate, the pressure inside the UST can be obtained by solving the system of differential equations numerically. Given the pressure inside a UST over a period of time, one can find the evaporation and leak rates such that the calculated pressure from our model best fits the given pressure data. This optimal value of leak rate can allow us to determine whether the UST system is leaking and if the leak rate is above the EPA standard. Numerical results and statistical analysis of our model are also presented.
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Acknowledgments
Part of this paper is based on the senior thesis written by Brian Lehtinen and Michael Pyzocha between September 2002 and April 2003 under the supervision of Professor Roger Lui. Substantial improvement of the model, further testings, and statistical analysis were carried out by the writers during the summer of 2003. They would like to thank Robert Hart of the Veeder-Root Company for supplying them the data and for his assistance throughout the project. They would also like to thank Professor Yi Hua Ma and Professor David Olinger of the Mechanical Engineering Department at Worcester Polytechnic Institute for helping them to understand the different effects being modeled.
References
Chen, M., Nandram, B., and Petruccelli, J. (1999). Applied statistics for engineers and scientists, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
Crowe, C., and Robertson, J. A. (1985). Engineering fluid mechanics, 3rd Ed., Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 132 • Issue 8 • August 2006
Pages: 926 - 930
Copyright
© 2006 ASCE.
History
Received: Jul 1, 2003
Accepted: Dec 21, 2005
Published online: Aug 1, 2006
Published in print: Aug 2006
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