The effects of extreme winds on atmospheric storage tanks

The impact of hurricanes, tornados, severe storms, or more in general extreme winds can damage the equipment of industrial plants, leading to the loss of containment of hazardous material from the damaged structures, which in turn can pollute or evolve to catastrophic scenarios involving fires or explosions. This type of accidents is known as Natech (Natural hazard triggering technological accident). Among natural events, extreme winds can affect atmospheric storage tanks, due to their intrinsic structural vulnerability combined with their capacity to store large quantities of hazardous material, often flammable. In this work, the authors have evaluated the vulnerability (and the fragility) function for storage tanks impacted by extreme wind loads for the aims of industrial risk assessment., taking into account either the structural damage or the loss of containment. Monte Carlo simulations method estimates the uncertainty associated with the random behavior of the parameters of the model. A case study for a vertical storage tank shows that non-negligible risk occurs for filling level higher than 15%. The study offers guidance on how to include the wind-related phenomena as entry parameters for industrial risk assessment in geographical areas prone to strong winds.