This document provides a technical critique and analysis of the tank farm and facilities at the Liberia Petroleum Refinery Company (LPRC) in Monrovia, Liberia. It identifies several safety issues including poor maintenance, exposed wiring, unstable foundations and tanks, and corrosion. It recommends applying API 510 standards to inspect and repair existing tanks to reduce costs, minimize environmental pollution, improve safety, and establish departments for maintenance and petroleum engineering to oversee the facilities. Applying the recommendations would help mitigate risks, extend the life of the existing infrastructure, and allow funds to be used for other LPRC projects.

1. THE STRENGTHOF A PETROLEUM ENGINEER

2. Supplementary analyses of the Liberia petroleum
refinery company (lprc)’s tank farm
Technical critiques
Prepared by:
ANSUMANA E.M. DUKULY, JR.
Final year petroleum engineering student
International university of east Africa
Kampala, Uganda
This paper is being presented in Monrovia, Liberia

3. TABLE OF CONTENT
Introduction
Safety analyses of the PST
Limitations and integrity
Piping system
The age of technical reasoning/contingency plan
Pollution
Conclusion
Recommendations

4. INTRODUCTION
 The Liberia Petroleum Refinery Company of Liberia is a government of Liberia’s
autonomous agency situated on Bushrod Island and Gardnerville in Monrovia.
 1956 construction began of the site and it was then called the Liberia Refinery
Company (LRC).
 Two American firms (sun-oil and dynelectron corporation) were in control of
finance and operations.
 First managerial staff was Hon. Cletus Wotorson
 1970s the facilities were gutted by fire
 1978 was bought by the Liberian government and it was later called the Liberian
Petroleum Refinery Company (LPRC) a nomenclature presently used.
 2012 a five years strategic plan for an expansion was agreed and approved by the
board of directors

5. • Based on HSE, in the petroleum industries, concerns are always being
given to safety. Some will say “safety is your life”
• How LPRC as survived so much dangerously like tis over the years?
• There are lot of deficiencies within tis direction but how can tem be
mitigated?
• Below are prevailing situations at the PST Tank Farm
SAFETY ANALYSES OF THE PST

6. • Stairways up the tanks
are much more critical
tan looking at the partial
views
• Employees especially
from the
OMS/PIS/Operations/Tec
hnical
sections/deparments are
always at risk

7. If we looked at the way
the roof is being zinced,
this design and
construction can ignite
fire at anytime, and the
distance from the roof to
the valves are very short.
It is unacceptable in any
flammable environment.
Suggestion: this may be
changed to clay roof
Have we forgotten
about the 1970s fire
incident?

8. Integrity of the floating roof is being
under serious hydrological challenge as
well as the grounding.
The white arrow shows the weakness of
the conduction of electricity where the
wheel is always rolling on the ladder
when there is reduction in the product
and the black arrow is an indication of
water sitting on the roof that is not
coated or even protected from electricity,
this invites corrosion and reduces the life
span of the tank.

9. Water being retained on tank one’s roof resulting into corrosion and an opening
which as caused an increase in the volume of H2O

10. The level at which the product is being
loaded into this floating roof (Tank 4)
is not an API standard and such much
be avoided at all times. This height will
have the tendency of damaging the rim
at an earlier time before one can even
think because of the difficulty involved
in maintain the external floating roof
tanks, it is highly advisable to avoid
using it in Liberia. Using the floating
roof doesn’t mean that you are 100%
free from loss of products, though it
will be minimized, but wen it comes to
integrity and stability, then the fixed
cone roof will be the best option in
Liberia instead.

11. This is a red-line death trap.
The direction of the arrow indicates that
the stability will result into death or serious
injury at anytime when there is a collapse
or fall from such distance

12. The stairways' flow of tank
408 has completely being
distorted and seems
completely dangerous from
the on looks these dangers
can be mitigated using API
510 without spending much
money (repairs and services)

13. The two red arrows indicate
the roof of the pump house
and the loading rack most
known for AGO respectively.
It is a non-standard way to
roof these two important
location within the PST with
ZINC because of proximity of
the roof and its ability to
transfer heat to flammable
materials like PMS.

14. The loading rack of LPRC is a
first of its kind I have ever seen in
recent times. The red arrow shows
a Ventilation of a loading rack
must be handled with care at all
time. A well automated water and
foam jet-system must be installed
in the roof, the blue arrow shows
tat the wiring must be under the
ground instead of the way it is
being exposed, and the roof itself
must be of clay-like, as indicated
by the black arrow an example of
this can be found in TOTAL
LIBERIA’s Compound. The
distance from the offices must be
at least 150 ft. these are all API 653
Standards.

15. LIMITATIONS AND INTEGRITY
Building a support for pipes
must be totally looked into
especially the geo-technology,
soil’s information etc. the
arrow shows an old constructed
support, now that people will
argue that pipe supports are
meant for grounding but with
this example, an itinerary
indication shows the pipe being
uplifted, so what do we do in
such a case? Ground the pipe
itself and the support will be an
additional grounding for
lightning control.

16. Poor erosional control results
into soil disintegration and
this affects the support system
The black arrow shows the
flow of the water and the
yellow sows its aftermath were
the support is being
meaningless based on
subsurface weakness. Further
the environment is being
seriously affected as well.

17. Looking at the integrity of the
new pipeline under construction
by a contractor company (green
coast. As time goes by, soil
stability will not be the same and
therefore the need for grounding
of the pipe itself is paramount
because there will be an actual
displacement of the pipe away
from the support

18. Electrical control boxes of
TOTAL LIBEIAAND
LPRC.
The yellow arrow shows the
box that belongs to LPRC
and the blue arrow shows
that of TOTAL LIBERIA. If
we looked at all two boxes, it
is clearly understood that the
box belonging to LPRC is
being installed at the most
negligent level. Electrical
installation especially for
pumps of products delivery
must never be made of iron,
TOTAL installed a coated
rubber so in case of spikes it
can be quickly maintained.

19. Synopsis within the box
belonging to LPRC sows
how the multi-connection
is being done and in case
of spikes, the
consequences will be very
high

20. Waooo is this wiring
system possible within a
PST? The PST is exposed to
extreme danger (a time
bomb!!!!)

21. PIPING SYSTEM AND API 510 ON EXISTING TANKS
• Inspection aboveground and buried piping
• Some terms used merit explanation and are as follow:
• Above-grade This means above the ground
• level, i.e. ground level is known as ‘Grade’.
• Holiday survey - The test carried out to find pinholes in a paint, epoxy, etc., or
wrapped coating is known for some obscure reason as a holiday test. A high
voltage (20 kV or more) is applied across the coating and any pinholes or cuts
show up as a stream of sparks. Hence it is also sometimes called a spark test.
Both methods are recommended for LPRC depends on the technical expertise
of the piping engineers. There needs to be a department for petroleum and
piping engineers.
• It is beautiful to have all existing tanks at retention

22. The piping system of LPRC is
a wonder and seems a time
bomb, specifically the entire
facility is dangerously
wonderful. It is advisable to
bury all the pipes for future
protection of the farm.
Exposure of pipes especially in
PSTs for example LPRC,
where maintenance,
inspections, and rules are not
properly executed.

23. Current tanks farm
of LPRC at a
glance

24. API 510
API 510 is being a special recommendation for the following reasons:
1. Liberia has a donating revenue drive by generalization
2. Based on technical observations, most of the tanks are still stable
3. Costs will be minimized and a new tanks-farm will be commissioned
4. Time duration will be minimized and acceptable
5. Surpluses of funds that could only be used on the present farm on
Bushrod shall be used to complete other LPRC’s projects around the
country e.g. Ganta, Buchana, and maybe Sinoe
6. Employment opportunity will be certain
7. Most of these tanks can be repaired and properly serviced without using
much money

25. TANK ONE
The foundation of tank one
wasn’t properly engineered as a
result, years have gone and it has
tilted. If this tank is being gauged
from the tree points, the readings
will be different and the height
will also be different, therefore, it
is advisable to apply API 510 only
on the foundation and the roof
since the structural integrity of
the shell still remain technically
perfect. LPRC doesn’t need to
spend a lot in the name of new
tanks

26. THE DOME OF THE ROCK (TANK SEVEN)
 Dome roof tanks are mostly being used in the middle east especially the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
 Their stability are perfect
 Integrity is one of its kind
 Long lasting
 Etc.

27. Tank seven is also stable but fair,
it is advisable to take the
following steps as indicated by the
arrows.
Most of the tanks within the
facility have had soil formation
and foundation problems
(topography and geotechniques
were lacking), but corrections can
still be made as far as technology
is concerned.
The redline indicates wherein the
dome will be removed and
replaced by a perfect fixed roof,
and the sub-surface foundation
can be used to revamp the
support as well. The shell of the
tank is still useful.

28. THE AGE OF TECHNICAL
REASONING/CONTINGENCY PLAN
it is been a difficult time for LPRC; because of these technical difficulties, the birth of pipeline contingency plan
was approved.
What is a contingency is tis case?
The contingency pipeline is to be run from NPA’s marginal wharf to LPRC’s Jetty line.
Its distance in actual sense will be 2251 ft. wit approximately 125 sleepers to be constructed as supports
This pipeline will run beside the very shore of the NPA’s fence and it will be used as an emergency pipeline till
the new jetty is completed and commissioned, but will later be used for the future. It is a national project.
Lets look at analyses of the future!!!!!!!

29. FUF
LINE
the FUF line is viewed
from tank four and
the three arrows are
indicating the
direction of the line

30. The distance from
the shore as a
topological proximity
is less than 10 ft.
disregarding all that
will negate it soon.
When compares to
what motherwell
built, it worries any
engineer from the
qualitative stances

31. The proximity distance is
estimated at 43 ft. as the
shortest distance, other
proximity are longer than
that. This is a way to the
jetty

32. The lonest arrow shows the
direction of the pipe from the
LPRC’s PST the red arrow at
the rear sows the pipeline
direction to the NPA marginal
wharf, the blue arrow shows
an optional direction instead
of the line tat is closer to the
sea. The white arrow sows the
direction of the distance wit a
proximity of 31 ft.

33. ADDENDUM
The existing jetty
The new jetty
which seems
reasonable to o
way

34. Since the construction of
the new jetty is ongoing,
it is highly advisable to
revamp portion of the old
jetty especially the
berthing to tat it will be
connected to the new jetty
as it is completed and you
(LPRC) will have a
double berthing dock for
tanker sips to reduce the
time of waiting in cases of
traffic

35. POLLUTION
A project site
of SRIMEX
&ECOFUEL.
An excavation
is carried on
and deep
down the
subsurface
there is spill.
How?

36. A view from tank 7 looking
at the Du River.
Fame of oil discharged can
be seen from distance.

37. MAINTENANCES
Poor
maintenance
is also
another
form of
pollution. A
synopsis of
tank 6

38. A flow out into
the Du River
from the PST

39. CONCLUSION
• Now that few analyses are being made, LPRC in general is very use to pollutions and environmental abuse
• Technical team is not been listened to properly
• No department of petroleum engineers/facilities engineers and every PST is a must
• The department of maintenance as created serious problems on the tanks farm and they must et at work
• The technical/operations department is the most important department and must have preferences at all times
• Etc.

40. RECOMMENDATIONS
• The new jetty should be connected to the old jetty especially at the berthing end to curtail future
traffic as the economy of the country will improve
• The direction of the FUF line is being a mistake, there is a room for adjustment of the shore line by
increasing the distance from the pipes thereby reducing future or nearby buckling if it were to be a
national project
• Apply API 510 on all the tanks except tank four hundred seven (407) which is highly recommended to
be completely removed and replaced.
• The API 510 will reduce costs in the expansion project and increase revenues probably to take on
different LPRC’s projects
• Environmental pollution must be curtailed at all times
• Maintenance of tanks should be a must and even paramount
• Risks of all kinds are daily observed in the PST and HSE and safety must be respected.
• Note: LPRC is never safe and everyone is on the time bomb, interestingly all employees are use to the
risks
• Protection of employees should be on the administration agenda because the site is highly a place of
cancer growth because of H2S which is dangerous gas in the petroleum products.

41. THANKS