JTC considering multi-tier storage tanks

Due to the shortage of land in Singapore, Jurong Town Corporation (JTC) is looking into the possibility of building multi-tier storage tanks for oil and petrochemical products. A JTC spokesman said, “The focus of this project would be to study the feasibility of stacking liquid tanks up with the aim of achieving at least 20 percent land savings, as compared with conventional tank layout of equivalent storage capacity. We expect to complete the study by January 2012.” Jurong Island can no longer offer ground space so the novel idea is now going to be studied, since it has never been used in a commercial setting. For now, the move is to go underground, and JTC is constructing an US$890 million underground Jurong Rock Cavern, one of the first that will provide storage capacity of 1.47 million cubic meters (cu m). Phase one will be finished by 2013. Before the year ends, JTC is expected to call construction tenders for the first floating oil storage of Pulau Sebarok. The first of the very large floating structure (VLFS) will have two rectangular floating modules which will have a minimum storage capacity of 300,000 cu m. JTC said that its projects are in line with the company’s land optimization and intensification efforts that seeks innovative ways to store petroleum and petrochemical products. (September 19, 2011)