Using synchronized hydraulic jacks, Egypt’s Petroleum Projects & Technical Consultations Company (Petrojet) was able to raise the largest floating roof tank, which was awarded the Guinness World Record, for its crude oil storage facility in Sinai. To lift heavy loads that are vital to any industry, operators study the best fitting lifting system in the market. Usually, hydraulic jacks are chosen over normal jacks, for their ability to lift heavier loads to a great height. Hydraulic lifting jacks do not use a huge amount of force, yet they achieve their targets. They have been used in several industries such as oil and gas, mining, construction, automotive manufacturing, and more.

Petrojet and Guinness World Records

A floating roof tank is a type of storage tank that uses pontoons in order to ensure having a seal against the wall of the tank in an attempt to decrease evaporation. The floating roof tank further prevents “the buildup of dangerous gases that often occur with flammable liquids,” according to ScienceDirect’s ‘Pipe Drafting and Design, Third Edition’.

Petrojet implemented the largest floating roof tank in Ras Badran. The tank has a capacity of 175,000 m3, which is equivalent to around 1.1 million barrels of crude oil. Moreover, the Ras Badran floating tank’s diameter reached 115 meters and its weight exceeds 3000 tons.

The Ras Badran floating tank was ranked as the world’s largest floating roof tank in the Guinness World Records. Moreover, during the MEED Projects Awards 2021, the floating tank was named the MENA Oil and Gas Project of the Year.

In order to efficiently establish the Ras Badran floating roof tank, Petrojet utilized a double-deck floating system using over 240 hydraulic jacks.

Hydraulic Jacks

Jacks are used in lifting or moving heavy equipment and loads. Hydraulic jacks use liquids like jack oil or hydraulic fluid to achieve force multiplication.

Hydraulic jacks differ from the other jacks’ types due to their higher lifting capacities, which made them the perfect choice for the implementation of the Ras Badran roof floating tank.

The way hydraulic jack operates is based on a fluid mechanics concept called Pascal’s Principle. When two cylinders are linked through incompressible fluid, the pressure applied on one of these cylinders is imparted to the second cylinder via the connecting fluid. Although the pressure in the two cylinders is the same, the produced force is greater at the cylinder with the larger area. Thus, “the lifting force of a hydraulic jack is amplified directly by the ratio of the surface area of the two pistons,” according to Ed Edwards article published by Thomas.

Hydraulic jacks have two common types, bottle jacks and floor jacks, as well as less common types such as toe lifting hydraulic jacks, leveling jacks, scissor jacks, screw jacks, and rachet jacks.

Hydraulic jacks have proved efficient in many industries. They work to help many industries lift loads in no time and with no hazards. From construction, mining, as well as oil and gas, hydraulic jacks keep succeeding. In the petroleum sector, hydraulic jacks have been a convenient tool to success, helping the Ras Badran floating roof stand out.