Title: Development and application status of internal floating roof used for petrochemical storage tank

Authors: Wei Liu

Addresses: Sichuan Fire Research Institute of Ministry of Emergency Management, Chengdu, 610036, China

Abstract: Internal floating roof (IFR) could act as the core component to inhibit the evaporation of combustible vapour and decrease the fire explosion danger effectively in the petrochemical storage tank. However, some fire safety accidents about the internal floating tank still occur during the practical use. In this paper, the related fire accidents have been collected and analysed, in an attempt to investigate the potential fire hazard of IFR. Development and current situation of IFR product have been summarised and discussed here, and its fire-resistant weakness also has been extracted from the common products in term of structure and materials comprehensively. And the development tendency of IFR from the internal floating tank has been discussed finally. Moreover, this paper mentions and compares the standard and regulation about the requirements on the fire resistance and fire test of IFR from China and abroad here. [Received: March 23, 2024; Accepted: October 13, 2024]

Keywords: internal floating roof; IFR; fire resistant weakness; structure; material; standard.

DOI: 10.1504/IJOGCT.2026.150571

International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology, 2026 Vol.39 No.1, pp.97 - 105

Received: 14 Mar 2024
Accepted: 13 Oct 2024
Published online: 17 Dec 2025 *

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