The present work analyzed the performance of electrochemical corrosion on the side of the
atmospheric gas storage tank G-03 in the oil refinery located in the North of Brazil. The main
world economic centers still need oil exploration to take advantage of its derivatives,
therefore, it is extremely important to maintain the mechanical integrity and operational safety
of the equipment that contribute to the physical-chemical transformation and storage of these
consumable products by society. In methodological terms, as for the approach, the work is
configured as a qualitative-quantitative research, as it sought to explain the phenomena
identified through visual assessments and numerical data in tables. As for the procedures, the
work was characterized as a case study, since it identifies, characterizes, evaluates the
interaction between the main environmental, structural, operational and chemical factors and
applies specific solutions to the corrosion problem in this tank. The main results showed that
the qualitative method of visual evaluation and the quantitative methods of thickness
measurement by ultrasound and depth gauge were satisfactory to define electrochemical
corrosion by differential aeration in waterline as the degradation mechanism acting on the
internal surface of the side of the G-03 tank. The maintenance performed on the equipment's
side was based on the analysis of the corrosion rate data and the estimated residual life of the
side rings of the atmospheric storage tank. This work revealed how the investigation of the
corrosive process in the atmospheric storage tank G-03 took place, from the basic knowledge
necessary about oil refinery, main processes of transformation of the raw material, equipment
and place of installation of the refinery to the interpretation of the data collected visually and
using instruments in the tank under study.
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