American Petroleum Institute

Preparing Tank Bottoms for Hot Work - Sixth Edition
 N RP 2207

Annotation

This recommended practice addresses only the safety aspects of hot work on petroleum storage tank bottoms. It discusses safety precautions for preventing fires, explosions and associated injuries. The term hot work, as used in this publication, is defined as an operation that can produce a spark or flame hot enough to ignite flammable vapors. API 2009 provides more in-depth information on safe hot work practices and its requirements are not duplicated here.

This recommended practice does not contain all safety precautions and procedures that may be required prior to, during, or after a specific hot work activity. All hot work should be performed in compliance with applicable national, state and local regulatory requirements and recognized industry practices. Work practices of concern for working on tank bottoms, include but are not limited to: confined space entry, lockout/tagout, atmospheric testing, ventilation, and requirements for use of PPE. ANSI/API 2015 and ANSI/API 2016 provide guidance for tank entry consistent with OSHA regulations noted in the Section 2 References. This recommended practice does not repeat the extensively detailed information provided in those documents. Some of the relevant OSHA regulations from 29 CFR part 1910 and 29 CFR 1926 are included in the references. It is the responsibility of each organization to review and comply with applicable legal requirements.

The scope of API 2207 does not include:

— guidance for compliance with safety or environmental regulations or codes.

— engineering specifications for tank construction or rebuilding (see API tank standards).

— specific guidance for repair of shop-fabricated tanks which is addressed by Steel Tank Institute SP031. These tanks include those built to UL 142, API 650 Appendix J, Steel Tank Institute aboveground tank standards, as well as others.