Abstract: The paper introduces the popular corrosion detection and monitoring technique of metal oil tank and several corrosion detection methods are compared and analyzed. It is considered that establishing corrosion detection systems is a future development tendency for corrosion detection and monitoring technique of metal oil tank. The authors put forward that the leakage detecting layer of tank foundation combines with acoustic emission technique is an effective means to timely detect the corrosion of metal oil tank and find tank leakage in time which is the base to real-time monitoring and situation-based repair of metal oil tank.