Chemical tanks are containers that function to store chemicals, which are defined as a substance that has a specific chemical composition. Chemical tanks that are fabricated from plastic materials provide superior resistance to harsh chemicals that no other material can match.
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Plastic chemical tanks are often utilized in chemical storage, chemical processing, chemical draining, chemical filtration and transit applications in industrial settings. In addition, the pharmaceutical, aerospace, laboratory and chemical manufacturing industries all use plastic tanks to safely store aggressive materials. Polypropylene, polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) are all plastic materials that are strong enough to resist most harsh chemical erosion and damage. Some of the many chemicals that have little to no effect on all of these plastic materials include: copper chloride, ferric chloride, glucose, hydrochloric acid and calcium sulfate. In terms of design, the most common construction seen in chemical storage applications are tanks with dome tops and flat bottoms. Cone bottom tanks are used for chemical draining, while horizontal transit tanks are for chemical delivery. As an additional safety feature, many tanks that hold chemicals exhibit double wall construction, which protects against spilling.
Chemical tanks that have been fabricated from certain types of plastic materials have the ability to hold aggressive materials that have negative effects on many other types of materials-mostly chemicals which are at either end of the ph scale and have reactions with common substances. For instance, polyethylene and polypropylene are chemically resistant enough to hold alkaline solutions, mineral oils, amines, jet fuel, hydrogen peroxide, sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid and sodium hypochlorite. However, polyethylene is a much more chemically-resistant material than polypropylene. PVDF, on the other hand, is able to hold even stronger chemicals that these other two polymeric materials cannot, including benzene, toluene and inorganic acid solutions. In addition, PVC is able to hold such aggressive chemical materials as: aniline, sodium carbonate, citric acid, ethylene glycol, hydrobromic acid, zinc sulfate and more. However, PVC is typically a less chemically-resistant material than polyethylene, polypropylene or PVDF; however, for certain chemicals PVC does perform better than polypropylene. Unfortunately, while certain plastics are the number one choice for chemical applications, all harsh chemicals will cause small cracks, an unavoidable process called crating, in plastic materials. Thus, in certain applications, metals such as stainless steel and titanium are preferred.
