Polymers are important chemicals used in the headworks of wastewater treatment plants. They facilitate the flocculation or coagulation of solids in the wastewater to produce large curds of solid materials. They also aid in dewatering of digester cake — reducing the water content to make it easier and less expensive to transport waste materials to the landfill.

Polymers are highly viscous environmental stress cracking agents, which means they present unique storage challenges that require the right storage solution for adequate safety and cost effectiveness. Let’s explore these challenges and solutions.

Sodium hypochlorite is a chemical used in thousands of applications. As an aggressive oxidizer, it’s critical to limit the opportunity for the chemical to escape the storage tank. If you’re using a polyethylene tank to store oxidizing chemicals, you can multiply the useful life of your chemical storage tank by using an engineered polyethylene antioxidant tank system.

Peracetic acid is a bactericide and fungicide that is used in the food industry and wastewater management. It’s a potent chemical that must be treated with care and stored properly. Improper handling could be costly and result in personal injury.

We've recorded a podcast with industry experts Phil Harvey, Vice President of Operations and Jane Smith, Director of Marketing from Enviro Tech. We had an in-depth discussion about using and storing peracetic acid.

You can listen to the full podcast and / or read the summary below. Click on the download arrow in the player below to download or the play button to listen.

You can also download and favorite the Poly Processing Tech Talk Podcast from your favorite podcast player including iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, and YouTube. Just type in the search box in the player of choice "Poly Processing Company Tech Talk" and then favorite it or like it. That's all there is to it. 

When you design a chemical storage tank system, you have to consider the factors that impact the tank’s service life. Not only do you have to make sure that the tank material and fitting materials are compatible with the chemical you’re storing, it’s also important to consider the functionality of the tank — for example, how it responds to pressure.

You need to know exactly how much pressure your chemical storage tank can safely handle. This is an issue for every chemical tank, no matter what material it’s made of. Fortunately, cross-linked polyethylene storage tanks have remarkable durability compared to many other materials. That said, you need to know your tank’s pressure limits.

Once your food production facility outgrows your 300-gallon totes, it’s time to look into larger storage tanks for food storage and clean-in-place chemicals.

There are several options on the market to choose from, but you’ll need to consider which storage tank can meet your greatest challenges: FDA requirements, full-drain capabilities, and cost-effectiveness.

Properly treating wastewater is an important, but often misunderstood process. If wastewater isn’t treated correctly, it can be extremely harmful to our environment, including the people and animals that live in it.

On the surface, polyethylene storage tanks can look pretty similar. It isn’t easy to tell a well-designed and constructed tank from a cheap, inferior tank. Many customers don’t realize that there’s a standard for tank construction based on resin properties and testing. Others simply assume all tank manufacturers follow the ASTM D 1998 standards.

ASTM standards require that all polyethylene tanks and tank materials go through three tests to determine the strength and structural integrity of the chemical storage tank. There is also an additional test for cross-linked polyethylene tanks to measure the chemical makeup of the tank materials. Together, these standardized tests help ensure that you have the strongest, most durable chemical storage tank available.

For many industries and facilities, oxygen is bad news for some chemicals stored in tank systems. Often, when the storage material comes in contact with oxygen, the substance oxidizes and degrades, or it can dry out. In any scenario, coming into contact with oxygen means you’ve lost product — which translates to less revenue and costs of replacement.

Tank blanketing helps prevent contact with oxygen, and Poly Processing is your partner for protecting your stored materials.

Poly Processing is a leader in building innovative solutions to complex chemical storage challenges. Far beyond simple plastic tanks, we have developed a fleet of products that address specific needs of chemical storage. The result for your business is ensured safety, easy tank maintenance, and extended tank longevity.

Bulk stored chemicals can become contaminated from two major sources: debris and moisture. As the product is emptied from the chemical storage tank, dirty air and moisture can be drawn into the tank. Temperature fluctuations can also cause the tank to expand and contract, so that it “breathes” contaminants in and out.

Maintaining chemical purity is essential in many industrial chemical applications, such as computer chip manufacturing, food processing, clean in place, and pharmaceutical manufacturing. Contaminated chemicals can become less effective, and more hazardous to your storage equipment. 

To prevent contamination, Poly Processing often recommends installing special accessories. Tank vent dryers and desiccant filters may be your best choice for keeping moisture out of the chemical storage tank.

Tank vent dryers can be especially valuable if you’re storing sulfuric acid. Because concentrated sulfuric acid is hygroscopic, any moisture entering the tank will be quickly absorbed into the chemical. If your supply of sulfuric acid isn’t frequently replenished, the top layer of acid will become more diluted, and more corrosive. As the contents continue to sit in the tank, the top layer of weak acid will corrode a ring around the inner tank wall.