Considerations for Chemical Storage by Industry

Poly Processing Company has a decades-long reputation for specializing in manufacturing tanks for a wide range of applications and industries. We provide products for frontend and backend processes, catering to both municipal and industrial clients.

Our chemical storage tanks are designed to meet the specific needs of businesses and organizations across multiple industries. We spotlighted more than two dozen of these industries on our Markets We Serve page, but it’s worth mentioning a few of them here as well.

Let’s explore the chemical storage considerations for your particular industry.

Agriculture

Due to their superior physical properties, Poly Processing’s tanks are frequently used in the agricultural industry to store and transport liquid fertilizer chemicals, water, and other agricultural chemicals such as pest control applications.

Horizontal tanks are usually the preferred choice for smaller applicator tanks because they are smaller tanks, which allows them to be mounted and moved easily. In the agricultural world, you can find horizontal tanks mounted on trailers, skids, trucks, or tractors for transportation to the site where the application is required.

Beer and Wine

Traditionally, breweries and wineries use stainless steel tanks for all their storage needs, including wastewater treatment and raw materials. While steel tanks are best for pressurized or elevated temperature situations, crosslinked polyethylene tanks (XLPE) are a better choice for all other storage needs.

Many breweries and wineries are beginning to realize the advantages of choosing polyethylene storage tanks for their operations. Some key benefits include:

• Cost savings. XLPE tanks cost as much as 80% less than stainless steel tanks. Reducing costs whenever possible helps increase profitability.
• Portability. Unlike steel tanks, plastic storage tanks can be moved as needed. Whether you scale your operations or improve the efficiency of your layout, polyethylene storage tanks make it easy to change your footprint.
• Speedy delivery. While steel tanks must be ordered months in advance, polyethylene tanks can usually be delivered in a matter of weeks. 

Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF)

DEF solution is safe to handle, but it can corrode certain metals. It’s important to engineer a storage solution that will resist corrosion and keep your chemicals secure for years.

Since DEF is a high-purity chemical, it should receive the same level of storage treatment as other high purity chemicals. That means maintaining proper temperatures to prevent separation and settling. It also means ensuring that your chemical storage system is able to provide complete draining that removes all impurities and sediment.

Poly Processing’s Sloped Bottom IMFO® system is ideal storage solution, because it provides a true full drain, without requiring additional maintenance. With the IMFO system, the flange is molded into the tank during manufacturing, not post-production as an insert. The one-piece construction enables the flange to be placed at the very bottom of the tank’s sidewall, below the knuckle radius—not two inches above it.

De-Icing Fluid

To protect the environment and ensure chemical integrity, an adequate storage system is critical. Poly Processing’s SAFE-Tanks® are engineered to safely store de-icing fluids. The SAFE-Tank system is a double-wall containment and storage system built from cross-linked polyethylene. The “tank-within-a-tank” configuration means there is no need to designate a large area for a concrete containment structure. In the rare case of a spill, the risk of damage or lost product is mitigated with very little downtime.

Fats, Oils, and Grease

Fats, oils, and grease (FOG) present major storage challenges for restaurants, municipal solid waste, and wastewater treatment operations. Because FOG is heavy and congeals, it can create blockages in sewer systems and even lead to sewage backups. It isn’t enough to store FOG — you need to be able to remove it from your chemical storage tanks as well.

Many wastewater treatment plants use our tanks for fats, oils, and grease storage before they’re processed in their system. We recommend using the IMFO® or Sloped-Bottom IMFO Tanks. These tanks make it easy to achieve full drainage with minimal to no manual cleanout. Using heating pads and insulation can keep the FOG warm enough to flow. Adding a side manway can make any necessary cleanout much easier. 

Municipal Water Treatment

It’s common for wastewater treatment plants to rely on cross-linked polyethylene chemical tanks, but many municipal water treatment plants are using inferior linear polyethylene or fiberglass tanks. 

While the short-term benefits are tempting, using linear polyethylene or fiberglass tanks can be like pouring money down the drain. Instead, Poly Processing’s cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) tanks give you better performance, greater cost-effectiveness, longer useful life, and more innovative solutions.

Wastewater Treatment

Wastewater treatment requires aggressive chemicals to treat the water. All too often, facility planners spec out chemical storage tanks that are designed to fit the facility, rather than starting with their particular application needs and the requirements of the chemicals being stored.

A chemical tank is one of the most important systems in industrial wastewater treatment, because if the tank fails, the entire treatment system could shut down.

Cross-linked polyethylene tanks are cost-effective, resistant to aggressive chemicals, and very robust. Our tanks have a seamless one-piece molded construction, so there are no seams for leaks to develop. 

Poly Processing Chemical Storage Innovations

Poly Processing Company has led the storage industry’s innovations for decades. Our polyethylene chemical storage solutions are designed to meet your industry’s most demanding needs. 

SAFE-Tank® 

Our innovative SAFE-Tank double wall storage and containment system, the “tank within a tank,” gives you a leveraged investment that offers peace of mind and environmental care. This double-wall system alleviates the need to build large, high-maintenance concrete containment areas. 

In the event of a spill, the system’s all-in-one design features a built-in protected containment area that safely isolates reactive chemicals, protects your employees from harm, and protects you from environmental remediation — all within the footprint of a standard vertical tank.

Sloped Bottom IMFO Tank

Traditional tank maintenance can be a challenge with many chemicals, so we’ve developed a unique sloped-bottom tank system that greatly minimizes the hazards associated with traditional vertical tank maintenance.

With our Sloped Bottom Integrally Molded Flanged Outlet tank, or IMFO® system, the flange is molded while the tank is processing, making it a stress-free part of the tank. The floor of the tank is sloped towards the IMFO giving the user the greatest possible full drain system in a vertical tank design.

Full Discharge IMFO Tank 

With Poly’s Integrally Molded Flanged Outlet, or IMFO® system, the flange is molded while the tank is processing, making it a stress-free part of the tank. The flange is created from the same material as the tank — it’s not an insert introduced during or at post-production.

Advantages of the IMFO Tank:

• Since the flange is at the bottom of the tank, full drainage is achieved below the tank knuckle radius, which can eliminate the need to enter the tank for cleaning.
• One-piece construction enhances long-term performance of the tank, since it doesn’t compromise the tank hoop’s integrity or structural design.
• In aggressive applications, the complete flange face is protected by the antioxidant OR-1000™ system.
• The IMFO’s design brings you the highest amount of static head pressure, which contributes to the highest net positive head suction (NPHS) of any vertical non-coned tank.

This article has only touched on a handful of the industries that our XLPE tanks serve. Poly Processing proudly serves dozens of industries across North America with storage solutions that typically last for years beyond their five-year warranty. Once again, you can check out the Markets We Serve page where we have listed a few of the markets that our tanks are used in..

If you’re ready to save money and extend the useful life of your storage system, contact a Poly Processing tank expert today.