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Proper tank design is crucial to successful safe chemical storage. Purchasing a chemical storage tank isn’t just about selecting the right size — it is vital to design the proper tank configuration for the safety of your employees, the protection of the environment, and to leverage your investment.

When you have questions about chemical storage or concerns about your chemical storage tank system, you want quick answers. You want to know who to call and get a live voice without getting the runaround. A solid customer service team takes great pride in delivering service that saves you time and eliminates any hassles.

Twenty years ago, the availability of commercial grade cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) for chemical storage tanks was limited to a small number of sources. The limited supply, as well as a wide variation in quality, made it challenging to find quality resin for chemical storage tanks. 

Poly Processing has three manufacturing plants in the United States. In each facility, we use a multi-step quality control process that meets and/or exceeds industry standards, including ASTM D-1998. The ASTM D-1998 standard is designed to give end users a margin of safety and peace of mind. It’s a voluntary standard, and not all tank manufacturers follow it.

Before you purchase a chemical storage tank, it’s important to know what kind of service to expect from the manufacturer — immediately and for years to come. You might have installation and startup needs, but you may also have questions about retrofitting a tank or installing new tanks. 

Many tank manufacturers don’t have a field service team or service department. Instead, they hire a local fix-it professional who isn’t familiar with their storage systems. Other times, you might have to find a service technician yourself. Poly Processing has our own on-site nationwide field service team that can service your PPC chemical storage tank at your facility.

Let’s take a look at the types of on-site service our dedicated technicians are doing on a daily basis.

Poly Processing’s standard crosslinked polyethylene tank systems can withstand process temperatures up to 100F — but that figure can be misleading, because there are different types of temperature to consider. 

For example, one of our customers in Texas asked about keeping a polyethylene tank outdoors in extreme temperatures:

We’ve written several articles about the importance of protecting your chemical storage tank from aggressive chemicals. Mechanical stress can be just as significant, causing polyethylene chemical storage tanks to crack. Mechanical stress occurs when the tank’s structure is compromised after a physical impact with another object, over pressurization, improper venting, or rigid plumbing that doesn’t allow natural expansion and contraction of the tank.

Just because different tanks are made from polyethylene, doesn’t mean they will give you the same performance. Various polyethylene tanks may not even be suitable for storing the type of chemical you use. 

Polyethylene is available in several different types of resin. Some types are made for injection molding, others for extrusion, others for blow molding and yet others for rotational molding. 

While, at a glance, it’s impossible to gauge the life of your polyethylene chemical storage tank, there are many things to know and consider that will help you extend the life of your tank to its fullest potential. It is important to know that from the production of the tank, through installation, it is expertly manufactured with all of the right gaskets and fittings. After tank installation, it is important to have it inspected regularly to look for problems that could cause tank failure.

Municipal projects require detailed specifications for anything purchased as a capital expense. At Poly Processing Company, we’ve teamed up with national engineering firms to develop pre-written engineering specifications for our three most popular tanks: the SAFE-Tank®, the vertical tank with IMFO® and the upright vertical tank.