Eastern Reliability

Chemical and Hazardous Material Storage

Eastern Reliability provides engineering support for chemical and industrial tanks and hazardous material storage by providing a comprehensive equipment solution.

For many applications, a stand-alone tank is the best solution. For other applications, the solution may require process mixing, instrumentation, or specialty process or metering pumps. For every application, there is the correct tank that provides the best solution accounting for all the technical and engineering economics principals.

Assmann Tanks offer excellent chemical and industrial tank solutions for a variety of applications. In this webinar we focus on the most cost-effective solutions which comply with local, state, and federal regulations.

Chemical and Hazardous Material Storage


Watch the Recording Below

Chemical and Hazardous Material Storage Webinar

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Download the Slide Deck

Chemical and Hazardous Material Storage Slide Deck

Download the Slide Deck PDF File

Webinar Agenda:

  • Definition of Chemicals for purposes of Storage; NFPA Regulations.
  • What fluids can and cannot be stored in Polyethylene and FRP tanks?
  • What criteria are used for determining whether to use a polyethylene, FRP, steel or high alloy tank?
  • What are the specific criteria included in the laws of each state?
  • Vertical Tanks: Single Wall, Double Wall, Conical and Horizontal tanks.
  • Tank options such as fittings, instrumentation, process mixers, and pumps technologies.

Webinar Q&A:

At the conclusion of our webinar, we had several questions submitted to our presenter. We compiled these into a readable format listed below.

Question: What is the size of the tank that's regulated in New York state?

Answer: It's 185 gallons; 185 gallons and above is a CBS regulated tank in New York state, and anything below that does not have to be registered with the state. The 185 gallons and above, they require a five-year inspection of the tank, and there's different criteria for inspecting, whether it's polyethylene or fiberglass or steel tanks. If you're below 185 gallons, it doesn't require being registered, or require a five-year inspection, but that certainly does not absolve the owner from making sure that that tank is working properly.

Question: We need a tank to store sodium hydroxide at my job site. What do you recommend?

Answer: Well, the first question I would ask is "What volume do you need," and the second question I would ask is "Is it indoor or an outdoor application?" If it's indoor, is it heated, and will the heat never fail? That's something to think about. You're probably going to need some form of heating, whether it's heat tracing and insulation, or maybe another form of heating, so that's something to think about. But we would typically look first to polyethylene because it's the most cost-effective. But very often we're moving to fiberglass tanks for these applications.

Question: We have a tank farm storing various industrial lubricants. Some are fluid grade. Many of these have flash points around 190. Would you recommend polyethylene for these applications?

Answer: I would have to look at an MSDS and really make some decisions on that. I would probably talk with the folks out at Assmann, and also the folks over at Justin Tank, to try to come up with the right tank for the application. I would not say no right off the bat, but we'd need to dig into it a little bit more. We do have customers that are storing industrial lubricants, that do have a flash point below 200 in polyethylene tanks, and we have been very, very successful. But they're a very low percentage of the solvents that are in the lubricant. We just have to look at it a little bit more. I don't think I can give an answer right off the bat, but we need to look at the application a bit more to try to come up with the correct solution.

Question: How do you ensure chemical compatibility for both the tanks and the fittings?

Answer: In general, we rely on compatibility charts that are available on the Eastern Reliability website. This is a compilation of our 25 years of experience in the chemical pump and tank applications. The 2 links below show specific tank recommendations for the most commonly stored industrial chemicals. We also have specific chemical charts that show recommended materials. If we are applying an Assmann tank, the Assmann program also makes specific materials recommendations.

Question: What are approximate ranges of max load/weight ratings for typical Assmann tanks’ top port/bung mounted equipment for linear LDPE and crosslinked HDPE tanks?

Answer: While polyethylene tanks are extremely chemically resistant, they are not the most structurally strong material. Assmann polyethylene tanks are not rated for any loads/weights. All piping/equipment are to be externally supported.

Question: Are Anti-Foam Elbows (AFEs, please send AFE product info with your reply) compatible with stainless steel 2” quick connect cam and groove adapter and dust-cap fittings for product deliveries?

Answer: Please see the attached cut sheet of an anti-foam elbow setup with a bulkhead fitting. Essentially, the anti-foam elbow is piping on the interior of the tank to direct the chemical flow against the sidewall of the tank. Assmann can provide bulkhead fittings, anti-foam elbows, and camlock adapters with dust caps all in one at your request.

Question: What does a daily or weekly tank inspection consist of? If a tank inspector were hired what is expected?

Answer: Daily/Weekly inspections essentially consist of visual inspections of the tank and surround piping to ensure everything appears to be installed/functioning properly. A more stringent inspection would be conducted towards the end of a tanks life cycle to determine any noticeable signs of anticipated failure in the near future.


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