Why Fiberglass Irrigation Tanks
Fiberglass irrigation tanks, since their inception, have been a significant improvement over other types of tank construction. Their major benefits as compared to other tanks are:
- A Significant Rigidity to Weight Ratio
Fiberglass construction produces products that are flexible and strong and their weight is significantly less than steel. Steel can be damaged easily during shipping or on the construction site thus requiring repairs and time. In an oil field setting this could bring heat sources to explosive liquids. Fiberglass is extremely flexible but if damaged is easily repaired without producing heat, required for steel tanks, that would ignite liquids.
- Ability to Withstand Corrosive Liquids Under Many Applications
Resistance to corrosion in aggressive environments is one of the primary reasons for specifying fiberglass tanks. Typical types of corrosion do not affect fiberglass. This would include galvanic, aerobic, pitting and inter-granular corrosion which harms metals but not fiberglass. Although fiberglass resists a wide range of chemicals and temperatures, it requires the right design, fabrication and installation to match the appropriate application. For example, fiberglass may be subject to chemical attack from hydrolysis, oxidation, or incompatible solutions; however, the proper resin/glass matrix will address this chemical attack problem.
- Ability to Withstand Environmental Stresses
Since many oil fields are located in either hurricane or tornado country fiberglass tanks offer the ability to withstand winds and flying debris significantly better than steel.
- Ease of Delivery
Since the rise in fuel cost, fiberglass as noted before, has a significant reduction in the size to weight ratio. This makes the cost for delivery is measurably less. Another cost reduction is from the size of equipment needed, at the construction site, to off load and place at its final location.
What is Fiberglass?
Fiberglass tanks contain glass fibers embedded in and cured thermosetting resin, hence the term Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic (FRP).
Glass Fibers
All fiberglass begins as individual strands of glass drawn from a furnace of molten glass. Many strands of glass are formed simultaneously and gathered into a “strand” and a surface treatment “sizing” is added to maintain fiber properties. Glass strands are designed for several applications including water retention. The mechanical strength of a fiberglass product depends upon the amount, type and arrangement of glass fiber reinforcement within the material system and increases proportionally with the amount of glass fiber reinforcement.
Resins
The second major component of fiberglass tanks is the thermosetting resin system. Thermoplastic resin systems are one of two basic groups of resins. However we are only concerned with one, depicted below, in the construction of fiberglass tanks.
Thermosetting plastics are resins that undergo an irreversible reaction when cured in the presence of a catalyst. They cannot be re-melted and are insoluble.
For more information contact Paul Pusztay or Alex Gilmore at 830-387-4027 or click here to fill out a contact form.