The demand for fluoropolymer lined highway cargo tanks has risen dramatically as the industry pushes for chemicals with
higher concentrations and higher purity. Recognizing the higher concentrations difficulties associated with flucropolymers and present day difficulties associated technology to manufacture fluoropolymer lined highway cargotechnology to manldfactU~e fluoropciymer lined highway ~arg~
tanks, we successfully developed a fusion welding machne to weldtanks, we successfully tJ1.3 weld
the fluoropolymer and combined this with the proven performancethe fluoropolym.
tanks, we successfully developed a fusion welding nacb.ine
tJ1.3 weld
the fluoropolym.er ~qd tom,-~ined this with the prover. performance
~eirlforced plasti~ of fiberglass
~,n;
(~~P} ?highway CargC ta~lk. ..LLS
new fl?uoropolymer lined FRP cargo tar,k does away with numerous?
problems associated wit~h other constructlc.ns specifically lirier
inte~.rity, liner bonding, and secondary welding. This :LLsi3?.
we]ding ~~~~~nolOgy a~lows the welding af coils of flluoropoiymer,
effectively reducing the n?umber of welds, and testing the l~rii~g
integrity prior to appli~~.ti~~~ of a~y structural material, such
Upon completion of the l~n~ng, IEP was applied to -the as FPbF.
~laSS backing embedded into the thermoplastic, ensuring a
permanerlt. arid corj~lete b~nd $~ trAe load ?L:earin.gstructure of the
b a~~e~ . T~lis -f~~~ar: .,polyiner lined FRP
Copyright
01996 by NACE International. Requests for permission to publish this manuscript in any form, in part or in whole must be made in writing to NACE
International, Conferences Division, P.O. Box 218340, Houston, Texas 77218-8340. The material presented and the views expressed in this
paper are solely those of the author(s) and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association. Printed in the U.S.A.
~~rre~ W=JS bolted down Onta a S%ee~ cradle with a ty-pical running
gear cf highway cargo tank. We have now effectively intr~d~~ed ~
new generation of cargo tar.ks t?nat meets specific transpcrtaticm
industry needs.
This paper deals with
fluoropoly-mer lined Fiberglass
Reinforced Plastic (FRP) highway ~argo tank.
- ??
The use of
fluoropolymer as an effective barrier of chemical resistance
dates back to the early 70?s and the use of FRP as a structural
material to construct highway cargo tanks dates back to the mid
60?s.
In fact, since the early 60?s, FRP has been used to
construct ~ig~way cargo tanks in c~ada, as can be seen cm Fig-ure
I., WRP cargo t~k built in 1965, which to a recent picture of a,n ..
this day cop.tinues to see service. ?TO d2t.e, such tanks have
already covered nearly 25 millicns road miles and hiave proven
tlhat.they are as safe as cop.ver.ticn~~ metal highway cargo tar.?ks.
As the transportation industry grows, the range and type of
chemicals transported increases dramatically and new containment
materials are in growing demand. ~:qer~J~p~as~iCS S?UClh as
fl?uoropolymers became a focal point, specifically given their
significant corrosion resistance characteristics and, this, in
spite of the fact that it has been necessary to develop new
expertise to weld such materials.
Among the pioneers in this field. was Chapman Ind?ustrles Inc.
who lir.ed the first metal highway cargo tank in 1972 ~~ith an FEP
loose liner (see Figure 2) . But after two years, this concept
was abandoned because of excessive iiowntiy,e. They attributed this
premature failure to road abuse from flexing, vibration and
sloshing . Regardless, the demand for f~u~~~p~~~er lined cargo