Storage Compare: Fiberglass, Concrete, Steel And Polyethylene

Fiberglass vs Concrete

Concrete is a material used in the construction of tanks, both above and below ground models. As a construction material, it has certain limitations.

1,Concrete tanks are available in factory prefabricated models and, if the capacity exceeds 4,000 gallons, are typically formed and built on site rather than in the preferred factory-controlled manufacturing environment. One-piece, factory-fabricated fiberglass tanks have a much shorter installation time, which saves money.

2,Concrete is a very heavy material, which limits the ability to be easily transported and handled at the job site, while often increasing installation costs.

3,Although concrete is a strong material, the flat tank top design of buried concrete tanks often does not meet traffic loading conditions and requires design upgrades, which can increase costs.

4,Concrete can be subject to aggressive corrosion and often requires expensive liners as a solution to prevent this vulnerability to corrosion. Concrete cracking often exposes reinforcing steel to corrosion, which can endanger the structure.

5,Many designers are concerned about cracked and leaking concrete tanks. Tanks used in fire protection systems must have a reliable watertight design that gives the owner confidence that water will be available when needed.

Fiberglass vs steel

Like concrete, steel has been used for decades to construct above-ground and underground storage tanks. Nonetheless, steel has certain disadvantages when used in the manufacture of water storage tanks.

1,One of the significant advantages of fiberglass over steel tanks is that metal cannot match the rust and corrosion resistance of composite materials. For underground storage tanks, corrosion is a major problem. To address corrosion, steel tanks are often lined or coated internally and externally, which not only increases costs but also has long-term maintenance issues.

2,Weight is another advantage of fiberglass tanks compared to steel tanks. When comparing fiberglass tanks to steel tanks, steel tanks can weigh up to four times as much as fiberglass tanks, which often increases installation costs and limits access to difficult sites.

Fiberglass vs polyethylene

Polyethylene does not have as long a history of use in tank construction as steel or concrete materials, but it does offer better corrosion resistance properties. Nonetheless, there are other limitations compared to fiberglass.

1,Underground fiberglass storage tanks do not have many of the limitations typically imposed on polyethylene tanks in terms of common installation conditions such as water table, burial depth and traffic loads.

2,The capacity of polyethylene storage tanks is usually limited given structural design factors. For example, underground tank models are often limited to a much smaller capacity than required for a typical fire tank installation, thus requiring many small tanks to be brought together to obtain the required storage capacity. This increases costs and is less desirable than fewer larger tanks.

In this field

FRP tanks have been used for many years in stand-alone and supplemental water supply applications for fire protection. Since fiberglass tanks are also designed for H-20 traffic loads, this is an easy option since these tanks will be buried under the retailer's parking lot. Above-ground and underground fiberglass tanks are proven options for fire protection applications. Increasingly stringent fire codes often require that firefighters have access to a dedicated alternate water source to supplement or replace a primary water source that is unreliable or too far away. In addition, new insurance requirements are driving the need for dedicated, reliable water sources to meet fire protection needs.

In these applications, only reliable, watertight, corrosion-resistant and structurally sound containers should be used, especially in the case of buried storage tanks where leaks may not be noticed. Now you can come to WEDITONG FRP  to know more benefits about the fiberglass tanks and pipes. Our company brought in the advanced technology and equipments from Vetroresina Corporation(Italy) successfully.It has become a professional enterprise which is manufacturing FRP vessels and pipes.