Are All Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic (FRP)… | Design Tanks

We base our elite rating on how our company stacks up against the competition in four major categories that should weigh heavily when selecting a tank manufacturer. They are:

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1.​​ Qualifications How long has the manufacturer been in business? How long have they been making FRP tanks? Is it their core product? Can they produce a variety of diameter and volume sizes and different shapes? Check out their warranty. How well do they support their product in the field? Are they isolated to a single market or product application? Do they sell nationally, internationally?

It’s hard to compete with the Design Tanks record and reputation. Building FRP tanks for over 50 years, it’s ALL we do. Our production capabilities are practically endless. We’ve built tanks for capacities that range from 50 gallons to 50,000, from 2’ to 14’ diameters, round and sectionalized tanks to rectangular. We welcome challenging projects and service markets from water and wastewater to mining, food, energy, and agriculture. Our tanks are working for customers across the U.S. and internationally. With Design Tanks, you can be confident that we’ll do everything possible to understand your specific storage needs, quote the appropriate tank, and build it to your specifications.

2. Manufacturing to Specs How vigorous is their sales discovery process? Are their salespeople asking for specifications? Is there an on-site engineering staff? Do their tanks meet industrial or engineering standards when appropriate? Are you asked whether the wind and seismic considerations are important? What about liquid contents, operating temperatures, and applications? Do you get itemized production drawings prior to manufacturing for review and approval?

It begins with our sales team. They hone in on your specific needs, asking questions that matter. Think we haven’t done it before? Think again. With 50-plus years in the custom FRP tank-manufacturing business, we’ve probably been down that road before. Our in-house engineering staff is dedicated to product engineering, ensuring that your tank meets appropriate requirements including ASTM standards, FDA compliance, NSF-61, and RTP-1 design guidelines. And, with our experience, we can provide solutions to not only meet your specifications but try to lower your overall costs. It’s the added value we bring to the table.

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3. Materials Does the manufacturer rely on general-purpose resins, or do they build with a wide variety of resin types? Do they subject incoming resins to quality control (QC) testing? Do they use a variety of glass options in their design and manufacturing? What inventory control practices are used to ensure a resin’s quality stays intact?

Forget general-purpose resins, Design Tanks uses only premium resins suitable for the intended application. We work closely with major suppliers and have access to premium and specialty resins to meet any type of chemical requirements possible with FRP. We don’t take shortcuts, but instead test every incoming resin against its stated specification, utilize an inventory control practice to ensure resins don’t go out of date and store them in an environmentally controlled room. When it comes to glass, Design Tanks uses a variety of glass types depending on a tank’s design and application. It too is carefully controlled to ensure it is at peak performance during the build process.

4. Manufacturing Processes Do they utilize written procedures for production? Are in-process QC checks in place to detect and correct potential product defects early? What automation capabilities, like robotics, are used to reduce human error and improve consistency and factory throughput? Do they implement process improvements to save you time or money?

Even if a manufacturer has a vigorous sales discovery process, and utilizes premium materials, the manufacturing process is where the rubber meets the road. The Design Tanks production team follows written procedures on the plant floor that keep your tank moving, with a QC process to help identify any problems early. Adoption of technology, including robotics, creates efficiencies, decreases human error, and enhances quality. We innovate, but we won’t change what works well until new ideas are proven. We meet manufacturing standards, and then some, maintaining at least a 10:1 safety factor.

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Hi All,

We do a number of engineering projects for API 650 and 620 metal tanks, and I'm reasonably well-versed in metal tanks. We've been approached to inspect and certify an existing fiberglass tank on an emergency basis (I understand the process is down until we complete our work). I have little experience with FRP materials.

The tank was originally designed and certified in by an FRP tank manufacturing company. I've read through API 12P, and it doesn't sound like there's much for testing requirements. Just a curing test (hopefully done perviously) and hydrotest. It's also low on design recommendations for bottom thickness and roof thickness. All I see is bottom joint detail and shell design equation based on 0.001E or 10% of ultimate strength. We have a piece of the tank and we plan to test to try to estimate mechanical properties (at temperature, see below). Bottom is flat on concrete, and roof is dome shaped). Radius on both top and bottom knuckles.

The tank was originally designed to contain sodium chloride (S.G. is over 1.0) with design temp under 100F. The client is now proposing water and temperature ranging from 176F to 212F.

Does anyone have experience with this sort of FRP tank project (specifically bottom and roof design), and can I get any feedback on mechanical properties of FRP at temperatures noted above?

Thank you in advance.

Hello pbc825, there are some common inspection practices for FRP tanks as we as parameters to think about when changing the tanks service conditions.

1) FRP is very good upto 100 F but after that you can begin to have problems if the tank is not supported correctly. The coefficient of expansion of FRP is roughly twice that of steel tanks and so when unsupported correctly, they may have buckling or other failures associated with this elevated temperatures ( usually occurs with high temp over a long period of time)

2) This expansion and contraction of the FRP may have problems located at the flange faces and piping connected to the tank. The tank will move and the piping is usually fixed in place.

3) try to find out the type of resins that were used in the original manufacturing? Are they Vinyl Ester resins? Polyester resins ? etc. this will help you find out the temperature rating for this type of FRP

4) Hardness of the FRP is critical as this will help you to determine if the FRP is softening or hardening with the service conditions. Use a Barcol Tester and ASTM D

5) Visual inspection - take a light and shine through the FRP tank and begin to look for "Crazing" - -cracks within the FRP tank. Determine i the cracks penetrate the resin coating by applying a penetrating dye and wiping off with acetone. If the acetone does not wipe the dye off the cracks, try to determine the depth of the cracks, lengths, how many in a 100 sq/ft area ( 10'x10)

6) Sounding for delamination and/or voids - take a large coin or a long slender want that has a metallic bead on the end of it, and tap the FRP listening to the sound. When you hear the sound change, focus in this area for potential delamination or voids. ( Again, use your flashlight next to the tank to "look through" the FRP.

7) Pressure test the tank - test using hydro statically with water or service medium. This should be done by a person trained in this testing.

8) "shininess" of the internal resin layer - when the resin is very shiny or dull, this can demonstrate that the FRP surface resins may need another coat(s) to the surface for longevity. The above tests also help in your decision to apply another coat of resin on the internal/external areas.

9) check the connection areas of both the roof and floors where they connect the shell. As the tank expands and contracts, this seam may begin to crack and needs repairing. if no the bottom, this is more serious than the top seam.

I hope this helps in answering some of your questions and if you have the final service product that will be entering into the tank, this also helps to see if the FRP will be able to handle the service.

I inspect 50-100 FRP tanks per year and so far I have not found one that resembles another out in the field. Try to write down a list of items of concern and this will begin to help you check off items that are not an issue with the new service or items that will become an issue.
Good luck and if you need anything else please feel free to write and I hope I can help out.