Chemicals Tanks – #2 Acids, Storage Design Considerations.
Acids, acetic, sulphuric, hydrochloric, hydroflourosilicic HF, are both highly corrosive and extremely dangerous
Design your chemical storage systems with EXTREME CARE.
Acids and Caustic liquids have challenging characteristics in process applications, as well as potential negative effects on human beings.
Your chemical provider will have a technical group to advise you on how best to store and handle a given chemical.
First thing is to incorporate and study the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet)
Required by law, the manufacturer must provide information regarding the potential chemicals’ affect on people.
Fume Safety The inhalation of Acid or Caustic Fumes from chemicals can very dangerous. Extreme care is to be exercised when designing a storage system for acids, acids and related chemical compounds. Controlling the venting of fumes away from operator is a legal requirement.
Venting When filling a storage tank, understand that the air inside the tank has become similar to the chemical itself. The air in an acid storage tank will inherent a percentage of the stored chemical, this mayand requires some degree of neutralization or scrubbing to reduce the effect this vent air will have on the enviornment, humans and equipment. Venting the contents of an acid tank through a scrubber, (water/air contact scrubber) will remove or lessen the Ph of the exhaust air.
Chemical Resistance The storage vessel should be designed to accommodate the aggressive chemical nature of the particular acid or caustic. Plastic tanks, fiberglass and polyethylene do a tremendous job of providing long terms at economical costs. SPECIAL care is to be given when designing the system.
Chemical Knowledge Consider cross checking any information your chemical distributor may provide against chemical charts in the NACE system (National Association of Chemical Engineers) as well as process connections, gaskets an process piping.
Note: when combining chemicals a chemical compound is produced, this compound may have more aggressive characteristics than the incremental acid or caustic in its pure form.
