What type of titanium plate is mainly used for anti-corrosion storage tanks in chemical plants?
In the storage tank area of chemical plants, the following problems are often encountered: carbon steel storage tanks containing dilute sulfuric acid bulge and leak in less than a year; there is a concern that fiberglass storage tanks will deform at high temperatures; every time the residual acid in the tank is cleaned, there is a worry that rust slag falling off the inner wall will contaminate the raw materials. However, after chemical plants adopt Titanium Plates for anti-corrosion in their storage tanks, these troubles are significantly reduced. So, what type of titanium plate is mainly used for anti-corrosion storage tanks in chemical plants? Let's take a look based on different scenarios:
A Gr2 Titanium Plate storage tank in a chemical enterprise in Jiangsu Province, which contains 30% concentration acetic acid, was opened for inspection after five years of use. The inner wall had no corrosion spots except for slight scaling.
When choosing titanium plates for storage tanks, the first thing to consider is the storage medium. For medium-corrosive media such as room-temperature dilute sulfuric acid and acetic acid, GR2 Pure Titanium Plates are sufficient. A urea solution storage tank in a fertilizer factory, with a diameter of 8 meters and a height of 12 meters, has its tank wall spliced with 6-millimeter-thick GR2 titanium plates. During welding, the weld seams are protected by argon gas throughout. Since it was put into use three years ago, the thickness measurement data has remained above 5.95 millimeters each time, and the corrosion rate is almost negligible. The bottom of the tank is the place most prone to material accumulation. By laying 8-millimeter-thick GR2 titanium plates at the bottom, even if there is a small amount of sediment accumulation, it will not form rust holes like carbon steel due to being "smothered".
If storing hydrochloric acid or mixed acids containing chloride ions, the more corrosion-resistant GR7 titanium plates (containing palladium alloy) must be used. A hydrochloric acid storage tank in an electroplating factory in Shandong Province previously used a Hastelloy tank, which was costly and vulnerable to collisions. After replacing it with a 5-millimeter-thick GR7 titanium plate storage tank, it can not only withstand a working temperature of 40°C but also the breathing valve interface on the top of the tank, which has been in long-term contact with acid mist, shows no corrosion. The workers say that every time they open the feed inlet, they can see the faint oxide film on the surface of the titanium plate, which is a natural anti-corrosion barrier.
The detailed handling of titanium plate storage tanks is crucial. The welded seams where the tank walls are joined must be pickled and passivated; otherwise, residual welding slag will become a "breakthrough" for corrosion. The sealing surface of the manhole cover must be milled flat with a milling machine and then covered with a surrounding fluororubber gasket to ensure that acid does not leak from the gaps. A dye factory in Zhejiang once suffered losses due to not performing passivation — small spots appeared at the welds of the GR2 titanium plate storage tank in the early stage. Later, after re-pickling and passivation, it has been used for another four years without any problems.
If your chemical plant is still troubled by frequent tank replacements and raw material cleaning due to tank corrosion, you might as well try titanium plate storage tanks. By selecting the correct GR2 or GR7 model according to the storage medium and properly handling welding and post-treatment, the trouble of shutdown maintenance can be reduced. Contact us now, provide the tank's volume, medium concentration, and temperature, and we can customize a suitable titanium plate solution, allowing the storage tank to operate stably without frequent worries about corrosion problems.