The Client

The company contacted us regarding the relining of six fibreglass tanks that were located outside.

Challenges

• The site location was outside in sub-zero temperatures.
• The new lining was to be applied to the floor and lower wall of the tanks only.
• The heating was in the lower section of the tanks only.
• We had to work with old fibreglass that had some areas of osmosis.
• Food grade tank repair resin materials were required for this project.

Solution

The distillery had been advised that the entire surface of each tank would require a full new lining but having assessed the entire situation, we recommended relining the lower part of the tanks, which included the floor and lower 500mm of the tank walls, as this would provide a cost-effective solution.

We removed the areas of fibreglass that were affected by the osmosis and abraded the rest of the treatment area to produce a mechanical key ready for the application of the new resin lining. We repaired the areas of osmosis damage with fibreglass repair materials and after a suitable hardening period applied the new lining to the floor and approximately 500mm of the walls, including the manway and nozzles.

The resin materials used were a food-grade epoxy resin-based system, suitable for use with alcoholic beverages and the most common sterilisation methods in use in breweries and wineries. Due to the small size of the tanks, the lining was applied by hand in three applications.

The Results

The food-grade epoxy resin lining system provided a cost-effective solution for the repair of these tanks and gave a smooth easy-to-clean surface. The practical working life of these tanks will be extended by several years.