High performance and user-friendliness: the lining of a road tanker barrel for zinc sulphate transport
SÄKAFLAKE 900 White 3K
Be they insulated or not, lining ISO tank containers and road tanker barrels is often of the essence to protect them from corrosion and from the attack of the wide variety of chemicals they transport.
With almost 70 years of experience in this field, SÄKAPHEN knows this very well. That’s why it has developed a wide range of coating products that perfectly meet the needs of this industry. Its heat-cured phenolic and epoxy-phenolic linings, but also cold-cured epoxy, Novolac vinyl ester, and epoxy vinyl ester resins can be applied to tank containers of all sizes ranging from 1 to 35 cubic metres, with or without baffles or division plates.
In 2019, an important German tank transport provider serving the chemical and petrochemical industries decided to rely on SÄKAPHEN for the lining of a baffled road tanker intended to transport a highly corrosive zinc sulphate solution. Its requirements were particularly challenging, especially due to the road tanker’s initial conditions and intended use.
The road tanker barrel to be lined was used and in poor initial conditions, particularly due to pitting.
Moreover, it was subjected to daily loading and unloading cycles at a high temperature (the zinc sulphate solution was loaded at 70 °C) but also to high mechanical stress due to the need to travel bumpy roads. All of these of course were potential factors of stress for the applied lining.
SÄKAPHEN tackled the task starting with a thorough study to select the optimal lining product. The choice fell on SÄKAFLAKE 900 White 3K, a multi-component Novolac vinyl ester coating with excellent abrasion and chemical resistance characteristics. Its bespoke formulation allows for efficient application even in extreme environmental conditions and also guarantees high resistance to temperature fluctuations and mechanical stress.
SÄKAPHEN therefore applied SÄKAFLAKE 900 White 3K in two distinct phases: firstly to fill all the pittings in the road tanker’s surface and secondly as a lining. It then continued to support the customer with regular inspections, which routinely showed that the lining was still in perfect condition.
After 46 months and over 1,500 loading and unloading cycles now, this has been providing the customer with several advantages:
Road tanker’s life extension: by recovering its surfaces, Säkaphen lengthened the life cycle of the barrel with significant economic and environmental benefits.
High coating performance: SÄKAFLAKE 900 White 3K perfectly withstands the stress related to daily use and high temperature (corrosive zinc sulphate solution at 70 °C). It is also flexible enough to withstand the mechanical impacts due to the poor conditions of the roads travelled by the truck.
User-friendliness: if any minor damage should arise due to such harsh conditions of use, the lining can be easily touched-up with the original material. This provides clear operational, economic and environmental advantages.
