Tank Talk Blog: All About Tanks

Using the plasma burn table shown in the photo, it would have taken about 20 minutes to cut out the 35 lifting lugs. Most tanks have four lifting lugs located on or near the top. A tailing...

SFI builds tanks of all sizes, from small to large and everything in between. The 6,000 gallon tank pictured was built in our 15,000 square foot Electropolish Bay. It is a striking...

It’s interesting to see how things are made and how people do their jobs. For example, the way a flat, eyebrow-shaped piece of stainless can be turned into a circular shape, like a bowl...

Tank supports must be engineered to hold the weight of the tank, its components (such as mixers and gear motors), and its contents when full. SFI Engineers perform the analysis...

Grate designs vary to suit customer requirements. They can be anything from vertical bars as shown in the photo to a pattern of small squares. Grates can be adapted...

Radiography examines the welds for internal material defects. It is most often used to assess the quality of butt joints, circumferential and...

Hydrostatic testing is commonly used to test pressure vessels when required by ASME code, PED or standards such as API 620 or API 650. It proves the design

The stainless steel tank itself is low maintenance & long lasting. That’s the “beauty” of stainless steel... it is rust and stain resistant and easy to clean. We often hear about...

This may look like the beginnings of a fire pit, but it’s actually a tank component... a large flanged & bolted manway that will provide personnel access to the interior of the tank.

While these particular kettles were built for chemical service, SFI works with customers in a wide variety of industries across the U.S. Everything we build is custom so the possibilities are...

Did you know that tank information is available for download from our website? You’ll find pertinent documents included on each web page or all of them can be accessed...

SFI builds tanks of all types. Tanks that range from small portable vessels to huge shop fabricated tanks on skirts and massive field erected tanks with capacities up to 750,000 gallons!

Poison pads and reinforcement pads are similar and may serve the same purpose. When welding two pieces of steel together, both must become liquid in order to bond. During the liquid...

Alcoves are commonly used in the pharmaceutical industry to minimize nozzle projection when installing fittings in jacketed tanks. There are several benefits to using alcoves...

This artistic rendering shows what is called a dual motion or universal mixer. The tank combines an offset turbine mixer for blending ingredients and a sweep/scrape mixer to keep...

Industries that make products for human or animal consumption need equipment that can be easily and effectively sanitized, making stainless steel a preference. It can be polished...

Whenever possible, a proactive approach is best – don’t wait until your tank is down to order maintenance stock for your wearable parts. Most replacement parts must be purchased...

One method that has been used on small atmospheric tanks is to equip the vessel with an external liquid level sight tube. Fittings are positioned on the sidewall near...

The photo is actually of two stainless steel agitator tripods, frequently called “spiders”. These tripods are used when it is necessary within the agitation design to control shaft movement...

Stainless steel tanks have parts that can wear out, get damaged or misplaced. Often times tank components aren’t available for immediate shipment and many must be custom fabricated...

Potable water storage tanks can be made from a variety of materials, but stainless steel tanks are favored because they are sturdy, easily cleaned, and last many, many years.