SH Storage And Transport...WHY Are We STILL Using Vented Tanks?

PeakOfPerfection

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[FONT=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]I keep seeing posts from guys with problems with rusted trailers, rusted box trucks, rusted running gear and fume problems...all because of SH fumes. This. Is. Crazy. [/FONT]

[FONT=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]The solution is so easy and inexpensive to implement. Stop using vented tanks. Stop thinking like a water storage and transport company and start thinking like a CHEMICAL storage and transport company. The solution is ridiculously easy...use sealed tanks and vent and fill them them externally. Whether it is a storage tank in a building or a tank in an enclosed trailer or box truck or even a trailer or pickup bed, you need to control and vent the fumes away from anything they can ha[/FONT]rm. Sealed tanks with external fills and external controlled venting are the way all chemical transport companies and chemical storage companies operate. You think an SH manufacturer is storing their product in tanks with vented tops inside a multi million dollar production facility? So why the heck are we storing and transporting SH in open vented *water* tanks tanks in our industry?

We needlessly destroy countless trucks, trailers, pickups, and buildings, creating unsafe rigs on the road by continuing to think like water transport companies. How many guys have had trailer running gear and frames break due to corrosive fumes that sunk and rotted them out?

It is inevitable that somebody will eventually have a trailer break and injure another driver or pedestrian...or worse. Remember the nature of the fumes...they sink. Take advantage of this to get the fumes away from running gear, etc. Existing tanks can be retrofitted, new rigs can be designed with this method in mind.

Same thing goes for filling. If you use a pump, why in the heck would you just stick the hose into an open tank and then risk spills on your expensive rig and running gear? Why risk spilling when you may also be carrying things like Acids? Use external fill lines. If you are using a draw tube in an open tank for roof cleaning...that is nuts. You don't see chem transports being filled from an open lid on a tanker truck...so why do we continue to do it?

This his can be implemented in a few hours with minimal cost of materials. Two simple to install bulkhead fittings and some PVC hard or flex lines are all you need. Sealing the vented top can be as easy as using some plastic and a zip tie to close off the vent lid. New systems can be built with this design from the beginning with the right tank. Here is a design for an enclosed trailer or box truck. The variations are numerous.


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Even rinsing, the damage will still be done if you are getting SH fumes into your running gear. SH rapidly corrodes metal in gas form and it is repeated daily exposure that does it. If you have aluminum on the trailer it is even worse as SH will very rapidly weaken aluminum. I've destroyed aluminum Camlocks in a few months...completely corroded through them. And we eroded through a 3/4" thick 316 stainless pump flange in a season. The cast steel suspension mounts are usually what go on trailers. Having an axle mount break at 65 miles an hour with a loaded trailer will tend to end your day badly.
 
This is great, just spent a bunch on an enclosed trailer and would like to preserve it as long as possible... I'm going to very seriously consider this and give it a try. Thanks for taking the time to post this.

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