Technical Specification for Stainless steel Horizontal Storage Tank

1. Product Definition

A Stainless Steel Horizontal Storage Tank features a horizontally-oriented tank shell. It is mainly fabricated from stainless steel plates, equipped with end heads, saddle supports, nozzles, manhole, level monitoring devices, safety valves and other accessories. It is used for storage, buffering, sedimentation and temporary holding of liquid materials, widely applied in food & beverage, brewing (beer, kombucha, fruit vinegar), pharmaceutical, veterinary, chemical and water-treatment industries. Compared with vertical tanks, horizontal tanks have a lower center of gravity with low requirement for plant height, and allow convenient side-by-side installation of multiple units.

2. Structural Composition

1. Tank Shell: Horizontal cylindrical body rolled and welded by stainless steel sheets, serving as the main pressure-bearing chamber for liquid storage.

2. End Heads: Elliptical or dished heads welded to both ends of the shell to reduce stress and improve pressure resistance. Flat heads are adopted for a small number of atmospheric-pressure vessels.

3. Saddle Supports: Special supports for horizontal tanks, normally two sets in total. One fixed saddle and one sliding saddle are configured to compensate thermal expansion and contraction and prevent tank deformation and cracking.

4. **Process Nozzles

· Inlet: For material feeding

· Outlet: Located at tank bottom for material discharging, dead-zone-free design is available

· Drain nozzle: Installed at the lowest point for sediment discharge and cleaning drainage

· Breather / Vent nozzle: Balance internal-external pressure for atmospheric tanks; connected to safety valve for pressure-type tanks

· Manhole: For internal inspection and manual cleaning access

· Level nozzle: For mounting level gauge or level sensor

· Temperature nozzle: For temperature probe installation

· CIP cleaning nozzle: Connection for internal CIP spray ball for cleaning-in-place

5. Optional Accessories 

· Jacket structure: Outer jacket layer for circulating chilled water, hot water or thermal oil to realize heating or cooling function

· Insulation layer: Rock wool / polyurethane insulation plus external stainless steel cladding for temperature loss reduction

· Internal fittings: CIP spray ball, anti-vortex outlet, baffle plate, defoaming device

· Measuring instruments: Magnetic flap level gauge, pressure transmitter, temperature sensor

· Agitator: Side-mounted horizontal agitator for mixing and homogenization requirements

3. Material Specification

Plate Standard: GB/T 24511 stainless steel plate for pressure-bearing equipment; GB/T 3280 is acceptable for non-pressure atmospheric tanks. All welds are completed by argon-arc welding with internal & external polishing treatment.

4. General Technical Parameters (Customizable upon request)

1. Volume Range: 0.5m³-100m³ for customized design. Nominal volume is larger than effective working volume to reserve safety margin.

2. Working Pressure 

· Atmospheric type: 0-0.02 MPa, fitted with breather valve, for common storage and post-fermentation temporary holding

· Low-pressure type: 0.1-0.6 MPa, equipped with safety valve for pressure-bearing liquid storage

3. Working Temperature: -20℃ ~ +100℃; Max. jacket temperature ≤120℃ subject to process media

4. Surface Finishing 

· Internal surface: Food-grade polishing Ra ≤0.8 μm, dead-zone-free for convenient CIP cleaning

· External surface: Mirror polishing or matt brushing finish

5. Welding Requirement: Full butt welds with grinding and polishing. PT penetrant testing is required for welds of food-pharma grade tanks.

6. Design Standards 

· Pressure vessels: GB150 Pressure Vessels

· Atmospheric tanks: JB/T4735 Standard for Atmospheric Vessels; comply with sanitary equipment specifications for food-grade applications.

5. Product Features

1. Advantages of Horizontal Structure 

· Low center of gravity with stable operation, low requirement for workshop height

· Suitable for multi-unit side-by-side layout with neat piping arrangement for mass-production workshops

· Convenient bottom discharging and draining, easy complete discharge of sediment-containing liquids

2. Sanitary Performance Dead-zone-free internal surface, compatible with CIP cleaning-in-place to reduce manual tank entry cleaning, suitable for food, brewing and veterinary raw-material storage.

3. Corrosion Resistance Stainless steel material resists rust, applicable for water, wine, vinegar, fruit juice, syrup, liquid feed additives, veterinary liquid formulations and partial weakly corrosive chemical liquids with low risk of material contamination.

4. Flexible Customization Available with jacket temperature control, thermal insulation, remote level transmission and side agitator to satisfy storage, buffering, sedimentation and low-temperature holding working conditions.

6. Applicable Media

Drinking water, purified water, beer, kombucha fermentation broth, fruit vinegar, fruit juice, syrup, liquid feed additives, veterinary liquid preparations, partial neutral and weak acid-base chemical liquids.

For strong acid, strong alkali or high-chloride-ion media, material corrosion allowance shall be calculated in advance.

7. Installation & Operation Requirements

1. Foundation: Horizontal concrete base. Saddle supports shall be fully seated on foundation without suspension. Do not fully lock anchor bolts for sliding saddle to allow thermal displacement.

2. Piping: Flexible expansion joints are recommended for all connecting pipelines to avoid tank stress caused by pipeline tension.

3. Atmospheric tank: Keep breather valve unobstructed. Never block the vent, otherwise tank vacuum collapse risk may occur.

4. Jacketed tank: Do not over-pressurize jacket; supply heating / cooling media strictly per design pressure.

5. Cleaning: Prioritize CIP spray cleaning. Regularly inspect welds and aging status of gaskets.

8. Standard Supply Scope

Tank body, saddle supports, process nozzles & flanges, manhole, lifting lugs. 

Optional supplied accessories: Breather valve, safety valve, level gauge, CIP spray ball, jacket & insulation layer, side agitator, temperature & pressure sensors.