The tank or part must be continuously welded on the interior with no porosity. All welds must be ground smooth with no lumps or pockets, and all weld spatter must be removed. Sharp corners and edges must be rounded to a minimum ⅛” radius. Connections should be flanged to allow the lining to terminate outside the wetted service area. Castings should not be excessively porous. For fabrications to be lined with materials requiring steam or heat curing, venting of entrapped air (i.e., structural tubing, hollow enclosed fabrications) must be considered to prevent damage during cure.

Surface preparation and lining application requires confined space entry by properly trained technicians. Preferably, one or more 24″ flanged manways are utilized. Pressure vessels often are designed using elliptical manways, which should be no smaller than 14″ x 18″. Future maintenance and inspection should also be considered when determining manway placement; manways are often located in the top head of tanks, but a manway located in the lower side shell provides for easier access when the tank is installed in a vertical position.

Provided that the equipment is believed to be in serviceable condition in terms of structural integrity, Arbonite can reline existing equipment either on site or at our Doylestown, PA location.

Our preferred method of removal for rubber and other thick-film linings is ultra high-pressure (UHP) waterjetting. This method not only provides fast production rates without damaging the steel substrate, but it also removes all tie-gum and other visible and non-visible contaminants from the surface. This ensures that any subsequent lining application starts with a clean surface free of chlorides and other non-visible compounds that often lead to premature lining failure.

As a general rule, the gasket must be softer than the applied lining so that when the hardware on the connection or manway is tightened compression occurs on the gasket and not the lining material. One of the most common causes of premature lining failure is overcompression of the lining on flanges, lined clips and manway seals, resulting in cracking of the lining or disbandment from the substrate.

Our expert technicians can perform on-site evaluation of your lined equipment, whether as a planned event or on an emergency basis. Upon completion of the initial visual inspection and lining integrity testing, we can provide a detailed report to assist you in determining whether lining repair or replacement is the best course of action.

The vessel must be empty, clean and dry to perform the lining inspection. Often tanks require forced-air ventilation to ensure that the lining is dry, a critical consideration if a spark test is a planned part of the inspection. To ensure that we can inspect all lined surfaces, it is strongly recommended that all internals be removed and all flanged connections should be accessible for testing and evaluation.

Inspections are strongly recommended as often as possible (once or twice annually), and certainly during regularly scheduled equipment shutdowns. During the course of these inspections, our expert technicians will recommend any required repairs and determine the best method of repair to be implemented. Regular attention and care of these linings will extend the service life to the maximum potential.

Arbonite (CT number 14276) is qualified to perform Lining and Internal Visual inspections of liquid bulk carriers. Prior to shipment, the trailer must be thoroughly cleaned and rinsed and there should be no residual heel of product or rinse water. A cleaning certificate must be delivered with the trailer, along with an SOS for the last product hauled. If possible, connections can be removed prior to shipment to minimize the cost associated with disassembly.