Manufacturing process of FRP vessels and Tanks

The word FRP in the FRP Tanks or FRP vessels refers to the ‘Fiber Reinforced Plastic’. It is a sort of composite substance which is comprises a mixture of polymer material fortified with fiber. The tanks and vessels which are made up of FRP material are known as FRP tanks and FRP vessels respectively. These tanks are commonly utilized in industries and in treatment plants.

The FRP tanks or FRP vessels as you can say, normally, have a high rigidity and are highly resistive to chemical reactions. They are manufactured on the basis of five major design norms and they are-  BS 4994, ASME RTP-1, ASME Section X, SS245:1995, and BS EN 13121.

The manufacturers produce the FRP tanks/vesselsusing methods like:-

• Hand Lay-up: Hand lay-upis a molding process where fiber reinforcements are laid by hand then wet with resin
• Contact molded: fiber reinforced material (30–45 per cent by volume) and a liquid thermosetting resin are concurrently formed into a male or female mold and preserved at room temperature or with the implementation of heat to accelerate the process.
• Filament winding: Here the filaments are wounded under tension over a rotating arbor.
• Spray up:Spray-upis an open-molding composites fabrication method in which resin and reinforcements are sprayed onto a reusable mould

No matter there are different methods of manufacturing FRP vessels and tanks, manufacturers prefer Hand lay-up method and Filament winding the most as they are economical on industrial basis. Let’s check their advantages and disadvantages.

Hand Lay-Up Method

Advantages:-

1. Traditional technique
2. Simple and easy to teach
3. Cost of tooling is low, when room temperature cure resins are used.
4. Fiber content remains high

Disadvantages:-

1. Low viscosity of resins should be maintained to be workable by hand
2. Safety measures should be taken while handling resins

Filament winding method

Advantages:-

1. Very fast and economic method
2. Minimal fiber cost as there is no secondary method to convert fiber into fabric prior to use
3. Resin content can be controlled

Disadvantages:-

1. Limited to convex shaped components
2. Mandrel cost for large components is high
3. Fiber cannot be laid easily along with length of the component exactly