Not so Chile!

SILOTANK, designer, manufacturer and installer of custom built GRP, Dual Laminate and Thermoplastic tanks and process vessels have completed for Cumberland Electromechanical Ltd, Bicester, England a 100,000Litre & 1000 Litre uPVC/GRP tanks designed to be installed close to the earthquake fault line in Central Termoeléctrca Plant, Andina located in the Bay of Mejillones, 60 Km North of Antofagasta City, Chile.

In the last 2 years the company has completed export orders in excess of £2.0 million. As Silotank is located in Belfast, N.Ireland we have from the outset of the company been heavily focused on export, supplying tanks to Iran, Chile, UAE, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, South America (Atacama Desert), Korea, Finland, Germany and Norway.

The tank was manufactured from high quality isopthalic NPG polyester resin reinforcing chemical grade uPVC material. Detailed consultation took place with the material supplier to determine the most suitable material and the thickness of the liner material. This was vital due to the chemical resistance requirements of the process liquid to be stored. The tank was designed for 0.55 vertical and horizontal earthquake acceralation and transportational loadings that would be imposed for winter sea conditions.

The 100,000 Litre tank was designed, manufactured, tested and inspected to BS4994-1987 Category 1 with client specific documentation requirements that exceeded the requirements of Category 1.

The overall outside diameter of the tank was 4600mm so wide loads were considered when shipping to Dublin docks. Special shipping cradles were manufactured and secured to the tanks before shipping. Detailed lifting, handling and installation instructions were sent to the customer prior to shipping. Previous experience in export shipping enabled Silotank personnell to offer shipping in accordance with the requirements of Incoterms 2000.