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Repairing Fibreglass Acid Bath

January 1, 2009

We have just emptied our 750 litre acid bath when it developed a leak. It holds Hydrofluoric and Sulphuric Acid. The construction is MS coated with Fibreglass.

My question is this.

What is the best resign & glass to use for this repair? until a new bath can be sourced and manufactured.

Michelle Sindholt
Metal coating shop - Brisbane, Qld Australia

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January 8, 2009

Hi Michelle,

Who in der Hell said that frp would be good for HF acid?

Surely there are some good hd Pe suppliers using moulded
tanks in your neighbourhood, try them !

Further, frp tends to wick ... osmotic attack .... hence
structurally the m.s. side would be attacked.

For an el quicko build up, use epoxy. But first of all
grind down the attacked areas.

Freeman Newton [dec]
(It is our sad duty to advise that Freeman passed away
April 21, 2012. R.I.P. old friend).

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January 15, 2009

I agree that FRP is not suitable for acid solutions containing HF, but, with a PVDF surfacing veil inside the fiberglass, bonded to it with epoxy and covered with a gel coat of epoxy, it may work for many years.

Lyle Kirman
consultant - Cleveland Heights, Ohio

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January 27, 2009

Thanks Guys, for your response, we have repaired the tank and is holding well. Contact has been made with a business who has done lots of work building tanks for HF, The repair was done to their spec.

Michelle Sindholt
powdercoating shop - Logan Village, Queensland, Australia

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February 1, 2009

My chemical bath dimensions :length 14 metre x width 1.5 metre x depth 2.5 metre. It is for degreaser; concentrated hydrochloric acid; flux; molten zinc; water.
At present the material is constructed from reinforced concrete.
My question is how to detect any leakage before it becomes a hazard.Something similar to an early warning signal to alert the user.e.g. there is a cracked in the holding bath.
Thank you.

Yi Gao
- Singapore