What is the purpose of spraying PFA on chemical storage tanks

Source：www.shreesaifood.com Release date： 2025年09月16日

Information summary：Spraying PFA (perfluoroalkoxy resin, a modified material of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)) on the inner or outer walls of chemical storage tanks is the core function of providing a high-performance anti-corrosion, anti sticking, and temperature resistant protective barrier for the tanks, solving the problems of corrosion damage, material adhesion, and difficult cleaning faced by storage tanks in

Spraying PFA (perfluoroalkoxy resin, a modified material of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)) on the inner or outer walls of chemical storage tanks is the core function of providing a high-performance anti-corrosion, anti sticking, and temperature resistant protective barrier for the tanks, solving the problems of corrosion damage, material adhesion, and difficult cleaning faced by storage tanks in chemical production due to contact with strong corrosive media, high-temperature environments, or viscous materials. The specific functions can be decomposed into the following five core dimensions:
1. Corrosion resistance: resist strong corrosive media and protect the substrate of the storage tank
This is the core function of PFA spraying. Chemical storage tanks often store acids (such as sulfuric acid, nitric acid, hydrofluoric acid), alkalis (such as sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide), organic solvents (such as methanol, ethanol, ketones), strong oxidizing media (such as hydrogen peroxide, hypochlorous acid), etc. These media can cause serious corrosion (such as chemical corrosion, electrochemical corrosion) to the tank substrate (carbon steel, stainless steel, and even some alloys), leading to substrate perforation, leakage, and safety accidents.
PFA molecular structure contains stable C-F chemical bonds, no active groups, and almost no reaction with any known chemical medium (only a few substances such as molten alkali metals and fluorine elements can corrode). It can form an "isolation layer" on the inner wall of the storage tank, completely blocking the contact between the corrosive medium and the substrate, greatly extending the service life of the storage tank (usually increasing the corrosion resistance life of carbon steel storage tanks from 1-3 years to 8-15 years).
2. Excellent anti adhesion: avoids material adhesion, ensures tank capacity and cleaning efficiency
Some chemical materials, such as high viscosity resins, slurries, and crystalline materials, are prone to adhere to the inner walls of storage tanks, leading to two major problems: first, a reduction in actual effective storage capacity (the adhesive layer occupies space), and second, difficulty in cleaning (frequent disassembly or cleaning with strong solvents, time-consuming and labor-intensive, and may damage the storage tank).
PFA has a low surface energy (only about 18mN/m, which is one of the substances with low surface energy among known solid materials), and has extremely strong "non stickiness". Materials are not easy to adhere to its surface - even viscous resins or easily crystallized salts can be easily removed by simple flushing (such as water washing, air blowing) or slight vibration, ensuring the effective capacity of the storage tank, reducing cleaning costs, and avoiding "old material residue contaminating new materials" (such as the purity requirements for food grade chemical raw material storage).
3. Wide temperature range weather resistance: Suitable for high and low temperature working conditions in chemical industry, maintaining stable performance
The use environment temperature fluctuation of chemical storage tanks is large: some materials need to be heated for storage (such as high viscosity materials that require insulation at 60-150 ℃), some need to be refrigerated at low temperatures (such as certain solvents that require refrigeration at -20-50 ℃), and ordinary coatings (such as epoxy resin and polyurethane) are prone to softening and decomposition at high temperatures, and are prone to brittle cracking and peeling at low temperatures, losing their protective effect.
PFA has an extremely wide temperature resistance range: long-term use temperature ranges from -200 ℃ to 260 ℃, and short-term can withstand high temperatures above 300 ℃. In extreme high and low temperature environments, its physical properties (such as hardness and flexibility) and chemical stability remain almost unchanged, which can stably protect storage tanks. It is suitable for complex working conditions such as reactor set storage tanks, high-temperature medium storage tanks, low-temperature solvent storage tanks, etc.
4. Good wear resistance and impact resistance: resist material erosion and extend coating life
In chemical production, when materials are transported into storage tanks through pumps, they will cause erosion on the inner walls (such as high-speed flowing granular materials), or high-pressure water gun impact during tank cleaning. Ordinary coatings are easily worn and peeled off, leading to substrate exposure and corrosion.
PFA coating has certain toughness and wear resistance (with a hardness of about Shore D50-60 and high impact strength), which can resist long-term erosion of materials and mechanical impact during cleaning processes, and is not easy to scratch or peel off, ensuring the integrity of the coating and avoiding the chain problem of "local damage causing overall corrosion".
5. Compliance guarantee: meet the storage requirements of food grade and pharmaceutical grade chemical raw materials
For chemical storage tanks storing food additives (such as citric acid, monosodium glutamate raw materials) and pharmaceutical intermediates (such as certain organic synthetic materials), not only anti-corrosion is required, but also the coating must be ensured to be non migrating, odorless, and comply with food safety (such as FDA certification) or pharmaceutical GMP standards.
PFA itself is non-toxic, odorless, and does not release any harmful substances during use. Its coating has passed FDA, EU 10/2011 and other food contact material certifications, which can meet the "clean storage" requirements of chemical raw materials and avoid coating contamination of materials.

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