MOC of Sulphuric Acid Storage and Handling

They make battery cases from HDPE and they last a long time. HDPE is not attacked by sulphuric acid of any concentration.

Quite often porcelain tubs are used for acids, and HDPE can also be used as long as the substantial heat of mixing with water is allowed for and dissipated. This heat of mixing is capable of boiling the acid and distorting HDPE and might even shatter porcelain by thermal shock.

A mature business like this will tend to use tried and true methods and care must be taken with any new system to test it for all possible flaws in advance.

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Dear RVS; I am also working in a battery manufacturing unit. We wanted to store up to 60KL at 98%. Sulfuric at purest form is stored in MS tanks. As soon as it gets diluted it become corrosive. I helped my college getting details of storing by google searching. When he went in to details, our company just dropped the idea due to risk involved. I advice you to work out costs involved against volumes you want to store/ consume and select best economical way. Since specific gravity of 98% is very high you need good foundation as well.

PVDF is resistant to sulphuric acid of most concentrations. In fact, it is resistant to most things, including investment as it is so expensive compared to other materials. Heat of Dilution is released when sulphuric acid and water are mixed together, and PVDF is a good material to use local to the mixing point.

Here are some more ideas:

http://www.coleparmer.com/techinfo/chemcomp.asp

For large storage I suggest fiberglass tanks. I used to work for one of the largest battery manufacturers in the world. There are many plastics that will work just fine for sulfuric acid storage, but it depends on how strong you will be storing it and at what volumes. For vitriol (1.850 SG) you want glass. Small storage in glass carboys and large storage in glass lined tanks. There are a variety of manufacturers that make tanks for extremely corrosive materials. Sulfuric acid is most stable at 1.400 SG, above that it will absorb moisture from the atmosphere and below that it will evaporate moisture to the atmosphere. Storage at this concentration can be in PP, PE, HDPE, UHMWPE, fiberglass resin, the list goes on. Anything over 1.400 is no good for a battery anyway.

Remember do not take risks with vitriol. I once spilled a single drop and it hit my pants leg, burned straight through my polyester pants and burned a hole about 1/4" diameter and 1/16" deep in my skin. The scar was there for over 6 months. Have a specialty corrosives company handle that. For anything 1.400 and under it just depends how big a tank you need for which tanks will be the best value.