Custom Storage Tanks & Silos for Any Application

Both carbon steel and stainless steel are widely used for industrial and chemical storage tanks, but they differ in raw-material cost, fabrication requirements, surface characteristics, and other practical considerations.

The customer or their process engineer should determine which grades of steel are suitable for the product being stored and the specific process environment. We cannot provide metallurgical or chemical-compatibility recommendations.

Once suitable material alternatives have been identified, however, we can help explain the practical and commercial tradeoffs. These may include raw-material cost and availability, fabrication and welding requirements, surface-finish options, maintenance considerations, configuration, and potential effects on delivery schedule.

If you are evaluating two or more acceptable materials for stainless steel storage tanks or carbon steel storage tanks, send us the alternatives you are considering. We can help you understand how each choice may affect fabrication, price, and delivery.

Yes. If you know the required capacity for an above-ground storage tank but have flexibility in the tank dimensions, Savannah Tank can often identify design choices that reduce fabrication, transportation, and installation costs.

Whenever practical, we generally prefer to fabricate as much of a tank as possible in one of our factories rather than in the field. Shop fabrication provides a controlled manufacturing environment and allows us to rotate and reposition tank components so our welders can work in favorable welding positions. This typically produces a more uniform weld appearance while also reducing field labor, crane, scaffolding, and other installation costs.

Within the practical limits of shop fabrication and transportation, we can evaluate factors such as tank diameter and height, the number of shell courses, and the top and bottom configuration. Reducing the number of shell courses can reduce material handling and welding time. For many storage applications, a cone roof or flat or sloped bottom that can be fabricated in-house may also be more economical than using fabricated dished heads.

Transportation is part of the equation as well. A tank that is economical to manufacture may become expensive to ship if its diameter creates an excessively oversized or over-height load.

If you know the capacity you need but are not locked into specific dimensions, talk with us early in the project. We can help evaluate different configurations and identify a practical balance between fabrication cost, transportation, and installation.

Savannah Tank can shop-fabricate tanks up to approximately 17 feet in diameter at our U.S. facility, but transportation, rather than manufacturing capability, often determines the practical size limit for a tank shipped in one piece.

Once a large-diameter tank is loaded onto a trailer, the overall shipping height can approach 20 feet. At those dimensions, utility lines, bridges, overpasses, route restrictions, escorts, and specialized transportation requirements can make freight extremely expensive or, in some cases, make delivery to the site impractical. For this reason, approximately 14 to 15 feet in diameter is often a more practical upper range for one-piece shipments, although Savannah Tank has manufactured and shipped larger tanks when the delivery route allows it.

Tank length is generally less restrictive, and vessels in the 50- to 60-foot range can often be transported depending on the specific route and configuration.

We recommend discussing large tank dimensions with us early in the project. Our team can consider fabrication efficiency and transportation constraints together before the tank dimensions are finalized.

Yes. When a storage tank is too large to ship economically or physically in one piece, Savannah Tank can design and engineer the tank for field assembly.

Our preferred approach is to complete as much fabrication as practical in the controlled environment of our factory. We can prefabricate tank components and complete as much assembly and welding as transportation permits, then ship a tank kit to the jobsite for final assembly, welding, and pressure testing. This minimizes field handling and welding, helps control installation costs, and allows more of the fabrication work to be completed under more controlled shop conditions.

We work with a number of experienced field-fabrication contractors for these projects. This approach allows us to offer much larger storage tanks, including tanks in the 30- to 40-foot-diameter range and beyond, depending on the project requirements. Field-erected tanks are inspected and tested as required by the applicable design standard and project specifications before being placed into service.

If your storage requirements are pushing beyond practical one-piece shipping limits, contact us early. We can review the project with you and help develop a practical fabrication and field-assembly approach that balances tank size, cost, transportation and installation requirements.

Savannah Tank storage tanks can be customized around the process, installation and operating requirements of the application. The exact features vary by project, but common options include:

• Nozzles, manways and instrumentation connections
• Heating or cooling jackets and internal coils
• Agitator supports, mixer bridges and baffles
• Internal components and specialty supports
• Insulation supports and external clips
• Ladders, platforms, handrails and other access features
• Flat, sloped, cone or other roof and bottom configurations
• Legs, skirts, saddles or other vessel supports
• Internal and external coatings or specialty surface finishes

You don’t need to have every detail finalized before contacting us. If you know the basic storage capacity, process requirements, and installation constraints, Savannah Tank can work with you to develop a practical tank configuration and identify the customization options needed for the application.