This invention is a bulk tank designed for storing liquids, including municipal or industrial liquid waste.

One known tank, as described in the Polish patent no. 178436, is a cylinder tank whose shell consists of prefabricated bent reinforced concrete elements. The tank is manufactured, as described in the Polish patent application no. P-371990, by joining the tank's ferroconcrete slabs with looped metal bars welded together, and then filling the clearance between them with concrete. The application also describes an animal manure storage tank with round or rectangular base, without cover, with walls built from prefabricated elements joined with a monolithic bottom slab, where all wall prefabricates are joined together with the use of looped steel bars welded together, and the clearances between them are filled with shotcrete. The bottom part of the ferroconcrete slabs feature holes to receive bottom slab reinforcements which are then covered with concrete in the course of the assembly works.

One disadvantage of the tanks built from concrete elements is their relatively low tensile strength; additionally, when used for storage of liquid municipal or industrial waste they show low resistance to the impact of aggressive chemicals. Likewise, steel tanks are characterised by low resistance to corrosion under the impact of aggressive chemicals. Plastic tanks do not share these faults, however they are characterised by low resistance to breakage under the impact of hydrostatic pressure. In particular, this is true of the side walls in the bottom part.

The objective of this invention was to develop a bulk tank structure that would be resistant to aggressive chemicals and concurrently characterised by high hydrostatic pressure strength. The invention bulk tank is made from vertical structural construction panels and in the bottom part it has horizontal girdles. The invention structural construction panels have external walls that face the inside of the tank and are made from fibre-reinforced thermosetting polymers and filled with foamed polymer, while the girdles are manufactured in the pultrusion process from fibre-reinforced thermosetting polymers. The bulk tank has at least one girdle. The girdles are made from thermosetting polymers, preferably from polyester, vinylester, ISO, or hybrid fibre-reinforced resins. The thermosetting resins are reinforced with mineral fibre, preferably glass, basalt, or carbon fibre. Alternatively, the thermosetting resins are reinforced with organic fibre, preferably polyamide fibre.

The invention is shown in the manufacturing example in the drawing, where Fig. 1 shows the sight of the tank in axonometric projection, Fig. 2 - shows the cross-section of the structural panel.

The bulk tank, generally cylinder-shaped, is built from vertical panels 1 joined together with the use of connector extensions 2 and connector grooves 3 made on the sides of the external walls 4 of the panel and facing the inside of the tank. The inside of the panels 1 is filled with foamed polymer 5. The panels 1, in the bottom part of the tank are girdled with horizontal girdles 6 manufactured in the pultrusion process from fibre- reinforced thermosetting polymers.

The invention bulk tank is characterised by very high resistance to aggressive chemicals and high hydrostatic pressure strength.