Sectional Panel Tank Flange Joints Without Elastomeric Gaskets
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current sectional panel tanks for storing liquids and chemicals are time-consuming, labor-intensive, and machinery-specific, with weaknesses in water tightness due to elastomeric gaskets, poor biological and chemical resistance, and vulnerability to earthquakes, limiting their durability and scalability.
Innovation Solution
A sectional panel tank design that joins unit panels with flanges using fasteners without gaskets, employing impermeable and corrosion-resistant materials like stainless steel or fiberglass reinforced polymers, and a jointer made of polymer welding to ensure structural integrity and leak-proof seams, with optional linings and thermal insulation for enhanced durability and resistance to hazards.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If elastomeric gaskets are used to join panels together, then water tightness is achieved, but the tank has a short term of usage due to gasket weakness
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the elastomeric gasket from the joining system entirely. Instead of using a gasket between panels, the design employs directly bolted flanged connections with overlapping panels that create a mechanically interlocked joint. This extraction of the gasket eliminates its weakness while maintaining water tightness through the rigid mechanical connection and panel overlap geometry.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary structural element - the overlapping panel configuration with flanges and bolts - that mediates the connection between panels. This intermediary mechanical joint system replaces the soft gasket intermediary, providing a more durable connection that maintains water tightness without the limitations of elastomeric materials.
2Strength
If fiberglass or reinforced polymer panels are used, then structural support is provided, but biological and chemical resistance is poor
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs composite material construction where a structural panel (fiberglass or reinforced polymer) is combined with a protective lining material that provides chemical and biological resistance. This composite approach allows the structural panel to provide mechanical strength while the lining layer protects against degradation from chemicals and biological factors.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different material properties to different parts of the panel system. The structural panel provides strength and rigidity, while a separate lining layer applied to the interior surface provides chemical and biological resistance. Each layer performs its specific function locally, creating a panel system with multiple specialized properties.
3Adaptability or versatility
If known sectional panel tank designs are used, then scalability is achieved, but resistance to earthquakes and natural disasters is poor
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the tank into modular sectional panels that can be assembled in various configurations for scalability. The segmented design with standardized flanged connections allows easy expansion and adaptation. Simultaneously, the rigid bolted connections between segments provide structural integrity that can withstand seismic forces, improving resistance to earthquakes while maintaining scalability.
4Ease of manufacture
If traditional manufacturing methods are used, then tanks can be prefabricated, but the process is time consuming and labor intensive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent designs the tank as modular sectional panels that can be independently fabricated and then assembled on-site. This segmentation allows parallel manufacturing of multiple sections, reducing overall production time. The standardized flanged connections enable quick assembly without complex field fabrication, significantly reducing both manufacturing time and labor requirements while maintaining prefabrication capabilities.
Data Source
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AI summary
A sectional panel tank comprises one or more side walls that are joined together in forming the sectional panel tank. One of the side wall comprises a first unit panel (200) having a first extension (208) at a first edge of the first unit panel (200) and a second unit panel (250) having a second extension (258) at a second edge of the second unit panel (250). By combining the second extension (258) to the second extension (258), the second unit panel (250) is joined to the first unit panel (200) for providing a continuous surface of the side wall. No gasket is needed between the first extension (208) and the second extension (258). A method of making the sectional panel tank is also disclosed. A method of making prefabricated unit panels with lining sheets is further disclosed for the sectional panel tank.