Engineer-specified plastic tanks for hydrochloric acid (HCl, muriatic acid) storage and dosing service. Industrial Plastics fabricates HDPE and PP-H tanks for HCl with the venting and containment design hydrochloric service requires.
Material selection for hydrochloric acid
Hydrochloric acid handles well in plastic tanks — both HDPE and PP-H have excellent chemical compatibility with HCl across commercial concentrations. The bigger engineering problem with hydrochloric is not the tank itself, it’s the off-gas.
- HDPE (PE100) — the default for ambient-temperature HCl service. Handles 32-33% commercial HCl (“muriatic acid”) and lower-concentration dosing solutions reliably for 20+ year service.
- Polypropylene (PP-H) — preferred where service runs above ~50°C, or where the HCl is part of a hot-acid process stream.
Off-gas: the engineering problem
HCl off-gases — the vapour pressure means a vented HCl tank releases a continuous low concentration of hydrogen chloride gas through the vent stack. HCl fumes attack everything around them: nearby steel structures, electrical fittings, building cladding, and any unprotected concrete. A poorly-engineered HCl tank doesn’t fail — but it costs the plant operator far more than the tank itself in collateral corrosion.
The right approach: vent stack height and location designed against the prevailing wind and the proximity of corrosion-sensitive plant; scrubbed venting where the off-gas concentration warrants; spill containment on the bund floor with appropriate neutralising arrangements; and corrosion-resistant fittings on everything within the bund. We design and fabricate to this whole containment-and-venting picture, not just the tank.
Common configurations
- Bulk storage — 5,000 to 50,000 L+ in HDPE. Tanker top-fill with manway, vent designed against operating site (height, scrubbing, wind), bottom drain, level instrumentation.
- Day tanks & dosing — 200 to 5,000 L. Water-treatment regeneration service, pH adjustment, mining hydrometallurgy dosing.
- Bunded & vented — primary tank inside HDPE bund sized to AS 1940 / AS/NZS 4766 minimum. Vent sizing and scrubbing engineered to the off-gas problem, not retrofit later.
- Process-stream tanks — PP-H for elevated-temperature HCl in mining hydrometallurgy and chemical processing.
Standards and compliance
- AS/NZS 4766 — Polyethylene storage tanks for water and chemicals.
- AS 1940 — Bunding, venting and overflow specification.
- DVS 2205 (tank design) and DVS 2207 (welding) — welder qualification across HDPE butt welding (DVS 2207-1) and extrusion welding (DVS 2207-11). More on DVS 2207.
- ISO 9001:2015 — quality management system certified by SGS.
How we work
Send the SDS, the concentration (32-33% commercial HCl is the most common service), the fill cycle, the proximity to corrosion-sensitive plant, and the venting constraints. We confirm material selection, wall thickness per AS/NZS 4766, and the venting/scrubbing/containment design — before fabrication starts. DVS 2207 welders. Documented audit trail.
Talk to a fabricator
Trusted by water-treatment operators, mining hydrometallurgy, and process-industry clients including Veolia, Aquatec Maxcon, Rio Tinto and BHP. Back to Chemical Storage Tanks. Send drawings, P&IDs or an SDS via the contact form — or call 1300 465 888, Mon–Fri 8am–4pm AEST.
Considering a rotomoulded alternative? Read why HCl service needs fabricated tanks (rotomoulded comparison) — our full engineer-grade comparison.
