Aluminum alloy tank material density is small, corrosion resistance is high, and recycling is favored by more and more factories. It has become the first choice of modified enterprise manufacturers to produce lightweight products, and they also realize the importance of the lightweight market in the future. The aluminum alloy container tanker, liquid tank trailer, and lifting tank trailer have maintained a good momentum of development in recent years. So, carbon steel, stainless steel, and aluminum alloy—how to choose the most appropriate tank trailer material?
I. First, let’s look at the fundamental differences between these three materials and what their strengths and weaknesses are.
Carbon steel contains 0.03-2% carbon. Many customers mistakenly believe that it is iron; in fact, carbon steel is hard and tough, elastic, and can be cast and forged, while iron is hard and brittle, can be cast but cannot be forged, and for the same volume of carbon steel and iron, carbon steel is lighter. There is no obvious difference between the two on the surface. For this reason, some refit manufacturers will replace the carbon steel with iron in order to reduce the cost. This is also one of the reasons why the prices of different manufacturers are different.
carbon steel trailer
Stainless steel: Special trailer manufacturers use stainless steel material, which is generally divided into 201 and 304. The two models are indistinguishable to the naked eye, so you must consult clearly before choosing this material and even indicate it in the contract when it’s necessary. 304 is more resistant to corrosion and high temperature, so it is more expensive than 201 but is worth the price. SUNSKY uses Q345B stainless mild steel to produce stainless steel tank trailers.
stainless steel tank trailer
Finally, we will talk about 5083 magnesium aluminum alloy, one of the most popular profiles in the oil tanker market. It should be noted that not all refit manufacturers will use this profile. There are also a lot of aluminum alloy models; different fields of demand are different. And 5083 magnesium aluminum alloy is generally used for ship, automobile, and airplane plate welding parts; pressure vessels that need strict fire prevention; missile components; etc. It has high hardness, strong corrosion resistance, and good weldability. Most notably, it is lightweight, but the price is higher.
aluminum alloy tank trailer
At present, the material used on fuel tanker trailers is mainly carbon steel and aluminum alloy. If you choose a tanker less than 10 tons, you can choose the carbon steel material, because this volume of the truck is generally used for flow refueling, does not need to be on the highway, and there is no need to consider the problem of overweight. And more than 10 tons, especially the 12×4 tankers, usually choose aluminum alloy material as the best; its weight will be 2.5 tons lighter than carbon steel tanks, but the cost will increase 60-70 thousand. Despite the advantages of aluminum alloy, its disadvantages are obvious; choose an aluminum alloy tank. The customer may also know that the hardness of an aluminum alloy tank is less than that of a carbon steel tank; if it breaks, the maintenance cost is quite high, so it is a factor to consider when choosing. And stainless steel material is generally not recommended. Why? First, the same volume of the tank and the weight have no difference between the stainless steel tank and the carbon steel tank, but the price is the same as the aluminum alloy tank, so why not choose the aluminum alloy tank? So unless the customer specifically specified, or this material is necessary, we will not use a stainless steel tank. So stainless steel is customization.
Aluminum tanks can be recycled and reused, and the recycling price is quite high, while carbon steel tanks can only be used as waste iron.
II. What are the advantages of aluminum alloy fuel tanker trailers compared with ordinary fuel tank trailers?
There are many names for fuel tankers, such as oil tanker, refueling truck, cooking oil tanker, mobile refueling tanker, and so on. No matter what it is called, we all know that it is used to hold oily substances. Now many people choose aluminum alloy material to make the fuel tank when they buy the tank trailer or truck, so how good is the aluminum alloy fuel tanker trailer exactly?
1. Because aluminum alloy oil tankers use aluminum alloy material, their deadweight is lighter. By reducing the deadweight,the trailer’s payload can be increased; the weight of a single shipment is 18%-35% more than that of a carbon steel tanker trailer. Because the aluminum alloy fuel tanker trailer is lighter than the carbon steel tank trailer, it reduces the fuel consumption in the transportation process. When the no-load driving speed is 40 km/h, 60 km/h, and 80 km/h, the fuel consumption of the aluminum alloy oil tank trailer is 12.1%, 10%, and 7.9% lower than that of the carbon steel fuel tank car, thus reducing the daily operation cost.
2. The chemical properties of aluminum alloy are stable, and the corrosion resistance of aluminum alloy is more than 70% higher than that of ordinary carbon steel. The enhancement of corrosion resistance makes the maintenance cost of the tank greatly reduced.
3. For the appearance, the appearance of the aluminum alloy oil tanker is more beautiful, and it is easy to clean without painting. The inside of the tank will not rust or oxidize, can avoid oil pollution and loss, and reduce its maintenance frequency.
4. Service life: The excellent characteristics of aluminum alloy make the service life of aluminum alloy oil tankers longer. Usually, good maintenance of the old aluminum alloy tank can also be used in the new chassis, and even if the tank is scrap, it also has a higher recovery value. And due to the lightweight of the aluminum alloy semi-trailer truck, it can slow down the wear and tear of tires, thereby reducing the maintenance cost of vehicles!
5. Handling: The center of gravity of the aluminum alloy oil tank truck is relatively low, and the brake is easier, so that the vehicle’s handling is better. The aluminum alloy can also absorb the energy of the collision in the accident through effective deformation (the possibility of later repair and recovery is higher), so as to improve the safety of driving.
6. Aluminum alloy is a non-combustible material, not easy to generate sparks, and static electricity accumulation is lower.
III. The aluminum alloy tank trailer produced by SUNSKY can meet the following special requirements:
1. Process requirements: The SUNSKY production line includes the special workshop, equipment, skills, skilled personnel, aluminum alloy material supply, and production process requirements. It invested a lot of money to introduce the new process of aluminum alloy tank trailer production and processing.
2. Material requirements: using 5083 aluminum alloy plate as the material of the tank, the 5182 plate can better reflect its corrosion resistance and welding performance, and with the same loading quality, the tank wall thickness can be thinner and lighter in weight. Another 5454 plate can be used in a high-temperature environment or to transport high-temperature liquid.
3. Transport medium requirements: The aluminum alloy tank truck produced by SUNSKY can carry oil and chemicals, and the transport medium can be comparable to the carbon steel tank and stainless steel tank.
4. Surface treatment requirements: SUNSKY will spray colored paint or polish the surface of aluminum alloy tank trailers. The plates are used differently, and the color on the surface of the aluminum tank will be different, but we can guarantee that the body is beautiful.
fuel tank trailer
IV. Determine the need to buy a better and proper fuel tank trailer
When buying a chemical liquid trailer, many customers cannot decide whether to buy a carbon steel tank or an aluminum tank; you have to think about your needs.
1. When purchasing semitrailers, most users will start from the price, quality, maintenance, and load, because this is directly related to the user’s investment costs and profits. In terms of price, carbon steel tanks are more favorable than aluminum tanks. In terms of quality, you need to consider which production process and strength are better. In terms of load, you need to consider the actual amount of goods transported by users. In terms of maintenance, you need to consider the brand reputation of the manufacturer and the after-sale service.
2. Many customers are keen on the lightweight, high utilization of aluminum tank trailers. Aluminum tank ranked second in the metal category by virtue of its light weight, high strength, anti-attack, and corrosion resistance; it is favored by major industries and has also been widely promoted and applied in the automotive industry in recent years. Compared with the carbon tank trailers, the chemical tank with a high aluminization rate is a new hot product of energy conservation and environmental protection, featuring light weight, low fuel consumption, less exhaust emission, and a high recycling rate.
3. Although the advantages of aluminum tank chemical trailers can be counted, their investment cost is naturally a higher one compared to the carbon steel tank trailers, which is why many owners hesitate about them.
4. Although the advantages and disadvantages of carbon steel trailers and aluminum trailers are listed above, when choosing a chemical tank, consider what the chemical liquid transport medium is; some chemical liquids are not suitable for carbon steel tank transport, even if the price of the carbon steel tank is low. In the same way, some transportation mediums cannot use aluminum tanks and are not able to be selected. Practicality is the absolute principle.
There are so many advantages of aluminum alloy oil tank trailer trucks; there is no reason not to choose aluminum alloy fuel tank trucks. Aluminum alloy oil tankers have been the trend of the times.
