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Corrosion on SS Tank

February 24, 2009

Good morning,

Our company has built a storage tank for Palm oil, capacity 700,000 litres.
The tank was made with 304 grade stainless steel.

Before to use it for the palm oil, we test for any leakage with water ( from a well).

The location of the tank is about 1000 meter from the sea shore.

To my surprise, the storage got corroded, in just 4 weeks of the water test. We saw many of corroded places inside the tank, in the welded places and also in the not welded places. In some place the corrosion is so severe until to leak the wall ( 5 mm )

We have tested the water to the Laboratory, and it showed no significant dangerous chemical concentration in it.

We appreciate if you could inform us, what kind of chemical inside the water that could corrode the SS in such a short time.

Thank you for your co-operation.

Best regards,

Muljana Jansen
Fabricator for Tank - Jakarta, Indonesia

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Few imp. parameters for GOOD water
1. TDS
2. Chloride
3. conductivity.

Thanks
SURYA

SURYAPAL Singh
- DELHI, INDIA
March 23, 2009