Spec’s made easy Steel Silo & Tank Painting

Panting steel tanks, silos, vats, and outdoor structural steel is not an easy task. These steel structures are often used to house very corrosive and hazardous materials. At the very least they are very expensive to build and highly critical to the production of the facility they reside.  

In some cases, these tanks and dust collection vats reach high temperatures and may require specialty paints and coating systems beyond what will be discussed in this article.  There exists a coating for just about every need that may arise. For example, we have a ceramic system made by mas-cote that reflects heat back into the container to save energy and keep the outside temperature down to reduce burns and safety hazards. There are also paints that can be used in heat as high as 800 degrees.   

There Are A Lot Of Options When It Comes to Picking a Painting System

Exterior maintenance of Steel tanks and silos are a little tricky because there are a lot of options when it comes to specifying a painting system.  Let’s say the Silo is in the north-east like NJ, PA, and NY area and its starting to rust at the joints and on some of the seams.  This could be handled with one of 3 most common specifications shown below:

1. Good – Spot Grind rusted areas Full wash with Clor-rid  
2. Better – Spot Sand-blast/Wet-blast/Vapor blast and full wash with Clor-rid
3. Best – Full Sand-blast or Vapor-blast

The pricing would obviously go up in line with the more detailed preparation of the tank. In many cases, due to budget, replacement cycle, or any number of other variables the good and better options are selected. Just like the painting of Metal Buildings, the area where the surface is not completely blasted to a near white metal must be encapsulated to prevent the metal surface from ever getting damp.  There are many tank and silo painting system options. I will outline a few below:

1. Good – Spot Prime bare or rusted areas with high solids epoxy mastic and apply a direct to metal acrylic paint
2. Better – Spot Prime bare or rusted areas with high solids epoxy mastic and apply 2 component poly-urethane paint
3. Best – Full Prime of all areas with high solids epoxy mastic and apply 2 component poly-urethane or polyuria coating

If any steel tank, silo, or structure has rust areas that are simply painted over without either blasting or encapsulating, it is likely the rust will be back within 6 months and begin to corrode as if nothing was done at all.