Amalga Composite Air Storage Tank Eliminates Need for Costly Stainless Steel
Client: McMaster-Carr
Problem:
McMaster-Carr is a business-to-business e-commerce company that offers more than half a million products to their customers. First founded in 1901, McMaster-Carr provides the products and equipment necessary for businesses to keep running efficiently. They found they had a need for low-pressure air tanks, which have traditionally been manufactured using stainless steel since they need to be corrosion-resistant. But stainless steel is heavy, and expensive; and now, with supply chain issues and inflation, it is nearly impossible to acquire. McMaster-Carr needed a solution from Amalga to not only use in place of more costly stainless steel air storage tanks, but also to exceed standards.
The Amalga Solution:
Using a combination of processes, Amalga was able to produce a composite air storage tank for McMaster-Carr that was competitive with stainless steel. The processes used were filament winding, compression molding and assembly of the composite and metal components using adhesive bonding techniques developed at Amalga by our team of expert engineers. This approach mirrored the processes used to fabricate metal pressure vessels and eliminate the need for a metal or plastic liner. The result is a successfully engineered, designed, and fabricated light-weight, corrosion-resistant tank, featuring multiple ports that can be used as inlets and outlets, as well as drain ports to remove condensation, suitable for a variety of applications.
Results:
Carbon fiber low-pressure air tanks are a game changer in an industry that previously believed stainless steel was the only option. Amalga’s composite pressure vessels are now available as an off-the-shelf product in volumes of 2, 5, 7 and 10 gallons at a lower cost and lighter weight than the stainless steel air storage that were previously available. In every way, the result is a superior product that is readily available and manufactured in the United States.
