Blisters in Rubber Lined Tanks.

[corrosionman]

I'm in the Rubber Lining business and occasionally meet rubber lined steel tanks where the lining has blisters which steadily grow - - - saw one once as big as half a football - - they contain what seems to be water The rubber lining does not have any defects and the water feels slightly pressurised causing the lining to "inflate" There is never any corrosion damage to the steel wall at the point of these blisters - - I guess there is no oxygen in the "water"
My questionis, how does the water get through the liining.
( the blisters we saw this week were in an Anion vessel - - temperature only slightly above ambient and pressure was trivial.
the huge ones we saw last month were in a flue gas scrubber where brine washes the gasses at about 35 degree temp.
Please has anyone an explatation of what is happening
(Once heard the word "Osmosis" and some people call it the "cold wall effect")
Cheers CM

 

[rconner]

While polymers, plastics and rubbers etc. can pretty much contain many substances, I think unlike metals they are nevertheless "permeable" in various normally slight degrees to various liquids and gases/vapors etc. You might want to search for such properties with key words "permeability", "permeation", etc.

 

[0707]

If you have a pin hole in your rubber lining you get a blister on the rubber lining due to steel products corrosion and water entrance underneath. This is not unusual in Anion Vessels.

I would recommend you to perform electrostatic tests to see if you have sparks in your lining, if so, corrosion will increase in those points.

Cheers

Luis