Tanks - Used Stainless Steel Tanks

No matter what industry you’re in or what you manufacture, there’s a good chance you have to store and process your final product and process your liquid ingredients in stainless steel tanks. These industrial workhorses accomplish a variety of tasks, and Phoenix Equipment carries a long line of tanks tailor-made for any application, industry, and scope. With used stainless steel tanks ranging from 20-gallon jacketed mixing tanks all the way up to 50,000-gallon and larger fermentation vessels and fresh water cisterns, our inventory is vast and dynamic.

Phoenix leverages a vast network of suppliers to offer a constantly upgraded inventory of new, used, and refurbished stainless steel tanks from top manufactures such as Fabricon, Cherry-Burrell, A&B Process Systems, Feldmeier and more. Whatever your storage and processing needs, Phoenix Equipment can match you with the perfect tank.

How to Find the Perfect Stainless Steel Tank for Your Application

To help you determine which of the used stainless steel tanks in our massive warehouse will best suit your purposes, consider these specifications:
 

  • Application – Storage applications allow for more size flexibility, while processing tanks are generally small to allow for batching. Small storage tanks can be adapted for processing, but often prove difficult to unload if the product is thick or viscous.

  • Size and orientation – If your plant capacity is limited, vertical tanks make efficient use of often-unused overhead space. Horizontal tanks, however, have more product contact area to optimize heating and cooling tasks. They also are better adaptable to agitation, making processing cheaper and more efficient.

  • Heat transfer – Many of our used stainless steel tanks can be used to heat or cool liquids and maintain them at optimal temperatures. To accomplish the job, you will need a double-wall tank with room for the heat-transfer medium – glycol, Freon, or ammonia – to flow between. Depending on how much liquid you want to cool or heat – and how fast – will also bear on the size and orientation you need. General purpose tanks may use 304L stainless steel liners while others use 316L for processes involving acids like those found in citrus and tomato juice.

  • Agitation – Similarly, tanks can mix, blend, and sweep material to prevent separation, achieve homogeneity, maintain even temperatures, and a host of other purposes. Depending on your application, you can choose from blade shape, speed, and size. Again, your agitation needs should help dictate the size and shape of your stainless steel tank. Agitation can be added to horizontal tanks much less expensively than to vertical tanks.

  • Bottom shape – Storage tanks often are fitted with flat or only slightly sloped bottoms because they are not designed for mixing or frequent draining. Stainless steel tanks used for processing products have bottom fitting designed to mix, concentrate, and guide the product to implanted drains for easy emptying. Dish-shaped bottoms encourage mixing by allowing liquids to roll up the tank sides as force is exerted from above. Sloped bottoms act as funnels, angling fluids to one corner, where they can be drained easily. Cone bottoms also funnel liquids, moving them to the center of the tank. Their shape also aids in mixing.

  • Cleaning – Buying a used stainless steel tank with clean-in-place capability can save the additional cost of adding it later. Many of our refurbished tanks are fitted with spray balls that clean in 180- or 360-degree patterns using a range of ball diameters and flow pressures.
     
  • Other Specifications – With so many used stainless steel tanks in our yard, you can pick from a host of other custom options. We have models with access ports placed at every convenient location to facilitate cleaning and inspection. You can even specify the number, size, and locations of port and drains. Chances are that we will have exactly what you’re looking for.

No matter what you’re storing and processing we are sure to have a SS tank that fits your needs. If we don’t by chance have what you need in stock, we’ll find it for you. Just send us your specs, and we will contact our industry partners to find the equipment you need. If steel isn’t the right material for the job, check out our full inventory of glass-lined, exotic alloy, aluminum, and other tanks available for purchase right now.