Tank Connection announces new glass coating line expansion

Tank Connection, headquartered in Parsons, Kansas, has announced expansion plans at their Galesburg, Kansas manufacturing location. Vitreous enamel (glass/porcelain) coating line equipment is being added to this facility. This line will produce bolted glass panels coated with AQUA AGT 2020™, a high performance, proprietary glass coating system that addresses the deficiencies in today's glass coatings. Glass and LIQ Fusion 7000 FBE™ coatings are commonly requested in municipal water and wastewater storage applications.

Tank Connection currently maintains the top two fusion powder coating lines for the application of fusion bond epoxy powder coatings. Their proprietary coating formulation was developed by Akzo Nobel, the largest powder coat supplier in the world, and is exclusively provided only by Tank Connection. Each coating line runs over twice the length of a football field and are located at the Parsons and Galesburg, Kansas facilities.

According to Shane Nash, Tank Connection Vice President of Operations, "The addition of the glass coating line is complementary to our fusion coating lines and represents another big opportunity for Tank Connection. We have reviewed and conducted testing on glass coatings over the years and have not been satisfied with the performance of glass in water storage applications. By teaming up with the recognised industry experts in porcelain enamels, we have now addressed these deficiencies with a glass panel product that will fulfil client expectations."

In 2015, Tank Connection partnered with Porcelain Industries for R&D testing on glass formulations. Porcelain Industries has been in business for over 60 years and is the largest independent enameler in the U.S. Dr. Hemant Dandekar is the President and CEO of Porcelain Industries. He also serves on the board of the Porcelain Enamel Institute and has previously been the Chair of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers - Chicago section. According to Tank Connection Board Chairman, Bill Neighbors, "We have followed the same equation for all of the innovations in storage tank products that we have developed over the last decade. In this case, we have taken the best in bolted tank design and coated it with a high performance glass coating system. As an Employee Owned Company, Tank Connection will only offer the best AMERICAN MADE storage tank products that are manufactured at Tank Connection facilities. Relative to glass, our focus was on addressing the deficiencies of today's glass coatings in water storage applications. The glass coating system developed by Porcelain Industries addresses these deficiencies with its formulation, two coat and two fire process. In today's market, customers deserve choices in their selection of storage tank products. At Tank Connection, we continue to advance that selection with products of unmatched quality and field performance. This line expansion will now allow us to offer our bolted tank design coated with LIQ Fusion 7000 FBE™ (fusion bond epoxy), AQUA AGT 2020™ (glass/vitreous enamel) and in 304 and 316 stainless steel construction."

Adapted from press release by Joseph Green

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/product-news/10062016/tank-connection-announces-new-glass-coating-line-expansion/