In the water tank manufacturing process, a rotational moulding involves a heated hollow mould that is filled with a shot weight of the polymer. The mould is then slowly rotated bi-rotationally causing the softened material to disperse and stick to the walls of the mould rotating at all times of the heating phase to avoid sagging or deformation.
The plastic takes the shape of the mould of the storage tanks, and once it has completely formed, the mould is removed from the oven, the tank then cools and reveals the final product. The whole process takes anywhere from 20 minutes to more than 3 hours depending on the size of the tank and wall thickness.
The Rotational Moulding Process
In the water tank manufacturing process, the process of rotational moulding is essentially very simple and can be broken down into four stages.
- Loading The Mould – The metal mould is filled with a polymer powder, then moved into an oven.
- Heating The Mould – The mould is heated in the oven and rotated around bi-rotationally. As the powder heats and melts in the mould, it starts to layer up in the mould following the shape of the mould. This process can take from 30 minutes to a couple of hours depending on the size of the tank.
- Cooling – When the mould is taken out of the oven it starts to cool, and the plastic inside the mould becomes solid.
- Unloading the Mould – Once call the mould unclamps and the plastic tank can be removed from the mould.
View a short video of a rotational moulding oven in action below.
Enduramaxx Tanks
Enduramaxx moulds tanks in two locations with its head office in Lincolnshire. These rotational moulding ovens can manufacture vessels from 50 litres up to 40,000 litres and tanks as large as 4000mm in diameter by 3900mm tall. For more details on our Large Plastic Water Tanks, chemical tanks or to discuss manufacturing a custom bunded tank, please contact the sales team or email Sales@enduramaxx.co.uk.
