The Norwesco 5500 Gallon 30 Degree HDPE Cone Bottom Tank in blue is built for full-drain chemical and process service where you need the contents to empty completely under gravity. With a 1.9 specific gravity structural rating, it carries the most aggressive entries in our compatibility data, including 98% sulfuric acid and saturated potassium hydroxide, well beyond what a generic water tank handles. This is a tall column: 148 inches (about 12.3 ft) in height on a 119-inch diameter footprint, so plan your overhead clearance and stand height before ordering. The polyethylene shell rated to 1.9 SG is engineered to hold dense chemicals substantially heavier than water without exceeding the wall design. The 30-degree cone is the workhorse middle ground for self-draining most liquids and many settling slurries; if you are weighing it against a 15- or 45-degree cone, the buyer's guide linked below walks through the trade-offs.
Will it work for your process?
Filled with water this cone bottom tank carries roughly 45,870 lb, and at its maximum rated 1.9 SG contents it reaches about 87,153 lb of total load. That weight rides entirely on the cone tip, so this tank must sit in a matching steel or poly cone-bottom stand sized for the 119-inch diameter, never freestanding. On a stand the fill and outlet height climbs well past 12 ft, so confirm a fill method up front since this tank is too tall to top-fill by hand. Use the Tank Sizing Calculator and the Tank Sizing Guide to check the loaded weight against your stand and slab rating, and the cone bottom stand compatibility matrix for fit.
Chemical compatibility
The shell is polyethylene rated to 1.9 specific gravity. The resin is recorded as HDLPE but flagged for confirmation; Norwesco cone bottoms in this size are commonly crosslinked (XLPE) for chemical duty, but confirm the exact resin (HDLPE versus XLPE) with us at 866-418-1777 before committing to aggressive service, since crosslinked and linear polyethylene resist different chemistries. Always cross-reference your chemical against the OEM chemical-resistance chart at your specific concentration and temperature; the values below are concentration-specific, and the fitting and gasket material matters as much as the tank wall. Most entries run PVC fittings with EPDM gaskets; the oxidizers and strong acids step up to Viton, and DEF, peracetic acid and the glycols require 316SS metal fittings rather than plastic.
Chemicals confirmed compatible for this tank's resin and SG rating include acetic acid (60%, PP/PVC fittings, EPDM gaskets), aluminum sulfate (50%, PVC, EPDM), calcium chloride (40%, PVC, EPDM), DEF (32.5%, 316SS fittings, EPDM), ethylene glycol (100%, PVC, EPDM), ferric chloride (50%, PVC, EPDM), ferric sulfate (60%, PVC, EPDM), ferrous sulfate (20%, PVC, EPDM), hydrochloric acid (37%, PVC, Viton), hydrofluoric acid (48%, PP/PVC, Viton), hydrofluosilicic acid (26%, PP/PVC, Viton), hydrogen peroxide (50%, PVC, Viton), magnesium chloride (30%, PVC, EPDM), peracetic acid (30%, 316SS, Aflas), phosphoric acid (85%, PVC, Viton), polyaluminum chloride (PVC, EPDM), potassium carbonate (50%, PVC, EPDM), potassium hydroxide (saturated, PVC, EPDM), propylene glycol (PP/316SS, EPDM), sodium bisulfate (PVC/PP, EPDM), sodium bisulfite (PVC/PP, EPDM), sodium carbonate (30%, PVC, EPDM), sodium hypochlorite (under 16.5%, PVC, Viton), sodium thiosulfate (40%, PVC, EPDM), sulfuric acid (98%, CPVC, Viton), urea solution (50%, PP/PVC, EPDM), zinc orthophosphate (PP/316SS, EPDM), and ozonated water (up to 10 PPM, PVC, EPDM). Match your fitting and gasket material exactly to the chemical you are storing, and see the full Chemical Compatibility Database for details.
The mistake to avoid
The most common error on a tank this dense is treating the 1.9 SG rating as a free pass for any chemical. It is a structural rating, not a chemical-resistance rating. Several entries demand metal fittings, not plastic: DEF, peracetic acid, propylene glycol and zinc orthophosphate all call for 316SS, and the Viton- and Aflas-gasket chemicals (sodium hypochlorite, sulfuric acid, hydrogen peroxide, the HF acids, peracetic acid) each need their specific gasket and a concentration kept inside the listed limit. Spec the wrong gasket or a plastic fitting where 316SS is required and the connection fails long before the tank wall does.
This cone bottom tank ships LTL freight from the nearest Norwesco plant, Shawnee, OK; St. Bonifacius, MN; or Washington Court House, OH, with the rate quoted live to your ZIP. Get a number now with the Freight Cost Estimator, read the 5500 gallon 30 degree cone bottom buyer's guide and the Norwesco cone angle selection guide, or call 866-418-1777 to confirm resin and the right stand before you order.
