Fuel bladders or fuel storage bladders are collapsible, flexible storage bladders (also known as tanks) that provide temporary or long term storage for industrial liquids (i.e. fuels). These pillow shaped tanks are designed for large volume liquid transport, industrial chemicals, potable water, sludge, and fuel storage. Standard fuel bladder tanks sizes range from 100 gallons (378.5 l) to 200000 gallons (757,082.4 l) capacities and larger and custom fuel storage bladders and cells are available, although at sizes exceeding 50000 gallons (189,270.6 l) there is an increased spill risk.

Primary use

Fuel bladders are used in various fields, such as agribusiness, public works, humanitarian, military and industrial areas. Standard tanks are designed for land based use and operations, but can be used in marine settings and in aviation given proper support. Fuel Bladders are also commonly used in oil spill recovery operations.

High end fuel bladders offer a high degree of protection of the stored liquids, ensuring the contents never come in contact with air. This ensures that there is no risk of evaporation or explosion due to gas formation. In order to prevent liquid contamination, a neutral barrier film is added to the fuel bladder's inner side.

Fuel Bladders are most useful in situations where critical infrastructure has been compromised or does not exist. Benefits of using a flexible storage system like fuel bladders is their ability to be transported and set up quickly. One manufacturer

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sites that their pillow shaped bladders are foldable at less than 5% of the total volume. Other unique characteristics of fuel bladders are their high resistance to climatic conditions, which makes them useful for use in disaster zones and wartime desert operations.

Technical characteristics

High end fuel bladders are made of elastomer coated fabrics manufactured by homogeneous vulcanization in one operation. The fabrics ensure the mechanical resistance. Coating and design engineering grant chemical properties and water tightness.

Transportation

Fuel Bladders can come equipped with all the necessary components for transportation, for example: water transportation or fuel transportation on transport vehicles. Flexible tanks are equipped with adjustable skirts and adjustable towage straps designed to provide high resistance to transport constraints. Adjustable skirts maybe replaced by a strap net in case the users need to transform a traditional storage tank to a transportable flexible tank.

Notable suppliers

Manufacturing fuel bladders is an engineering and labor intensive process which requires specialized skills and a large amount of manufacturing space. Some notable suppliers of fuel bladders which carry ISO quality certifications and/or MIL-spec offerings are as follows:

• Eldred Environmental & Export Co., LTD
• Interstate Products
• MPC Containment

Additional uses

Flexible pillow tanks are also widely used as 'water bladders': made of plastomer coated fabrics manufactured by high frequency welding. The fabrics ensure the mechanical resistance. Coating and design engineering grant chemical properties and watertightness. Most suppliers also offer water disinfection solutions as well as the pumps and necessary equipment for the distribution of water.