An invisible yet essential component of the steel water tank!
We take the time to tell something about an invisible yet absolutely essential component of the water tank: the protection fleece. Let’s share the ins and outs of our protection fleece.
Non-woven geotextile
Our protection fleece is a non-woven geotextile, manufactured from 100% polypropylene staple fibers. The fibers are mechanically bonded through needle-punching process and also thermally bonded to form a strong, flexible and dimensionally stable fabric structure.
The mechanical properties of our fleece guarantee a high resistance against mechanical damage and pressure. It has excellent permeability properties to air.
Why should protection fleece be applied?
Protection against mechanical damage
Our water tanks are supplied with protection fleece as standard. The felt should cover the metal walls of the water tank and preferably also the floor before the silo lining film is installed. The pieces of fleece should overlap slightly. This ensures that the film is protected against mechanical damage from sharp elements in the ground.
Pressure divider
Protection felt also serves to divide the pressure by spreading the weight of the water evenly across the surface area of the silo liner. This prevents localised pressure points, reducing the risk of damage to the liner and ensuring its longevity.
Preventing condensation
The fleece acts as a barrier between the metal tank and the silo liner. It also prevents interior condensation, in different ways. As separation layer it helps to prevent direct contact between the liner and the metal surface, reducing the likelihood of condensation forming on the inner surface of the tank. It also can provide insulation. By adding an additional layer between the metal tank and the silo liner, the fleece helps maintain a more stable temperature inside the tank, minimising condensation. Moreover, the fleece can absorb moisture to a certain degree, reducing the potential for condensation to form on the liner.
In short:
Our protective felt is applied for several reasons:
- Serves as protective layer
- Serves as separation layer
- Provides insulation
- Prevents interior condensation
- Is pressure dividing
Tip: when installing the liner in the tank, protect the ladder with pieces of fleece to make sure it doesn’t damage or pierce the liner.
Types and sizes
Our protective fleece is always supplied with the steel water tanks in a standard thickness. However, at NPI, we offer various thicknesses of fleece. Available per roll or in sheets of any size, made to measure by welding sheets together.
Our fleece finds its way into many different applications and projects worldwide, including ponds, projects in the civil engineering sector, green roofs and projects where we install buffer fields. In fact, for almost all projects where we install film, we also install protection fleece!
