Solvents and aromatics
Everything HDPE should not touch: aromatic and chlorinated solvents, ketones, strong oxidisers at temperature.
Products / stainless steel
The thirty-year container
Five times the price of a composite tote and ten times the life. For solvents, steam and anything HDPE has no business holding.
- Sheet
- 40
- Revision
- 2026-10
- Scale
- 1:1
- Drawn at
- Peoria IL
304 / 316LAlloys stocked
350–550Gallon capacity
30 yrService life
∞Rebuild cycles
The container that outlives the company that bought it
A stainless IBC costs five times what a composite tote costs and lasts ten times as long. Measured per fill over thirty years, it is the cheapest container in this catalog — and by far the lowest-impact.
Hot fill and steam
Steam cleaning, hot product fills, jacketed heating. Polyethylene deforms; steel does not care.
CIP and sterile
Clean-in-place spray balls, tri-clamp fittings, electropolished interiors on 316L units.
Rebuildable forever
Gaskets, valves and fittings are consumables. The vessel itself is effectively permanent.
| Model | Capacity | Footprint | Height | Empty weight | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 304 standard | 350 gal / 1325 L | 48 × 42 in | 52 in | 385 lb | General chemical, hot fill |
| 304 tall | 450 gal / 1700 L | 48 × 46 in | 58 in | 460 lb | Solvent storage |
| 316L sanitary | 350 gal / 1325 L | 48 × 42 in | 52 in | 410 lb | Food, pharma, CIP |
| 316L sanitary | 550 gal / 2080 L | 52 × 46 in | 64 in | 540 lb | Process intermediates |
| Jacketed 304 | 350 gal / 1325 L | 50 × 44 in | 56 in | 520 lb | Heated or cooled product |
What to inspect before you buy anyone's stainless
- Interior finish. Pitting and rouge are repairable; deep crevice corrosion is not worth buying.
- Weld quality at the manway and discharge. Bad previous repairs are the most common fatal flaw.
- Valve and fitting standard. Tri-clamp, DIN and NPT are not interchangeable and retrofits add up.
- Pressure and vacuum rating plate. Many steel IBCs are rated; many are not. Know which you have.
- Previous contents. Steel does not absorb, but gaskets and dead legs can hold residue for years.
We inspect all five before anything goes on the rack
Used steel comes with a borescope photo set of the interior, the rating plate and every weld we were able to reach.
Steel versus composite, without the sales pitch
| Factor | Composite (HDPE + cage) | Stainless steel |
|---|---|---|
| Purchase price | Low | 5–8× higher |
| Service life | 5–8 years | 20–30+ years |
| Cost per fill, 20 yr | Higher | Lowest in the catalog |
| Solvent compatibility | Poor | Excellent |
| Weight empty | 126–141 lb | 385–540 lb |
| Repairability | Rebottle | Effectively unlimited |
| Resale value | Modest | Holds value remarkably well |
| Right answer for | Most liquids, most of the time | Solvents, heat, hygiene, long horizons |
304 against 316L, and why the finish matters more than people think
| Property | 304 / 304L | 316L | Which to buy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chloride resistance | Moderate | Good (molybdenum) | 316L for brine, seawater, bleach |
| Acid resistance | Fair | Better | 316L for dilute acids |
| Caustic resistance | Good | Good | Either |
| Solvent resistance | Excellent | Excellent | Either |
| Cost index | 100 | 130–150 | 304 unless chemistry demands otherwise |
| Typical use | General chemical, hot fill | Food, pharma, CIP, chlorides | — |
| Weldability for repair | Excellent | Excellent | Either |
- Mill finish (2B)
- Standard, fine for industrial chemistry
- Electropolished
- Smoothest, easiest to clean, required by most pharma plans
- Interior welds
- Ground and passivated on sanitary vessels; as-welded on industrial
- Rouge versus pitting
- Rouge is surface iron oxide and cleans off; pitting is permanent
- Passivation
- Restores the chromium oxide layer after fabrication or acid attack
- Common fittings
- Tri-clamp on sanitary, NPT or DIN on industrial
The practical rule: buy 304 unless your chemistry contains chlorides or your plan names 316L, and pay attention to the interior finish rather than the alloy badge. A 316L vessel with a damaged, pitted interior is a worse buy than a sound 304 one at the same price.
What a steel IBC costs to keep
| Item | Interval | Typical cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasket replacement | Per fill or per campaign | $8–40 | Material matched to chemistry |
| Valve rebuild or replacement | 3–8 years | $90–260 | Sanitary valves cost more |
| Passivation | After acid exposure or repair | $120–300 | Restores corrosion resistance |
| Interior inspection (borescope) | Annually | Labour only | The check that protects the asset |
| Weld repair | As needed | $150–600 | Cut back, re-weld, re-passivate |
| Pressure re-test | Per your own policy | Varies | Only if the vessel is rated |
Can I steam clean a stainless IBC?
Yes — it is one of the main reasons to own one. Check the vessel's vacuum rating first, because cooling a sealed vessel after steaming can pull a vacuum that a non-rated tank will not survive.
Are they pressure vessels?
Some are rated, many are not. The rating plate is the authority. Never connect anything that can pressurise or evacuate a vessel whose rating you have not read.
How heavy are they, really?
385 to 540 lb empty. That changes your forklift requirement, your freight class and whether two people can reposition one — which they cannot.
What is the resale like?
Strong, and far better than composite. A sound used stainless vessel holds value for decades, which is worth factoring into the purchase decision rather than treating it as a sunk cost.
Do you take stainless in part exchange?
Yes, and we buy used steel outright. It is a thin market, so if you have vessels coming out of service, tell us before you scrap them — the scrap value is a fraction of the resale value.