Is there a textbook about tank construction in WWTP for non civil engineers?e

[MartinLe]

I'm an environmental engineer, not a CE. I want to understand more about tank construction, especially about ...
The weird shapes like Emscherbecken and funneled tanks you see in some wwtp
special considerations re. corrosion and chemical attacks
How diffferent tank shapes affect cost (how much steel will I need, is the shuttering weird)
My company currently has no civil engineer. Since in the plants we build, civils are a huge cost factor, it'S always important to understand more about this.
Occasionally I come up with a harebrained idea that would need weirdly (anything but a vertical cylinder) shaped tanks. I want to understand enough to do an insanity check myself, to see if something can be buzlt within rasonable costs, before I start to argue that we hire an external ce or structural engineer to plan something.

I'm not in wastewater treatment, but in biogas. But most tank constructors relevant to us have wastewater experience, and as a stated above I'm also interested in understanding weirder tank shapes and they affect costs etc.

A good source (be it textbook, open course ware) would help me to speak a common language with construction companys and understand why certain forms are more difficult to build.

 

[bimr]

The shapes of tanks are defined more by the process aspects than the cost. Most tanks are either circular, rectangular, or square. Digesters used to be made circular, but the process is more efficient with an egg shape. Egg shaped digester tanks are made of steel because it is not practical to construct from concrete. Funneled bottoms must generally be angled at a minimum of 55 degree to prevent solids deposition.

Don't think there is any textbook.

 

[JedClampett]

Anything different than the shapes bimr mentions (round, rectangular) are more difficult to design and detail. They're also harder to lay out.
Round is more effcient structurally. But if there's a series of them, you lose the areas between them. You can build rectangular with common walls (saving space and cost), and with basically the same footprint they hold more (80 ft square tank holds more volume than an 80 ft round), but the walls tend to be thicker for the same height. Also you can add details to rectangular vessels to make expansion easier.
Sooner or later, you're going to need to engage a Civil engineer (or structural) to design your tank. It would be better to do it sooner and get their input rather than to come up with something that's not buildable.
There's no text on this. Pick up a phone and call.

 

[MartinLe]

Ok, thanks for the input.