We built the world’s first Hortonsphere^® in 1923, and our experience in providing this storage solution is unmatched even today. We’ve built more than 3,500 spheres worldwide.

Lower cost, higher reliability. Hortonspheres economically and reliably store large volumes of liquids and gases under a wide range of pressure and temperature conditions. Their spherical shape offers uniform stress resistance, allowing the vessels to economically contain internal pressures. They require less land area yet provide more capacity than other pressure storage vessels, resulting in lower associated costs for piping, foundations, accessories and painting.

Hortonspheres are used by many industries, including oil, gas, petrochemical, chemical and aerospace. They are ideal for ambient temperature liquid; low-temperature liquid; cryogenic liquid and gas storage. They also can be used as processing, testing, containment, surge and vacuum vessels or hyperbaric chambers or environmental chambers.

Superior business approach. We deliver projects on a lump-sum, turnkey basis, providing single-point responsibility for all phases of the project. This approach reduces the effort and expense that the customer must invest for project oversight. As a true engineering, procurement/fabrication and construction (EPC) contractor, we have a multinational team of experienced engineers, technicians, supervisors and craftsmen to execute the project from start to finish. Our technical base in design, analysis, testing, metallurgy, welding, material fabrication, project management and construction allows us to provide superior results.

Flexibility in storage. We erect Hortonspheres in the field to provide the most economical solution for the customer. We utilize all-welded metal plate construction, quality materials, and overload testing for unparalleled safety and dependability. Once in service, our spheres are essentially oxygen free, which reduces corrosion and the danger of ignition.

Typical Hortonsphere applications include:

• Ambient Temperature Liquid Storage—Spheres designed for liquid storage can contain a variety of products such as gasoline, anhydrous ammonia, naphtha, LPG, NGL, butadiene and water. Typical capacities range from 1,000–75,000 barrels.
• Low Temperature Liquid Storage—Low-temperature liquid Hortonspheres offer an economical, partial-refrigeration solution for storing products such as LPG. These spheres feature single walls and external insulation.
• Cryogenic Temperature Liquid Storage—Spheres designed for cryogenic storage can be used to store products such as ethylene, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, argon and LNG. These spheres feature double walls with an evacuated, perlite-filled annular space.
• Gas Storage—Hortonspheres can store large quantities of compressed gases, such as hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, helium and argon. They also are used to store digester gas at sewage treatment plants or to store biogas at landfills.