Sizes | Metal Fabrication | American Alloy Fabricators

American Alloy Fabricators builds custom process equipment across a full spectrum of scales. From benchtop lab vessels to large-scale production tanks, we fabricate to the volume requirements and dimensional specs your project calls for. This page outlines our confirmed capacity ranges for vessel volume, piping and tubing, manways and ports, and heat exchanger tubing, so process engineers and project managers can verify fit before submitting an RFQ.

Vessel Volume: Lab to Full Production

We work across three production tiers. Each tier corresponds to a distinct phase of the development and manufacturing lifecycle, so equipment is matched to the right workload from the start.

Lab Scale

Lab-scale vessels run from 250 mL to 4 L (0.06 gal. to 1 gal.). These compact reactors and filters support early-stage R&D, formulation testing, and process validation in chemical, pharmaceutical, and biotech settings where small batch sizes are standard. Our pilot plant vessels page covers how this work connects to scale-up development.

Pilot Plant Scale

Pilot plant vessels span 4 L to 40 L (1 gal. to 10 gal.). This range bridges prototype development and scaled-up production. Process engineers use this tier to gather the performance data needed before committing to full-volume throughput.

Production Scale

Production equipment runs from 40 L to 18,971 L (10 gal. to 5,000 gal.). At this tier, we fabricate ASME-coded pressure vessels, storage tanks, and reactors engineered for continuous operation. These systems support large-scale workloads across chemical processing, nutraceuticals, and commercial biotech facilities.

Piping and Tubing

Piping and tubing size is determined by the flow rates, pressure requirements, and chemical compatibility needs of each system. We fabricate process piping and tubing across a range of diameters to fit the layout of each facility. Material selection for piping and tubing draws from our full alloy portfolio, including stainless steel grades 304 and 316L, Hastelloy®, Inconel®, Monel®, Alloy 20, and AL-6XN®. Visit our process piping page to see the full scope of what we build.

Custom footprint requirements are also within scope for piping and tubing work. Whether a system needs a compact vertical run for a tight lab space or a long horizontal configuration for a production floor, we build to the physical constraints of your facility rather than to a standard catalog dimension.

Manways and Ports

Manway and port sizing follow the geometry, access requirements, and operational conditions of each vessel. We fabricate manways and ports in standard and custom configurations. Manways and ports are constructed to the same material and surface finish specifications as the parent vessel, so cleanliness and corrosion resistance are maintained throughout the assembly.

For vessels used in pharmaceutical, biotech, or chemical applications, this consistency across manways and ports is a key part of meeting sanitary and process standards.

Surface Finish Options

Surface finish requirements scale with the application. For high-purity and sterile process equipment, we offer:

Mechanical polishing. Down to 8 Ra.
Electropolishing. Down to 4 Ra for biotech and pharmaceutical applications.

Both options are applied after fabrication to meet the Ra specifications of the process. Learn more on our finishes page.

Verify Your Custom Fabrication Specs

If your project requirements fall within these parameters, we are ready to review your specs. American Alloy Fabricators has built custom process equipment since 1990, and our team evaluates each inquiry against current capacity and lead times. Typical lead time runs 14 to 16 weeks from order confirmation.

Sizes & Fabrication Capacity