Final answer:
Bulkheads are partitions in liquid tanks, while baffled tanks have bulkheads with holes for liquid flow-through. Air gaps in containers prevent them from rupturing due to compression resistance. Container ships often transfer ballast water internally to maintain stability, following environmental regulations.
Step-by-step explanation:
A bulkhead is a partition inside a liquid tank that divides it into smaller tanks for structural integrity, to prevent liquid movement during transport, or for other functional reasons.
In contrast, a baffled tank includes bulkheads with holes, allowing for the flow-through of the liquid, which can help reduce the sloshing of the liquid and assist in the mixing or stabilization during transport.
It is critical to recognize the need for air gaps in rigid containers. Without these gaps, as the liquid, gas, or even solids within the container expand, they could cause the container to leak or burst. This is because all states of matter resist being compressed, and the forces involved can be extremely large.
Air gaps allow for expansion and contraction without putting stress on the container, thereby avoiding rupture. This principle is particularly important in engineering fields where the safe transport and storage of materials are essential.
Container ships, for example, exhibit a specific behavior where they transfer ballast water internally among tanks to maintain stability instead of discharging it. This is an important practice that helps to avoid the need for ballast water exchange (BWE), which is a regulatory requirement to prevent environmental contamination.
Moreover, container ships have also shifted to drawing ballast water from open ocean sources rather than coastal sources, which is another accepted management approach facilitating avoidance of BWE.