With some chemicals, it’s critical to keep them cool because they will lose their concentration when they heat up. Sodium Hypochlorite is a prime example of that. As it heats up, it starts to lose its strength, and it begins to release gas and free radicals. Its strength can diminish dramatically with heat and UV.

So it’s important to keep the chemical as cool as possible from the moment it arrives at your facility. Other chemicals are similar—if they become too warm, they won’t perform as well as you need them to.

Clean-in-place (CIP) systems are becoming more and more popular in the food manufacturing industry. The system design makes cleaning the interior surfaces of a storage tank and the lines going out of it more effective and efficient without having to enter the tank. They also allow for a thorough cleaning with less exposure to harmful chemicals or contamination of food and beverage mixtures.

Many hazardous situations are safer because of CIP systems, but they require certain considerations to be effective. Let’s look at how to make your clean-in-place system most effective.

No matter what chemicals you’re storing, it’s important to conduct routine annual storage tank inspections. These inspections are vital to keep the chemical tanks, fittings, venting and accessories in good working condition—and to avoid costly surprise failures. Even if the polyethylene tank is relatively new, a routine and careful visual inspection is recommended.

Sodium hypochlorite is a chemical used in thousands of applications. As an aggressive oxidizer, it’s critical to limit the opportunity for the chemical to escape the storage tank. If you’re using a polyethylene tank to store oxidizing chemicals, you can double the life of your chemical storage tank by using an engineered antioxidant tank system.

Municipal projects require detailed specifications for anything purchased as a capital expense. At Poly Processing Company, we’ve teamed up with several national engineering firms to develop pre-written engineering specifications for our three most popular tanks: the SAFE-Tank®, the vertical tank with IMFO® and the upright vertical tank.

Poly Processing Company is committed to making your experience with us as simple and effective as possible. To help save time and eliminate frustration, we’ve created an online tank selector called the PPC Tank Selector Tool.

The Tank Selector Tool simplifies the decision-making process to determine the appropriate size tank that you’ll need at your facility. You can access the app from iOS, Android, PC and Mac devices.

In the United States, hazardous materials are regulated by the EPA, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and Department of Transportation (DOT). Each organization has its own definition of hazardous materials.

Surfactants are the corn syrup of the chemical world—they’re in all kinds of products you’d never expect. Most people know that surfactants are an active ingredient in detergents, but you can also find them in a wide range of cleaning products, wetting agents, emulsifiers (including motor oil), foaming agents or dispersants.

Polyethylene chemical storage tanks are made of a flexible membrane. While they are durable and rigid, they also expand and contract with seasonal temperature variations, pressure changes from loading and unloading the tank, and vibrations from pumps during filling and discharge.

Rigid plumbing connections put the tank and fittings at risk of damage, which can cause leaks. You can mitigate this risk in polyethylene chemical storage tanks by installing flexible connections.

Sodium hydroxide (NaOH), also known as caustic soda or lye, is a common inorganic compound that is typically used as a strong chemical base.

In liquid form, caustic soda becomes “slippery” and tends to find weak points in storage containers, and fittings, and eventually create drips and leaks.