Wednesday, March 3, 2021

Safe Chemical Storage in Cold or Freezing Weather


For any applicator, cold weather can become quite an issue. Cold chemical (product temperature in drums, totes, or cylinders) causes inefficient processing of chemicals, extra startup time due to recirculation, potential efficiency issues relating to ratio, and potential loss in yield. To maintain great starting chemical temperature levels, the following products are recommended:
Keep chemicals kept in a temperature level regulated environment between 75F and 95F. Chemical rooms can be built-in storage facilities to keep a controlled environment for the material.

Use temperature-level controlled heat blankets throughout transportation to reduce heat loss and maintain the desired chemical temperature level. (include temp control part numbers and request for pricing).
Spray foam the bottom, sides, and top of trailers to reduce heat sync loss throughout transportation.
Reduce chemicals from being stored on surfaces that can produce heat sync temperature loss. Keep chemicals up off the cold concrete or flooring.


Open-cell foam can be recirculated to bring the chemical as much as a conditioned temperature level. Please follow the instructions on your equipment if you have that alternative. KEEP IN MIND: closed-cell foam should never be recirculated as it can separate the polyol side's blowing representative. This will cause future issues with yield and foam performance. 


If your rig has a recirculation system, you can follow these actions to recirculate: Take the gun off the tube and place the hosepipe's coupling block onto the recirculation manifold block on the DDrecirc system. Turn valves to the on position to recirculate. If you do not have a recirculation system on your rig, be sure to keep drums with items like Powerblankets and take the above-listed actions to ensure your chemical will remain at the appropriate temperature level.
Nitrosys System Recirculation: Leave the gun on the system, turn the system on to pre-heat, turn the output valves to the re-circ mode, and the system will start recirculating.
Chemical sitting exposed to ambient temperatures will lose 10-- 15 degrees towards ambient every hour. The chemical will only increase exposure to ambient temperature levels 1-- 2 degrees every hour. 


This suggests that if a chemical is at 80F and exposed to 50F, it would only take 2 -3 hours for the chemical to reach 50F. If the chemical is 50F and exposed to 80F, it might 15-- 30 hours to reach 80F. Lastly, please keep in mind that polyurethane foam chemical is not freeze-thaw stable.

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