Heating IBC Materials

New methods for heating IBC Totes & materials are revolutionizing the way businesses do business.  Problems surrounding the shipment of materials has plagued the industry for years.  Freight cars that don’t adequately warm totes, warehouses that dip below freezing at night, or workers who don’t understand the science behind the compounds they’re using… all have contributed to the need for better technology in heating totes, drums, tanks, and buckets.

    

The solution was quite easy… but the science behind the solution took a little time to develop.  Figure out a way to heat a blanket made of carbon fiber material… insert a layer of insualtion… and wrap the whole thing into a nice little vinyl blanket.  The guys at POWERBLANKET did just that, but they took it a step further.  Powerblanket included an adjustable thermostatic controller with heat probes that insert into the tote materials to allow exact temperature monitoring 24/7.  All Powerblanket Tote heaters include an insulated (removeable) top and adjustable straps for fitting larger or smaller containers.  Throw in a UL / CSA rating and GREEN low energy consumption certifications and you have yourself a near perfect work of art. 

I suppose there are cheaper ways to try and heat a tote or IBC tank, but quite frankly, we couldn’t find any method that worked.  We looked at blowers, non-electric blankets, immersion heaters, heat lamps, and a host of other contraptions, but they all failed at heating and/or insulating the tote contents.  Some of the devices we observed overheated and burned the tote or fluids while others simply couldn’t keep the tote above freezing in typical outdoor and winter warehouse conditions.  The only exception was the overpriced Brisk-Heat blanket that didn’t include a top and required close to 3000 Watts at 240V to operate.  Too mcuh for too little.  Our money is on the Powerblanket.

 

 

Freeze Prevention

Millions of IBC Totes are found in warehouses, freight cars, loading docks, and trailer beds.  While transporting them may be relatively easy, keeping their contents from freezing is far from a walk in the park.  Millions of dollars annually are lost due to spoiled/frozen IBC products including food, dairy, chemicals, polyurethane, petroleum, and other temperature sensitive materials.

So just how do you keep a tote full of honey or resin or polyurethane at optimal temperatures?  The answer is… IT DEPENDS… depends on several factors like:

1. What are the external ambient temperatures working against you?

2. What is the material you are trying to heat?

3. Are you trying to increase or maintain temperature?

4. Will you be transporting the IBC Totes?

5. Will the Totes be exposed to snow and ice?

Then there are other factors to consider like viscosity, price, and the list goes on and on.  Generally speaking we recommend two types of devices for heating tote materials although they are very different in application.

The first is an immersion heater.  Immersion heaters have been used for decades to heat liquids inside drums, buckets, totes, and tanks.  Although immersion heaters do heat up quickly, there is a tendency for them to burn product and corrode quickly… both factors you want to avoid when dealing with expensive compounds.

The second is an insulated jacket or electric blanket that wraps around the plastic or metal tote, offering a barrier of warmth and insulation to an otherwise very exposed surface.  The most reliable and efficient tote blanket heaters we observed are manufactured by either Powerblanket or Brisk-Heat.  On the surface they look very similar, but the Powerblanket offers more bang for the buck with their patented Heat Spreading Technology and UL / CSA classification.

 

CALL POWERBLANKET @ 877-927-6432