Flexitanks & Bulk Liners
July/August 2018
B ULK D ISTRIBUTOR
7
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By the mid-1990s, a time when PVC one-way
fl exitanks had already emerged and TOD had
begun a bespoke manufacturing operation of
its own, Deverill was reporting an 83 percent
market share for TOD in the pages of Bulk
Distributor. While no-one could completely
verify this statistic, it was equally diffi cult for
anyone to argue against it. With the further
development of technology and the arrival of
one-way polyethylene fl exitanks in 2000, the
way was clear for major market expansion.
However, neither Deverill nor anyone else
could envisage the market reaching close to
the fi gure of 1 million units annually that
analysts believe has been realised today.
What in the 1990s (a fl exitank era that had
effectively been led by Deverill) was essentially
a niche, specialised, low volume, but relatively
high margin business, evolved into the
mainstream, high volume, low margin industry
that we see today.
There must now be many modern fl exitank
manufacturers, service providers and investors
that owe their businesses and markets to the
development work carried out by an earlier
generation, which had faced many obstacles in
getting the fl exitank concept off the ground.
Probably many of them will not know of Jon
Deverill when perhaps they should? The single
word that best sums up JSD is ‘Pioneer’, a role
that he fulfi lled for the fl exitank industry for
many years with great enthusiasm and for
which he was, by his character and personality,
well suited.
Deverill’s passing symbolises the end of an
era. It is very unlikely that the bulk logistics
sector will see his like again.
T
he transport in fl exitanks of bulk chemical
products not classifi ed as dangerous
goods is becoming an attractive alternative
to using ISO tank containers.
That much is known. Nevertheless, the European
Chemical Industry Council (Cefi c) has seen fi t to
issue guidelines to help chemical companies, their
customers and logistics service providers in
preventing or mitigating unsafe situations in the
supply chain of fl exitanks by promoting known
best practices.
The guidelines remind potential users that
fl exitanks should only be used for the transport of
bulk liquids that are not classifi ed as dangerous
good according to the provisions of the IMDG
Code.
In addition, a number of non-dangerous goods
(not classifi ed as dangerous for sea transport) may
have certain other hazards and be regulated as
hazardous substances or mixture according to the
‘Globally Harmonized System of Classifi cation and
Labelling of Chemicals (GHS)’. For these goods a
risk assessment should be carried out, taking into
account the hazards of the product and the
specifi c transport conditions. Based on the
outcome of this risk assessment, a decision should
be taken whether or not the product should be
allowed for transport in fl exitanks.
In addition, the cargo should be compatible with
the fl exitank material of construction, entirely inert
with that material and free from any risk of
degradation or reaction. An evaluation of the
product compatibility should be completed by the
shipper and operator and form part of the risk
assessment. The fl exitank manufacturer has to
provide compatibility information and advice.
Only products that have been assessed for risk
and compatibility, and have been confi rmed by all
partie s as safe and reliable, should be accepted for
Cefi c’s guidelines strongly recommends the use of bulkheads of
adequate strength and rigidity
transport in a fl exitank. The risk assessment should
take into account responsibilities for incident
management.
The guidelines go on to outline a number of
equipment requirements. Containers used for
carriage should be 20ft general purpose
containers, rated to a minimum gross mass of
30,480kg and conforming to the provisions of ISO
1496. They should also display a valid CSC plate
and shall be less than fi ve years old.
Meet shipping line condition criteria, eg UCIRC
(Unifi ed Container Inspection & Repair Criteria) or
IICL (INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL CONTAINER
LESSORS), and in addition the latest version of the
COA Code of Practice, is strongly suggested.
As for the fl exitank itself, this should be
manufactured out of virgin, high quality, food
contact approved materials (not recycled) and
meet the requirements of the COA Code of
Practice for Flexitanks and the latest version of
PAS1008.
The manufacturer should be certifi ed and listed
in the COA Flexitank Quality Management List –
FQML with the status COA Member Certifi cate of
Compliance. The minimum requirement is that the
manufacturer complies with PAS1008.
The fi lling degree of the fl exitank should be in
accordance with the manufacturers’ specifi cations
and not exceed 24,000kg and 24,000 litres.
Use of bulkheads of adequate strength and
rigidity is strongly recommended to prevent
pressure on the doors. This should also be
considered for fl exitank systems designed to
operate without bulkheads. Wooden bulkheads
are however forbidden.
There follow pages of recommendations for
fi lling and discharging product, and an extensive
check list for users to go through for each fl exitank
carriage.
The document points out that in the early days,
fl exitank damage resulted in leaks, loss of cargo
and subsequent clean-up. The root cause was
typically attributed to inappropriate handling and
fi tting and impact forces during transport.
In recent years, fl exitank producers and operators
have achieved major improvements in bag
manufacturing, container selection criteria, as well
as safe loading and unloading practices, which
have led to a reduction of the number of spills and
leaks. These improvements, in combination with a
continuous search by shippers for lower cost
options for the transport of certain types of non-
dangerous cargoes, has resulted in a signifi cant
increase of the number of fl exitank movements
over the past decade and it is projected to increase
to more than 1 million movements by 2020.
Incidents involving fl exitanks pose a higher risk of
loss of containment compared with tank
containers, Cefi c says. The use of fl exitanks for the
carriage of non-dangerous liquid chemicals should
therefore only be carried out with the appropriate
equipment and following the right operating
procedures.
‘Best Practice Guidelines for loading, transport
and unloading of fl exitanks’ can be downloaded
at the Cefi c website.
www.cefi c.org