Transportation of dangerous goods via a container through the seaway or by land are equally complicated procedures. There are simple methods by which you can convey dangerous materials from one place to another. There should not be any spillage and they are built to maximize the safety of the containers. It is essential to be careful at every point, starting from identifying the products to packaging, labeling, marking, and complete documentation of the procedure. For successful execution, you need to know a few things about the dangerous goods container. Before commencing to load the ship, you have to consider the material of the container.
Nature of the Goods
The hazardous items that will undergo the shipping procedure will have classification and identification based on the nature of the hazardous item it is carrying. There can be inflammable products, poisons, flammables, explosives, and many more. You should be careful about not carrying corrosive or explosive materials in them, as this might lead to some dangerous accidents.
Know About the Product
If you are the shipper for all the hazardous materials, then it is essential to know what you are transporting. It is impossible to arrange for the accurate dangerous goods container unless you understand the nature of the items that you are handling. There are some inherent risks associated with the possession and transportation of the items. So it is important to pack them up in materials that won’t allow any contamination.
- The seemingly harmless items like nail polish, paint table tennis balls, and perfumes are also hazardous materials. For instance, if you are shipping the paints, you have to abide by the hazardous transport regulation laws.
- There are different local, state, and national laws that apply to the transportation of dangerous goods from one border to another.
- You can categorize them as toxic liquids, and flammable solid, and also corrosive ones, and transport them in the best possible and safest manner.
Features of the Containers
When you are working with a dangerous goods container, you have to be very particular about the containers’ quality and characteristics.
- The containers are physically more robust than all the counterparts that you use for transporting non-dangerous goods.
- The containers won’t crack. Undergo deformation or split that can cause the spill of potentially aggressive chemical reagents.
- Excellent rigidity of the container is necessary. That is why polyethylene is the preferred material for making dangerous goods containers. The materials can withstand high-pressure testing and pass the stack testing too.
- The high molecular weight of the container material aids in providing melt strength.
Three Tests of the Containers
There are three fundamental tests to analyze the quality of the dangerous goods container.
1. Drop Test
It is also called the impact test. The test happens at -18 degrees Celsius, and from various heights, depending on the chemical you will pack inside the container. The temperature is above the glass transition temperature of a material like polyethylene.
2. Pressure Test
The test aims to assess the ability of the container to withstand an extended period under pressure application. It is important as the containers may need to withstand pressure variations depending on the mode of journey.
3. Stack Test
You have to stack the filled containers and store all the containers at a forty-degree Celsius temperature. If the stack can maintain integrity over a period of at least four weeks, you can safely use the containers.
Creep Resistance
Another important feature of the dangerous goods container is creep resistance. The containers are the protective layer that will prevent harmful materials from coming in contact with the external surrounding or humans. So, you need to test the material multiple times before using it as a container.
