Spells of warm weather, while welcomed by us all, can post serious problems for companies in regards to the storage of chemicals. Many companies store their chemicals in non insulated, single skin chemical stores or storage containers similar to shipping containers, which do not provide any form of manual temperature control. Temperatures inside these non insulated chemical stores can reach as high as 50°c, when the ambient temperature is reaching 30°c. This can create a great risk, especially if you are storing volatile chemicals.

By storing chemicals in high temperatures, a huge risk is posed to the safety of your business, your employees and the environment. When faced with high temperatures, chemicals will overheat and chemical containers will come under pressure requiring venting to relieve the pressure.

What’s the solution?

Extractor Fans

The dangerously high temperatures within your chemical store can be reduced if you install an extractor fan to pull cooler air into your chemical store.  The fan will have the same effect as a room or desk fan and will enable you to ensure temperature control in your chemical storage area.

Temperature Controlled Storage Units

A more effective, permanent solution is to purchase a temperature controlled storage unit. A temperature controlled chemical store is a bunded unit with an insulated construction. It has an electrical temperature control system providing both heating in winter and cooling in summer / higher temperatures.

You can set the internal temperature that you require in the store (make reference to the MSDS for your chemicals to see the optimal temperature that they should be stored in) and heating or cooling will occur automatically to regulate the internal chemical store temperature.

Fire Protection System

Where large amounts of chemicals are stored in a workplace, it is advised to install a suitable fire protection system. Should a large amount of volatile chemicals combust due to high temperatures, fire extinguishers will not be sufficient enough to deal with the resulting fire.

A complete fire protection system, complete with automatic sprinkler system or suppression system, monitors and alarms should be considered if you are storing large chemicals, in order to ensure the safety of the building, the environment and all persons on the premises.

For more information on temperature controlled storage, feel free to get in touch with our expert team. Interested in learning more about chemical safety and chemical storage? Be sure to browse through the rest of our blog posts.