Flexible intermediate bulk container

This article is about collapsible fabric IBCs. For rigid IBCs, see Intermediate bulk container.

Bulk bags

FIBC

A flexible intermediate bulk container (FIBC), bulk bag, big bag or super sack, is an industrial container made of flexible fabric that is designed for storing and transporting dry, flowable products, such as sand, fertilizer, and granules of plastic.

FIBCs are most often made of thick woven polyethylene or polypropylene, either coated or uncoated, and normally measure around 110 cm or 45-48 inches in diameter and varies in height from 100 cm up to 200 cm or 35 to 80 inches. Its capacity is normally around 1000 kg or 2000 lbs, but the larger units can store even more. A bulk bag designed to transport one metric ton of material, will itself only weigh 5-7 lbs.

Transporting and loading is done on either pallets or by lifting it from the loops. Bags are made with either one, two or four lifting loops. The single loop bag is suitable for one man operation as there is no need for a second man to put the loops on the loader hook. Emptying is made easy by a special opening in the bottom such as a discharge spout, of which there are several options, or by simply cutting it open.

History

Although there is disagreement on exactly where FIBCs were first made and used, it is certain that they have been employed for a variety of packaging purposes since the 1940s. These forerunners of the FIBC as we know it today were manufactured from PVC rubber and generally utilized within the rubber industry for the transportation of carbon black to be used as a reinforcing agent in a variety of rubber products.

By the 1960s, with the development of polypropylene combined with advances in weaving, the bulk bags as we know them today came into being and were rapidly adopted by a wide variety of oil and chemical companies to store and transport powdered and granular products.

It was during the oil crisis of the mid 1970s that the FIBC really came into its own for transporting huge quantities of cement to the Middle East from across Europe for the rapid expansion of the oil producing countries. At its zenith, upwards of 50,000 metric tons of cement was being shipped out on a weekly basis to feed the vast building program.

The modern FIBC transports a growing figure of over ¼ billion tonnes of product each year and is used to handle, store and move products as varied as cereals to powdered chemicals and flour to animal feeds. With a capacity of up to 3m³ and load capability ranging from ½ a tonne to two tonnes FIBCs are highly cost effective, easily recyclable and ideal for virtually any free-flowing granule, powder, pellet or flake. FIBCs are also being developed to hold and filter fluid products.

Structural forms

U-Panel construction
Circular/Tubular construction
Baffle construction
Four side panel construction
Round construction
core construction
GN Drive Construction
c-panel Q bag

Electrostatic properties

Type - A - no special electrostatic safety features
Type - B - Type B bags are not capable of generating propagating brush discharges. The wall of this FIBC exhibits a breakdown voltage of 4 kilovolts or less.
Type - C - Conductive FIBC. Constructed from electrically conductive fabric, designed to control electrostatic charges by grounding. A standard fabric used contains conductive threads or tape.
Type - D - Anti-static FIBCs, essentially refers to those bags which have anti-static or static dissipative properties without the requirement of grounding.

Uses to transport

Chemicals
Pharmaceutical Drugs
Fertilizers
Fiberglass
Food Products
Grains
Shotcrete
Construction materials (sand, gravel)
Pigments
Plastics
Refractories
Seeds
Peanuts
Starch

Flood Barrier Use

Thailand utilized big bags to erect temporary walls to protect areas during the 2011 Thailand floods. Walls built using big bags instead of smaller traditionally used sandbags were termed the big bag wall, or big bag barrier.

In North America, bulk bags are often used in flood prevention as well. An 1850 kg bag (4,070 lbs) has a foot print of at least 3 feet by 3 feet, and a height of almost 4 feet - building a solid wall of sand, 400 regular sized sandbags at a time.^[1]

References

↑ MiniBulk: Flood Prevention with Bulk Bags

Packaging

General topics	Active packaging Child-resistant packaging Disposable food packaging Food packaging Luxury packaging Modified atmosphere/modified humidity packaging Package pilferage Package testing Packaging engineering Pharmaceutical packaging Reusable packaging Shelf life Sustainable packaging Tamper-evident Tamper resistance Wrap rage

Containers	Aerosol Container Aluminium bottle Aluminum can Ampoule Antistatic bag Bag-in-box Bags and flexible containers Barrel Beer bottle Biodegradable bag Blister pack Boil-in-Bag Bottle Box Bulk box Carboy Carton Chub Clamshell Corrugated box design Crate Disposable cup Drum Envelope Flexible intermediate bulk container Foam food container Folding carton Growler Insulated shipping container Intermediate bulk container Jar Jerrycan Jug Juicebox Keg Multi-pack Oyster pail Packet (container) Padded mailer Pail Paper bag Paper sack Plastic bag Plastic bottle Popcorn bag Retort pouch Sachet Security bag Self-heating can Self-heating food packaging Shaker-style pantry box Shipping container Skin pack Spray bottle Tin can Tube Unit load Vial Wooden box

Materials and components	Adhesive Aluminium foil Bioplastic Biodegradable plastic BoPET Bubble wrap Bung Cellophane Closure Coated paper Coating Corrugated fiberboard Corrugated plastic Cushioning Desiccant Double seam Foam peanut Glass Hot-melt adhesive Kraft paper Label Linear low-density polyethylene Liquid packaging board Low-density polyethylene Metallised film Modified atmosphere Molded pulp Nonwoven fabric Overwrap Oxygen scavenger Packaging gas Pallet Paper Paper pallet Paperboard Plastic film Plastic pallet Plastic wrap Polyester Polyethylene Polypropylene Pressure-sensitive tape Screw cap Screw cap (wine) Security printing Security seal Shock detector Shock and vibration data logger Shrink wrap Slip sheet Staple (fastener) Strapping Stretch wrap Susceptor Tear tape Temperature data logger Time temperature indicator Tinplate Velostat

Processes	Aseptic processing Authentication Automatic identification and data capture Blow fill seal Blow molding Calendering Canning Coating Containerization Curtain Coating Die cutting Die forming (plastics) Electronic article surveillance Extrusion Extrusion coating Graphic design HACCP Hermetic seal Induction sealing Injection molding Laminating Laser cutting Molding Papermaking Plastic welding Plastics extrusion Printing Quality assurance Radio-frequency identification Roll slitting Shearing (manufacturing) Thermoforming Track and trace Vacuum forming Ultrasonic welding Vacuum packaging Verification and validation

Machinery	Barcode printer Barcode reader Bottling line Calender Can seamer Cartoning machine Case sealer Check weigher Conveyor system Extended core stretch wrapper Filler Heat gun Heat sealer Industrial robot Injection molding machine Label printer applicator Lineshaft roller conveyor Logistics automation Material handling equipment Mechanical brake stretch wrapper Multihead weigher Orbital stretch wrapping Palletizer Rotary wheel blow molding systems Shrink tunnel Staple gun Tape dispenser Turntable stretch wrapper Vertical form fill sealing machine

Environment, post-use	Biodegradation Environmental engineering Glass recycling Industrial ecology Life-cycle assessment Litter Paper recycling Plastic recycling Recycling Reusable packaging Reverse logistics Source reduction Sustainable packaging Waste management

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 5/19/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.