When you open the chemical cabinet in the laboratory, what do you see? Usually, you will see the chemicals you want at that moment, surrounded by other chemicals that may be useful, but not at that time - there are a series of chemicals in their packaging. However, although these chemicals themselves offer a variety of experimental possibilities, their containers are more common, mainly variants of a single theme: glass bottles with spiral caps, and a small number of plastic bottles.

Now imagine you are at the door of a chemical warehouse and open the roller shutter door. What will you see? In our warehouse, you will see a variety of containers, but the most obvious one is actually the symbol of our industry - the trustworthy 55 gallon (or 200 liter) barrel. There are many different kinds of them, but they seem to be four groups, bound together with plastic and tied to a wooden or plastic pallet, so that forklift or pallet jack can easily lift them. Most of these drums are made of steel, with two or three "bells" - protruding rings around the drums - used to enhance strength. The drum is usually lined with epoxy phenolic or high density polyethylene coating to protect the steel from corrosion.

For liquids, a typical 200 liter bucket has one or two openings, or "plugs". They are usually about 10cm in diameter and can be removed with a wrench. This is definitely not a tool you can find in the chemical laboratory. It is installed on the fitting of the plug and then the screw is unscrewed. It's interesting to learn about the various plugs in this industry - there is always a new plug that always appears on the drum that needs to be opened urgently.

Solid chemicals are usually stored in open top barrels so that the entire lid can be opened. The inside is usually a large bag, which can hold 25 or 30 kilograms of products. There is usually an extra bag on the outside of the bag. Both are sealed together and tied with some kind of cable. However, this is not always the case - like chemists, bulk chemicals are a global business, and you will find a variety of packaging from all over the world.

If you return to a discolored solution and there are small fragments floating, this is a signal that you should not use this material to store your chemicals

One day, in the former one kilogram laboratory workplace, a colleague opened the first of many open top barrels. Inside, he found a bag that he thought was wrapped in another bag. However, when he picked it up, he found that it was not a sealed bag at all. Instead, 25 or 30 kilograms of raw materials are wrapped in plastic bags, like a huge candy wrapper, tightly tied at the bottom. Needless to say, he is not satisfied with this. He is also not satisfied that we still have about 50 such containers to open and use. He is worried that the products will leak out from the bottom of each package.

A classical problem of storing chemicals, especially long-term storage chemicals, is the compatibility of storage materials. Worried that your neochloric acid will corrode the roller? Place a piece of pre weighed storage material (usually referred to as coupons) in a container overnight. If you return to a discolored solution and there are small pieces floating, this is a signal that you should not use this material to store your chemicals. If you want to be especially careful, you can take the pre weighed coupon, wash it off, dry it, and then weigh it to make sure it has not lost weight. If it passes the test, congratulations - you have something that may become a safe storage material.

My favorite bag is known only when I worked in the chemical manufacturing industry. It is called super bag. These huge bags do not look like the 25kg paper bags that you can see for storing flour. Instead, they are large white polypropylene bags. When they are not filled, they look like a hammock. When they are filled, they look like a mattress or bean bag for a big child. They usually carry up to 500 or 1000 kg of bulk or commercial materials that are not particularly easy to pack, such as urea or high molecular weight polymers. I often see these super bags transported by freight trucks or unloaded at the port. They are not glass bottles in the cabinet, but like them, they work day and night to ensure the safety and packaging of chemicals and transport them around the world.