CONTAINER FOR STORING AND TRANSPORTING HEAT-SENSITIVE
PRODUCTS
Field of the invention
The subject of the invention is a means for transporting heat-sensitive products
without danger or degradation, notably in regions where exposure to very high
temperatures is unavoidable. The invention relates more particularly to a metal
container for storing and transporting heat-sensitive products.
By way of examples of heat-sensitive products mention must be made of organic
peroxides (or, more generally, chemical compounds able to start and/or encourage the
polymerization/cross-linking of polymers) for which the present invention is
particularly intended to provide a solution. This is because special safety precautions
have to be taken when storing and transporting organic peroxides, more particularly
associated with the temperature of said peroxides (which are often present in liquid or
even pasty form).
Organic peroxides which have particularly low decomposition temperatures are
advantageously packaged in the form of an aqueous emulsion containing an antifreeze,
said antifreeze allowing the emulsion to be kept in liquid form at temperatures below
-1O0C, preferably below -20°C. These negative temperatures make it possible to prevent
the uncontrolled decomposition of said peroxides during the storage and transport
operations. The presence of water, as a heat-transfer fluid, means that the energy
generated in the event of any decomposition of said peroxides can be absorbed and
dissipated.
At the opposite end of the scale from the (very) low temperatures, organic
peroxides are also transported in hot regions such as, for example, in the Middle-East
region. Furthermore, this transportation unavoidably involves periods of storage in
places that are particularly hot, particularly on account of their exposure to the rays of
the sun.
WO 20141184491
Prior art
Chemical products are traditionally transportcd in conventional metal containers
in which the temperature very soon, according to extreme environmental conditions,
becomes very high.
When the products transported and stored in the metal container are particularly
sensitive to high temperatures and exhibit a risk of igniting or even of exploding, the
metal containers are fitted with refrigeration plant. There are also extremely complex
thermal insulation systems which are lengthy and expensive to install in the container.
Such refrigeration systems or complex thermal insulation systems are for example
disclosed in the following documents: FR 1272944, FR 1273907, FR 1515058,
FR 2407434 and FR 2822880.
All of these systems are particularly expensive because of the cost of installing
them and/or of the necessary cost to provide them with power, and often require
significant and irreversible conversiodadaptation of the container. As a result, the
availability of such containers is limited and is unable to absorb occasional peaks in
demand.
At the present time it is necessary, for transporting and storing heat-sensiti7:e
products such as peroxides, to propose a system that is flexible and inexpensive while at
the same time being absolutely reliable with regard to its prime function of providing
thermal insulation.
Brief description of the invention
The applicant company has discovered an insulation system that is particularly
well suited to transporting and storing heat-sensitive products such as peroxides in the
containers conventionally used. This thermal insulation system, which is removable and
requires no power supply, keeps the temperature of these products below their
operability temperature limit above which the risks of said products becoming degraded
or even exploding become significant.
The present invention thus relates to a containcr for storing and transporting heatsensitive
products, the container having two parallel longitudinal sides and two parallel
lateral sides and two, upperllower, faces, the container, preferably made of metal,
comprising at least one reservoir, preferably thermoplastic, intended to house heatsensitive
products such as, in particular, polymerization andlor cross-linking initiators,
said container comprising at least one opening intended to allow the reservoir
containing said heat-sensitive products to be inserted and withdrawn, and thermal
insulation means, characterized in that the thermal insulation means are removable and
consist of a partition with a multilayer or film structure, positioned between the wall of
the reservoir and at least the walls of two of the aforementioned sides and the upper face
of the container.
The following aspects and features of the invention are:
- advantageously, the thermal insulation means are positioned between the
aforementioned four sides of the container and the reservoir;
- according to one advantageous aspect of the invention, the partition is positioned
some distance from each of said walls so as to form two air chambers respectively
between the walls of the container and the partition and between the partition and the
wall of the reservoir;
- advantageously, the distance between the wall of the reservoir and the partitien
is at least two centimeters, preferably at least five centimeters;
- likewise, the distance between the partition and the walls of the side or of the
face of the container is at least one centimeter, preferably at least three centimeters;
- according to one preferred embodiment of the invention, the thermal insulation
means are fixed mechanically to the container by a plurality of catching and
engagement points present on the thermal insulation means and on the container
respectively;
- more specifically, the catching points consist of hooks intended to engage in a
plurality of corresponding engagement points positioned on the walls of the container;
- also, the catching points of the thermal insulation means protrude and are at least
partially surrounded by a thermally insulating material;
- for preference, one of the films of the multilayer partition consists of a metallic
film, preferably made of aluminum, said metallic film preferably forming an external
layer of said multilayer structure. In this embodiment, this metallic film has a heat
reflecting capacity of at least 95%.
- advantageously, the multilayer partition (8) has at least three thermoplastic
andlor thermoset films;
- more specifically, one of the films is made of polyethylene and another film is
made of polyester;
- advantageously, at least one of the films of the multilayer partition has an air
bubble structure;
- according to one particularly advantageous aspect of the invention, the thermal
insulation means are able to keep the heat-sensitive products contained in the
(thermoplastic) reservoir at a temperature below 6OoC, preferably below 50°C and,
more preferably still, below 45°C.
The invention also relates to the use of means for thermally insulating a reservoir
positioned in a container for storing and transporting heat-sensitive products, such as, in
particular, polymerization and/or cross-linking initiators, the container, preferably made
of metal, having two parallel longitudinal sides and two parallel lateral sides and two,
upperllower, faces, the container comprising at least one reservoir, preferably
thermoplastic, intended to house heat-sensitive products, said container comprising at
least one opening intended to allow the reservoir, preferably thermoplastic, containicg
said heat-sensitive products to be inserted and withdrawn, and thermal insulation means,
characterized in that the thermal insulation means are constituted or positioned as
claimed in any one of the preceding claims.
The thermal insulation means can in fact be used to particularly good effect with
all types of containers, particularly the metal containers conventionally used at the
present time for transporting and storing all types of products.
The invention offers the following advantages:
- the thermal insulation means are removable and can be mounted in and
dismantled from a container by a (single) operator in a very short space of time;
- the thermal insulation means can be fitted and fixed without any modification to
the conventional metal container used at the present time;
- the thermal insulation means avoid any conduction of heat between the metal
container and the thermoplastic reservoir;
- the thermal insulation means have a structure allowing them to reflect at least
95% of the heat coming in from outside (the thermal insulation means at least partially
envelop a volume forming the thermally insulated enclosure in which, in the present
invention, the reservoir containing the heat-sensitive products is placed);
- the insulation means according to the invention require no source of power (as
opposed notably to the cooling systems such as cold rooms or the like);
- the insulation means are fixed and positioned in such a way that they form two air
chambers each one forming a thermally insulating layer sandwiching the thermal
insulation means.
The description which follows, connected with the attached figures, is given
solely by way of nonlimiting illustration.
Brief description of the figures
- Figure 1 is a cross section illustrating the thermal insulation means positioned and
fixed in a conventional metal container;
- figure 2 is a detailed view of a catching element of the thermal insulation means;
- figure 3 is a detailed view of the engagement elements present in a metal
container;
- figure 4 is a front view of the metal container, with the doors open, in which the
thermal insulation means have been installed.
Detailed descriution of the invention
The container 1 is a conventional metal container. This container I has two
parallel longitudinal sides 2, 2' and two lateral sides 3 which are perpendicular to said
longitudinal sides, the longitudinal sides 2, 2' having larger dimensions than the lateral
sides 3. It also comprises two faces, an upper 4 and a lower 4', such that obviously this
type of container 1 is closed, notably when goods or products are being transported.
Because the container 1 is intended to receive productsigoods and/or one or more
reservoir(s) 5 or the like containing such products directly, it in the conventional way
has an opening 6. This opening 6 is visible here in figure 4 and consists of two doors 7,
7' of the container 1, opening and closing one of the two lateral sides 3 thereof.
The container 1 also in the convcntional way has walls the cross section of which
exhibits a substantially corrugated shape so as notably to provide better mechanical
impact resistance.
The present invention advantageously makes use of this conventional structure of
the metal containers 1 insofar as it makes it possible to create an air chamber between
the walls of the container 1 and the thermal insulation means 8.
The container 1 in the conventional way comprises at least one vent, generally
situated on the upper face 4 thereof, allowing a certain exchange of air between the
inside of the container 1 and the external environment. The opening of this vent is often
adjustable and may even he blanked off completely.
This type of container 1 in the conventional way comprises engagement means 9,
such as those visible in figure 3. Catching means 10, present on the thermal insulation
means 8, and consisting of curved hooks, allow the thermal insulation means 8 to he
removably mechanically fixed to the container 1 via the engagement means 9 thereof,
which are spaced apart and are present in the conventional way near the junction
between the upper face 4 and the sides 2, 2' or 3. In that way, a single operator can
easily fix the thermal insulation means 8 in the container 1, the catching means 10
ideally being present in equal number to the engagement means 9 present in the
container 1. Neverlheless, it is conceivable for the container to hc equipped with
(additional) such engagement means 9, using removable engagement means fixed to the
container I for example by a nut or the like or even by bonding.
It should he noted that the thermal insulation means 8 do not necessarily have
fixing means in the lower part, the panels of thermal insulation, consisting of the
multilayer partition, extending vertically until they touch the lower face 4' of the
container 1. Of course, engagement means 9 and catching means 10, possibly having
elastic (or sprung) parts, may also be envisioned respectively for the walls of the
container 1 and the thermal insulation means 8.
The insulation means 8 also have, at each catching means 10 a protruding part 11
that fixes said means, this protruding part 11 advantageously being made of a thermally
insulating material. Indeed it has been found that it is particularly important to avoid
any physical contact with the (metal) walls 2, 2', 3 of the container 1 because these
walls, by their very nature, heat up very quickly when the containers are placed in an
environment that is at a (very) high temperature. The thermal insulation means 8
according to the invention advantageously, because of their attachment and arrangement
in the container 1, make it possible to avoid any thermal conduction of heat between the
walls 2,2', 3 and 4 ofthe container 1 and the product reservoir 5.
The thermal insulation means 8 may be installed so that they cover (over) at least
the two longitudinal sides 2, 2' and the upper face 4. Nevertheless, advantageously, the
thermal insulation means 8 will extend between the reservoir 5 and the four sides 2, 2'
and 3. On that assumption, on the lateral face 3 that has the opening of the container 1,
the thermal insulation means 8 will easily be able to split apart in the manner of the
doors 7, 7' of the opening of the container 1, for example by means of a zip fastener 12
that allows an operator to open the thermal insulation means 8 on this side 3 without
having to completely remove these means 8. Figure 4 schematically illustrates the
lateral side 3 of the container 1 where the opening is situated and the thermal insulation
means 8 are visible with the zip fastener 12 extending vertically over the entire height
so as to allow said means 8 to be opened in exactly the same way as the two doors 7, 7'
of the opening of the container 1.
It is considered here that a good thermally insulating material, in terms of
conduction, has at least a thermal conductivity, expressed in w.~-'.K-' (watts per meter
1 - per Kelvin) at 20°C, that is below 0.1 W.m' .K- I , and preferably below 0.05 W.m-1 . K- 1 .
The thermal insulation partition 8 consists of a multistmcture web or fabric, which
means to say one made up of a plurality of layers or films fixed together. The thermal
insulation means 8 are ideally formed of a plurality of adjacent layers or films each
having heat-barrier properties, whether this be in terms of radiation, convection or even
conduction, but also having a synergistic thermal insulation effect on account of these
various layers or films being combined in a clearly determined order.
Of course, one essential aspect of the present invention is that these thermal
insulation means 8 are lightweight and relatively flexible so that a single operator can,
without difficulty, fit, arrange and fix said means 8 in the container 1.
Furthermore, mechanical means, such as hooks or the like, may be present over
the entire interior surface of the container 1 and collaborate with anchoring means
situated on the thermal insulation means 8 so as to keep this multilayer structure taut
and effectively provide two thermal insulation chambers 14, 15 of substantially constant
volume. Indeed, one of the key objectives of the present invention is to offer two
thermal insulation chambers each filled with air (which per se forms a good means of
thermal insulation), which are separated by an excellent thermal insulation means, in
this instance the multilayer structure according to the invention.
The air chamber 15 may potentially be filled with a refrigerating gas able to cool
this section and, in particular, the reservoir 5 containing the heat-sensitive materials.
This solution is conceivable because of the imperviousness of the multilayer structure 8.
Thus, whatever the external conditions, and therefore the surrounding conditions
to which the reservoir is subjected, the heat-sensitive sabstance it contains will not
increase in temperature, or will not do so beyond a critical threshold.
The exterior wall of the thermal insulation means 8 is advantageously made of a
metallic material that is an excellent reflector of heat diffused by radiation. Such a
material may be aluminum. Thus, this metallic material may be located at the two ends
of the sandwich formed by the multilayer structure of the thermal insulation means 8 or
at the very least present on the exterior side (forming the layer or film closest to the
walls 2,2', 3 or 4 of the container 1).
Apart from the metallic outer layer, which may be present on both sides of the
multistructure, all the other layers or films are excellent thermal insulators (having zero
or very low thermal conductivity) in terms of the definition given hereinabove.
Thus, one or the layers of the thermal insulation means 8 will advantageously be
made of polyethylene and another layer will be made of polyester. Of course, these
elenlents may be replaced with other polymer materials that have excellent thermal
insulation properties, such as polyurethane foam or expanded polystyrene for example.
Furtheirnore, the thermal insulation means may advantageously comprise a layer
with air bubbles, conventionally made of polyethylene, because such a layer forms a
very good thermal insulator.
Finally, one advantageous aspect of the invention lies in the creation of two air
chambers 14, 15 (excellent thermal insulation) obtained by the particular way of
installing the thermal insulation means 8 according to the invention. Thus, there is an air
chamber 14 between the walls of the container 1 and the thermal insulation means 8 and
between the insulation means 8 and the reservoir or reservoirs 5. This arrangement also
avoids the creation of points of thermal conductivity, or in other words points of contact
between the reservoir(s) 5 and the walls 2, 2', 3 or 4 of the container 1, the latter being
at the highest temperatures.
Tests have been carried out by the patentee. Three metal containers, each having a
different interior volume and possessing a reservoir 5 containing a control liquid
comprising temperature measurement means were fitted, in the case of two of them,
with the thermal insulation means 8 according to the invention, the third being left
without additional insulation by way of control. These thermal insulation means 8 were
fitted and fixed inside the container 1 in accordance with the prescribed use for the said
means 8.
These three containers 1 were stored temporarily in a hot region, more specifically
in the Middle East, for several days and it was found that the liquids in the two insulated
containers never reached a temperature higher than 50-6O0C, and more specifically that
the temperature of the liquid was always below 45'C. By contrast, the liquid in the
reservoir of the non-insulated container reached a temperature of 62"C, the air
temperature around the reservoir having exceeded 70°C for a few hours.
It is evident from the tests that, contrary to what could be expected of a passive
thermal insulation device (one that does not consume energy) the results are particularly
attractive insofar as they allow temperatures compatible with the safety of heat-sensitive
products of the peroxide type to be maintained even during transport and storage in
extremely hot regions.

CLAIMS
1. A container for storing and transporting heat-sensitive products, the container
(1) having two parallel longitudinal sides (2, 2') and two parallel lateral sides (3) and
two, upperllower, faces (4,4'), the container (I), preferably made of metal, comprising
at least one reservoir (5), preferably thermoplastic, intended to house heat-sensitive
products such as, in particular, polymerization andlor cross-linking initiators, said
container (1) comprising at least one opening intended to allow the reservoir (5)
containing said heat-sensitive products to be inserted and withdrawn, and thermal
insulation means (8),
characterized in that the thermal insulation means (8) are removable and consist of a
partition with a multilayer or film structure, positioned between the wall of the reservoir
(5) and at least the walls of two of the aforementioned sides (2, 2' or 3) and the upper
face (4) of the container (I),
and in that the partition (8) is positioned some distance from each of said walls (2,2', 3,
4) so as to form two air chambers (14, 15) respectively between the walls (2,2', 3,4) of
the container (1) and the partition (8) and between the partition and the wall of the
reservoir (5), the distance between the partition (8) and the walls (2, 2', 3) of the side or
of the face (4) of the container (1) being at least one centimeter, preferably at least three
centimeters,
and in that the multilayer partition (8) has at least three thermoplastic and/or thermoset
films.
2. The container as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the thermal insulation
means (8) are positioned between the four aforementioned sides (2, 2' and 3) of the
container (1) and the reservoir (5).
3. The container as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the distance
between the wall of the reservoir (5) and the partition (8) is at least two centimeters,
preferably at least five centimeters.
4. The container as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in
that the thermal insulation means (8) are fixed mechanically to the container (1) by a
plurality of catching (10) and engagement (9) points present on the thermal insulation
means (8) and on the container (1) respectively.
5. The container as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that the catching points
(10) consist of hooks intended to engage in a plurality of corresponding engagement
points (9) positioned on the walls (2,2', 3) of the container (1).
6. The container as claimed in claim 4 or 5, characterized in that the catching
points (10) of the thermal insulation means (8) protrude and are at least partially
surrounded by a thermally insulating material.
7. The container as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in
that one of the films of the multilayer partition (8) consists of a metallic film, preferably
made of aluminum, said metallic film preferably forming an external layer of said
multilayer structure.
8. The container as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in
that.
9. The container as claimed in claim claim 8, characterized in that one of the films
is made of polyethylene and another film is made of polyester.
10. The container as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in
that at least one of the films of the multilayer partition (8) has an air bubble structure.
11. The container as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in
that the thermal insulation means are able to keep the heat-sensitive products contained
in the reservoir at a temperature below 60°C, preferably below 50°C and, more
preferably still, below 45°C.
12. The use of means for thermally insulating a reservoir positioned in a container
for storing and transporting heat-sensitive products, such as, in particular,
polymerization and/or cross-linking initiators, the container (I), preferably made of
metal, having two parallel longitudinal sides (2, 2') and two parallel lateral sides (3) and
two, upperllower, faces (4, 47, the container (1) comprising at least one reservoir (5),
preferably thermoplastic, intended to house heat-sensitive products, said container (1)
comprising at least one opening intended to allow the reservoir (5), preferably
thermoplastic, containing said heat-sensitive products to be inserted and withdrawn, and
thermal insulation means (8), characterized in that the thermal insulation means (8) are
constituted or positioned as claimed in any one of the preceding claims.