New Bladder Bag Packaging

You have a lot of options regarding the packaging of your adhesives and coatings. In this blog installment, we will discuss characteristics, advantages, and concerns regarding one of the more unique alternatives: Bladder Bags

Packaging Design Considerations

Manufacturing and design engineers often spend months and even years testing and evaluating adhesives and coatings performance. Unfortunately, considerations regarding optimal packaging can be deferred until the very end or even ignored altogether. As will be discussed, choosing the correct packaging for your application can at times be equally as important as technical considerations. The right product in the wrong package can nullify all of your painstaking qualification testings. Some of the basics to be considered as soon as possible when considering packaging can include:

• Volume of product used per shift/day/week
• Dimensions of storage space available
• Availability of hazardous storage where applicable
• Requirements of application equipment including-
  • Floor space near machinery
  • Dimensions of holding tanks or pots
  • Specific fixtures such as those for cartridge sizes
• Shelf life considerations
• Technical requirements of the product including-
  • Sensitivity to humidity or moisture
  • Sensitivity to temperature
  • Sensitivity to settling of fillers
  • Environmental or flammability hazards
  • Worker health and safety considerations

Packaging Options

There exists an almost infinite array of options for the packaging adhesives and coatings. A very partial list is presented below before we focus specifically on the bladder bag option.

• Cartridges and syringes
• Plastic cans
• Metal cans
• Drums
• Totes
• Bladder bags

OK, So What Is a Bladder Bag?

Bladder bag packaging is a unique and often necessary alternative to many of the more traditional options. In simplest form, bladder bag packaging consists of a flexible, often multi-layer bag filled with your adhesive or coating. Due to the flexible shape and difficulties involved in racking and stacking, the bags are then most often contained within a secondary outer box or pail.

More Importantly, Why Would I Use a Bladder Bag?

As you may have inferred from the description above, a bladder bag is a fairly complex and relatively expensive alternative to pails and drums. So why would you consider this approach?

There are some key advantages that can be gained through the proper use of bladder bag packaging.

• Protection of humidity or UV sensitive products
  • Moisture curing silicones
  • UV and dual-cure products
  • Other moisture or light-sensitive chemistries
• Minimize or eliminate spill risks for hazardous materials
• Minimize or eliminate worker exposure to hazardous vapors or liquids
• Faster speed of changeovers
• Potentially easier packaging and waste disposal

Of the above-listed advantages, one stands out as most worthy of further discussion and explanation. Bladder bags are the preferred approach to packaging for humidity or light-sensitive chemistries. These most commonly include humidity curing mechanism chemistries such as silicones and urethanes, as well as light-cured adhesives and coatings. When packaging such as pails or drums are used, these products are exposed to atmospheric humidity and light, which can degrade the products or initiate premature curing. These problems become even more dramatic when pails and drums are only partially used and have to be opened and resealed multiple times. The result of this is most often seen in:

• Skinning or particle development within containers
• Clogging and plugging of feed lines with cured material
• Clogging and plugging of spray heads and valves

All of these issues cause substantial waste in materials as well as equipment cleaning, flushing, and maintenance.

Conclusion

Bladder bags represent a unique and valuable resource to maintain product quality and consistency as well as to minimize the need for equipment maintenance and flushing. The limited additional cost of this highly effective packaging is almost certain to pay for itself when used with technologies that are moisture or light sensitive.     

As a supplier of electronics protection polymers and coatings, Chase Corporation and our employees can help you with an unbiased approach to evaluating your application and process. We’ll show you how to maximize efficiency, minimize cost, and improve product reliability. Our outstanding manufacturing and technical support groups can provide your organization with reliable global supply, unmatched quality, and superior technical support.

Please contact us today to discuss your application.