What Types of Bulk Liquid Can You Transport?

When it comes to shipping bulk goods, there are several types you can transport. These include dry goods, such as sugar or sand, breakbulk, such as paper or wood, and container cargo. What counts as liquid bulk cargo though, and how do you transport it? Here's everything you need to know.  

Types of Bulk Liquid

Firstly, let's consider what counts as bulk liquid when it comes to cargo. In essence, the term applies to any liquid you're looking to transport. Here are the main types you'll be looking to move when shipping liquids:

Hydrocarbon products: This category contains many liquid fuels that are used all around the world. This includes oil, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and liquefied natural gas (LNG). These can be used for anything, from heating homes to powering planes.

Chemicals: Chemicals can be transported in bulk in a liquid state. A few examples of these include ammonia, chlorine, and styrene monomer. Some of these will be used in the production of other products, while others will be packaged up ready to be sold to the public.

Food grade liquids: In many cases, the liquids being moved are food grade ones. This includes everything from water to oil and even wine. The liquids can be moved in order to be used in manufacture, to be sold on, or even to be used in disaster relief in the case of water.

Types Of Bulk Liquid Containers

Now you know what kinds of liquids can be moved with bulk liquid solutions. Next, you need to consider how they'll be moved. There are several different containers and tanks that can be used to move these liquids as and when needed.

Drums and barrels: These are the most common way that liquids are moved. They're good for smaller amounts of liquids, as they hold around 250 liters of liquids each. They're often used as they're a uniform size making them easy to stack on a pallet, although you will need to strap them down. If you want to use them for food grade liquids, you may be required to use a liner inside the drum.

Intermediate bulk containers: (IBCs): These are the next step up from barrels, being able to hold up to 1,250 liters. What's interesting about them is that they're a cuboid shape, making them even easier to stack up before transport. It allows you to put more liquid on one truck, as they don't allow for a lot of wasted space.

ISO tanks: If you're moving a lot of liquid at once, you'll want to consider using an ISO tank. These hold up to 26,000 liters, depending on the model you use. You can ship all kinds of liquids in these, including hazardous materials. When using one, it must be filled to 80 – 95% capacity. Any lower and liquids may surge dangerously, any higher and there's no room for thermal expansion in the tank.

Flexitanks: Your final option is the Flexitank. This is becoming popular for bulk liquid transport as it offers something different than the above options. The Flexitank is essentially a multilayered plastic bag, which you fill up while they're already sat in the shipping container. They're designed for food grade liquids, and as such as approved by the FDA. 

Why Choose A Flexitank For Your Bulk Liquid Transport?

If you're shipping food grade liquids, then you'll want to go with a Flexitank for your bulk liquid solutions needs. Here are some reasons why you should consider them:

Easier to fill up and empty: A Flexitank is filled up when it's already in its shipping container. Because of that, there's lower handling costs. You're not having to move individual containers onto the shipping container, so it saves a lot of time and effort. 

No cleaning costs: A Flexitank is a one use item. Once you've used it, you'll recycle the bag and use a new one for a new shipment. This has two benefits. Firstly, you're not paying to ship an empty container away to be cleaned. Secondly, you won't have to worry about shipments being contaminated due to an improperly cleaned container. 

Easier to store: As you would imagine, a Flexitank is much easier to store than a drum or barrel. You can sit a good amount of them on a shelf, so you may be able to pay less for a smaller storage space. It's another good way to save money on bulk liquid transportation. 

Ship more on one truck: When you fill up a Flexitank, you'll see that they fill up the space they're in. That's much more efficient than a barrel, where there will always be some empty space between them when you stack them up. You'll be able to fit much more onto the same truck. You'll see that you won't need to put as many trucks on the road, again saving you money. 

Low equipment weight: When using a Flexitank, you can really maximize your payload. As the tank itself is so light, you'll be able to put more liquids onto a vehicle before you hit the weight limit. 

As you've seen, there's lots of different liquids you can ship in bulk, and many different ways to ship them. If you're looking to ship food grade liquids, Flexitanks are offering you the best value for money. If you haven't tried them yet, pick some up now and you'll see the advantages for yourself.