IBC (intermediate bulk container): a safety risk in industry?

Electrostatic ignition dangers must be taken into account when using IBC. Safety is achieved when containers are conductive or dissipative and grounded during filling and emptying processes. In many cases IBC are made of non-conductive material which require that safety measures are to be observed during their use. A measuring method which is focussed on transfer measurements using a hand-held coulomb meter is described in this paper. Test results of many laboratories indicate that this method is suitable for determining electrostatic properties of flexible IBC and rigid IBC.