IBC cleaning

For businesses cleaning between 5–50 IBCs per week, outsourcing to a specialist cleaning company is expensive while manual cleaning is time-consuming, water and energy intensive and inconsistent.

SNP's IBC Cleaning Kit provides a practical, economical solution for in-house cleaning, delivering a controlled, repeatable process that reduces contamination risks and improves workplace safety.

The challenge

We understand that process operatives and process managers, whatever their industry, require timely process completion, safety, continuous process improvement and process control whilst keeping under budget. So how does the IBC Cleaning Kit help manage your IBC cleaning process?

What the IBC Cleaning Kit delivers

The inaccessible surface at the top and corners of the IBC tank present a cleaning challenge and opportunity for bacterial growth leading to contamination or inconsistencies in chemical mixing. Companies often rely on full-time operatives to undertake a laborious non-repeatable manual cleaning process. The scale of the challenge and hidden costs multiply for companies needing to clean numerous IBC tanks a week.

Our customers have left their pressure washers for other one off external surface cleaning tasks. Taking advantage of our simple-to-use IBC kit has helped them automate the cleaning process, allowing for the quick, safe and effective cleaning of IBCs.

In addition, they were able to obtain outcomes that impact their business:

- Reducing contamination risks from uncleaned residue in unreachable areas
Taking control over risks of contamination, the IBC kit offers a repeatable and complete 360° cleaning performance businesses can rely on.

- Redeploying staff to high value tasks
With current pressures in industry, we understand the importance of deploying staff to high value tasks. Our IBC Kit, in addition to its thorough cleaning performance, enables the operator to step away, liberating valuable resource time to engage with high value tasks for the business.

- Improved Safety

Enabling the operator to step away from the hazards associated with IBC cleaning when comparing with basic pressure washing systems. Operators are potentially exposed to splash-back spray which could contain harsh chemical residues or detergents. In addition, the operator must move around the IBC while managing the pressure washer hose and work from height leading to trip or from-height risks. Our IBC kit empowers operatives to set up and step away, significantly reducing the likelihood of such risks.

- Leak hazard is a key IBC reported hazard especially when containing hazardous chemicals

One of the contributing factors is the wear and tear of IBC tank wall. In comparison to the manual Jet pressure washers, our 360° cleaning nozzles have sufficient impact power to remove the toughest of industrial stains without causing wear on the IBC tanks.

- Return on investment

Typically, our customers see a return on investment within 3-5 months. Aside from the financial return on investment our customers have benefited from, as noted above, improved operation safety, redeployment of staff to higher value operations and reduction in contamination.

Kit components

Operation

The SNP IBC Cleaning Kit is simple to operate: once the system is set up, it can run without constant supervision, allowing staff to focus on other tasks. The kit comes complete with all necessary components for in-house cleaning, and its hygienic construction makes it suitable for applications requiring high levels of cleanliness. Using the Orbitor Eco powerful rotary jet nozzle, an IBC can be thoroughly cleaned in under five minutes, while the controlled water flow of 58.3 L/min at 5 bar ensures full internal coverage for a consistent and effective clean.

Summarised Benefits of the IBC Cleaning Kit

Automated 360° internal cleaning of IBCs
Removes even stubborn residues efficiently
Reduces the risk of product contamination from imperfect cleaning
Minimises wear on IBCs, helping prevent damage or leaks
Reduces water consumption compared to manual cleaning
Provides a consistent, repeatable cleaning process
Supports safer working conditions by reducing the need for staff to enter tanks

Comparing methods of cleaning IBC totes

The problems with manually cleaning IBCs

Cleaning times

The time it takes to clean an IBC will depend on the nature of the residue and the type of cleaning head deployed. The rotary jet fast cycle cleaning head will clean the IBC some 2-3 times faster than the spinning head. The two videos below show the cleaning action of both types on three different residues. The Orbitor Eco IBC cleaning machine can also been seen tackling a sticky residue such as peanut butter.

Most residues will be cleaned by the RSB spinner in under 10 minutes.

For the Orbitor Eco, this will often be halved with even tough residues like peanut butter being cleaned in 5 minutes or less.

For more details on cleaning times please see the videos below.

Orbitor IBC Kit in Action