e9 Treatments Chemical Storage
This post describes the process I used to design a chemical storage space at e9 Treatments.
At e9 Treatments, while cataloging non-inventory items, chemical storage needed to be addressed. When I arrived, all chemicals and “valuable inventory” was stored in the flammable cabinet because it could be locked. The flammable cabinet was never actually locked. This is an issue because not all chemicals are compatible to be stored together.
The type of chemistry preformed at e9 Treatments dealt with surfaces. This meant that all sorts of organic and some inorganic chemicals were used. The biggest accomplishment for chemical storage was separating out the oxidizers from the flammable items, and creating a new storage space in a different area for these chemicals. Oxidizers need to be stored separately from flammable items because if a fire were to occur, the oxidizers would when burning release more oxygen and fuel for the flames present. Storing them in a separate area reduces the risk of an out of control chemical fire.
Next, the remaining chemicals were sorted into organic and inorganic chemicals and then sorted by their functional group. The functional group is the active part of the chemical that gives it its inherit reactivity. The four major groups ended up being: inorganic salts, alcohols, hydrocarbons and esters, then ethers and halogenated hydrocarbons. The table below, Table 1. shows how these items were arranged in the e9 Treatments Flammable Cabinet.
| Alcohols | Hydrocarbons and Esters | Ethers and Halogenated Hydrocarbons |
|---|---|---|
| Alcohols | Ethers and Halogenated Hydrocarbons | Ethers and Halogenated Hydrocarbons |
| Alcohols | Hydrocarbons and Esters | Ether and Halogenated Hydrocarbons |
Table 1. Flammable Cabinet Chemical Storage Layout
The major challenge in designing this layout was the difference in bottle sizes. With research and development being a large part of what e9 Treatments does, many of the chemicals were in small 5mL-25mL bottles. The top row, which is bolded in Table 1 was reserved for these types of chemicals. Then items used commonly for production were stored in the second row, the easiest to reach. The less commonly chemicals with large quantities were put on the bottom shelf.
A minimum of three inches of space was maintained between each functional group. Additionally, inorganic salts solutions were stored in the back between the hydrocarbons and esters and the ethers and halogenated hydrocarbons with the same minimum of three inches of space between other groups.
Another big win with this project was clearing the fume hood of chemicals that had been stored there since before I started working with the company.
The idea of storing chemicals by their functional groups is not unique. I picked up this method of chemical storage while working with Schreiner University from 2010-2014. It is based off of the Flinn Chemical Storage Pattern.
