desiccant salt Archives - 360ecopackaging

Packaging for Medical Equipment

Post by 360 Ecopackaging On 23 de February de 2023 0 Comments

Because of the huge social responsibility involved, healthcare logistics is one of the most demanding. The healthcare industry distributes medical equipment, imaging devices and high-value instruments that require packaging that protects them and keeps them intact during transport or marketing.

Fans, laboratory equipment, magnetic resonance devices, X-ray machines, medical-aesthetic equipment… All these materials are fragile, expensive and must arrive at hospitals, laboratories and medical centers in optimal conditions for their use, without the slightest damage.

How should be the packaging of health equipment

At 360 Eco Packaging we have been designing packaging for the healthcare sector for years. It is not only about protecting each piece of equipment, but also about optimizing the logistics chain. Therefore, our customers receive technical advice on the different types of packaging to determine the most efficient and cost-effective solution for their case.

In our experience, when choosing packaging in a delicate environment such as the health sector, we must pay attention to 4 factors:

1. Insulation

For a safe shipment it is necessary to isolate the cargo from the effects that can cause external agents such as water, water vapor, saline environment, dust, sudden changes in temperature, solar radiation, microorganisms, etc.

Desiccant salts and heat-sealed bags are widely used to prevent corrosion of metal and electronic products. They are particularly suitable for maritime transport or for long periods of product storage.

2. Protection

Due to its strength and lightness, wood is an ideal material for transporting heavy and delicate products such as medical equipment and devices.

In addition, wooden packaging that complies with ISPM 15 standards is suitable for international trade and can therefore be exported anywhere in the world.

Why use wooden packaging for medical equipment?

Wooden packaging such as boxes or high racks & pulp roll cradles for transporting medical equipment has many advantages:

They are lightweight packaging, which saves transportation costs.
They can be made to measure, adapting to the part or components to be transported.
They are returnable and reusable.
They do not need nails or tools. They can be assembled and disassembled quickly and safely.
They are designed to facilitate the loading and unloading of equipment without mechanical means. In the case of the boxes, the lid itself can be used as a ramp for moving equipment with wheels. And once disassembled, it occupies a fifth of its size, saving space and storage costs.

The bases with lashing system are also a very widespread solution for packaging healthcare equipment. This system allows fast and efficient fixing of the equipment to be transported by integrating the immobilization elements into the base of the box itself, reducing handling time.

3. Immobilization

Once the goods have been packed, auxiliary elements are usually used to immobilize the load during transport in order to avoid possible incidents during the journey due to incorrect lashing.

4. Control

If necessary, active or passive monitoring of the cargo during transport is possible. There are a multitude of systems for monitoring the goods, from humidity detection stickers to complex electronic tracking devices.

If you are a manufacturer and you are looking for a new packaging for your medical devices, implement sustainable packaging or optimize your logistics process, contact us. We will offer you a customized solution.

Industrial packaging, Physical and chemical protection, Transport and logistics

Case study, Use of Desiccant Salts

Post by 360 Ecopackaging On 17 de November de 2022 0 Comments

In the previous post we have seen what a DIN unit is and the degree of absorption per unit, therefore we must remember that a DIN unit is equivalent to an absorption of 6g of water and that to absorb these 6g of water approximately 30g of desiccant salts are necessary (depending on the type of salt and the conditions).

Having recalled the previous post, we consider a practical case for a part of dimensions 1150x750x750mm (length x width x height) to be transported in a box equipped with a thermoweldable bag of inner dimensions 1200x800x800mm.

To calculate the volume of air enclosed between the box and the part we must find the differential of volumes, therefore:

1,2 x 0,8 x 0,8 – 1,15 x 0,75 x 0,75 = 0,121 m3

Once this data has been calculated, we go to the formula:

n = 1/a · ( V · b + m · c + A · e · D · t )

And we calculate the number “n” of DIN units replacing each constant by its value, (to know the value of these parameters do not hesitate to visit our previous post).

The result would be n = 2 approximately, so about 60g of desiccant compound would be necessary for this packaging. We must bear in mind that it is always better to distribute these salts proportionally so that the atmosphere always maintains homogeneous humidity levels, so whenever possible we will use several bags distributed homogeneously.

As we have mentioned in previous posts, it is important to define the volume of air that we want to maintain with low humidity levels in order to calculate the number of DIN units that will be necessary. Once we know this information, our supplier will tell us the exact grams of salt that we will need depending on its composition.

Industrial packaging, Maritime packaging, Physical and chemical protection

Desiccant salts, absorption capacity and normalization

Post by 360 Ecopackaging On 3 de November de 2022 0 Comments

Dehydrating or Desiccant salts, they are used more and more frequently for the packaging of cargoes, especially in maritime transports, but … are we using the right amount of desiccant salts? what is a DIN unit? do all desiccant salts absorb the same amount of moisture? In this post we will try to answer all these questions.

To calculate the amount of DIN units of salts needed to ensure a “dry” environment, we will base ourselves on the DIN 55474 standard, which empirically defined as:

n = 1/a · ( V · b + m · c + A · e · D · t )

Where “n” is the number of DIN units, “a” the amount of water vapor absorbed per unit of salt, for 20 % RH a = 3 g; 40 % RH a = 6 g; 60 % RH a = 8 g, “V” the volume inside the packaging, “b” the humidity per unit volume of interior air, “m” weight in kilograms, “c” grams of humidity per kilogram of weight, “S” packaging surface in square meters, “e” correction factor, for 20 % RH e = 0.9, for 40 % RH e = 0.7 and finally for 60 % RH e = 0.6, “D” permeability in grams per square meter and finally “t” the storage time.

To summarize, in general, one DIN unit is equivalent to an absorption of 6g of water, to absorb these 6g of water approximately 30g of desiccant salts are necessary (depending on the type of salt and the conditions).

Thus we can take this table as a reference:

As we have already mentioned in this blog, there are many types of desiccant salts depending on their chemical composition, so we must always know their absorption capacity and the amount of DIN units per unit mass.

As a conclusion we must assume to take as reference the DIN units and from this we will be able to calculate the grams of each salt that we need. Starting from these DIN units we will never make a mistake with the amount of salts needed.

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