Storing bulk supplies of inorganic chemicals in powder form can be problematic with the greatest risk being cross contamination of compounds resulting in corrosion of substrates.
The CHC Group SA, a leading distributor in South Africa of chemicals, plastic, packaging materials as well as mining and construction products recently installed 50 Alfablocs, each 1.2 m long, 760 mm wide and 2.44 m high.
Amith Lalchund, GM at CHC Resources, said “As a chemical sales and distribution operation, we require bulk storage facilities for our inorganic chemical powders. Managing cross contamination in our storage facilities is always an issue, and we recently asked Rocla to propose a suitable solution. They suggested their Alfabloc system.
“What impressed us was the ease and speed of installation – the complete Alfabloc system was installed in about a week. It is an extremely durable system which offered us the solution to safe storage of our chemicals,” said Lalchund.
The Alfabloc is a free-standing A-frame system with interlocking blocks and no protruding toe, which allows for easy loading, cleaning and unloading. The inner cavity formed by the A-frame can be used to place electrical cabling for lighting, CCTV alarms or any other wiring requirements. The storage requirement determines whether the blocks should be placed onto natural ground, a concrete surface bed or bolted into a suitable foundation with chemical anchors.
Rocla’s Alfabloc is available in three height option. The mini-Alfabloc, at 1.2 m high, has also been successful, providing a quick, flexible option for materials storage. Excluding projects where the blocks are anchored to a foundation, all other installations can be temporary, allowing the client to move premises and take their investment (in Alfablocs) with them to a new location.
Rocla have utilised the Alfabloc system in the river sand bunker at their Polokwane manufacturing plant. The Port of Durban erected 22 mini-Alfablocs as a temporary security measure for crowd control, while a Durban-based logistics company utilised the large Alfablocs for their manganese stock-pile facility.
Rocla is part of the IS Group, which also comprises Technicrete and Oconbrick.
More information from Malebusa Sebatane, Tel: +27(0)11 674 6957 / www.rocla.co.za
