Caustic Safety for Brewmasters
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In the brewing industry, we all understand we must use clean vessels and equipment to guarantee clean beer. To achieve such a high level of cleanliness we often use chemicals which have a high level of causticity to dissolve sedimented protein materials and to dissolve and dislodge beer stone. AC Technologies cares about your safety, and we are dedicated to ensuring that when you leave work after a full day of crafting your special beers, that you leave in the same, safe condition to when you arrived, which is why we're going over caustic safety in today's post.
AC Technologies uses high-purity, low-salt, low-iron NaOH as a main ingredient in an efficient and effective formulated caustic brewery cleaner together with a sophisticated surfactant, chelating and wetting agent package to ensure cleaning efficacy. Our product contains caustic soda and is corrosive; because of this, it is highly important to prevent direct contact with the human body.
We would respectfully suggest that operators who handle such caustic soda formulations should be required to observe caustic safety operating standards, as follows:
Care should be taken when diluting caustic soda since heat is generated. Accidental spattering and contact can cause inflammation of the skin.
Particularly great care should be taken to prevent contact with eye tissue or contact with the mouth, even when caustic formulations are diluted.
And we would never recommend the addition of secondary components to the properly formulated caustic cleaner, such as hydrogen peroxide or hypochlorites since such additions are unnecessary and potentially dangerous in a well-designed, efficient package such as Draftec beer line cleaner or Master Brewers Standard tank and keg cleaner.
AC Technologies always recommends appropriate PPE or Personal Protective Equipment, such as wearing goggles and rubber gloves and also wearing rubber boots or rubber clothing as required to protect from splashing.
Because caustic soda generates heat when diluted by water as stated above, mists might be formed, meaning that protection of the eyes or skin is paramount to be sure that the eyes and skin are not exposed.
We always recommend that a facility is available to supply large quantities of water to flush any spilled caustic or to wash any skin which might accidentally have come into contact with a caustic product. Eye wash units, a face washing facility or even an emergency water shower are added protection benefits for accidental skin exposure to caustic. In summary, the location of PPE, protectors, showers, eye washers, water taps, cleaning hoses and first aid facilities, as well as first aid measures to be taken in the event of an emergency, are of the utmost importance.
It is also essential to have sufficient knowledge of any equipment that is used for handling caustic formulas and, particularly, knowledge of all joints and pipelines where the caustic formula might flow. Regularly inspect these pipelines and fittings for leaks before the use of such caustic solutions. To detect any leakage, it is useful to apply several drops of phenolphthalein indicator. If caustic soda is present, the color will turn red.
Storage of food, smoking, eating, or drinking in places where products containing caustic soda are stored or used should be strictly prohibited.
For your protection, it is important to establish rules concerning the safe handling of products containing caustic soda and to ensure that these rules are rigorously applied and adhered to accordingly. Your friends at AC Technologies care about you, so as a starting point, review and adopt the caustic safety guidelines we've provided in this post.
AC Technologies - Clean Once, Clean Right! Safely!
A free sample of Draftec's beer line cleaner is available for professional line cleaners and beer distributors. To request a sample, please email us at info@draftec.com or call us at (888) 226-8228.
