STORAGE AND HANDLING

OF TRANSFORMER OIL
• Ensure that the correct product is received and
issued

• Store indoors in a clean, dry, well lit warehouse

• Minimize temperature variations in the store

Avoid contact of drums with water, dirt and / or
dust

• Ensure that the oldest stocks are issued first, adopt

the ‘first in-first out’ principle
• Ensure that package markings remain legible
Drums with broken seals must not be used without
checking the quality

• Marking on empty drums / containers must be

immediately obliterated
• Order the product required
• Never order more quantity than what can be
consumed in a reasonable period of time
 General recommendations for the warehouse

• It must be spacious enough to permit handling of

drums and other containers
• Proper workplace with pumps, dispensing equipment
and other tools required for opening the containers
and drawing the product should be provided.
• Must have good ventilation and lighting
• The room should be dust free with the flooring
adequately tiled and the walls painted suitably
• Fire extinguishers of the foam, dry powder or carbon
dioxide type should be accessible.
Large drums should be stored in the warehouse I a
horizontal (with bungs at 9 and 3 ‘o clock) position. If
they are stacked they must be adequately secured to
prevent roll away. Where space is a premium and the
drums have to be stored several levels high, palletizing
must be done with the pallets having proper strength
and design for forklift operations of the package
expand and the layer of air above the oil finds a way
out, even through well sealed bungs. When cooling
takes place, humid air enters the container where the
moisture condenses out and the product becomes
contaminated with water.
Seepage:
If water has accumulated on the top of the container, it
can either be sucked in by the breathing action or enter
through small pinholes which often result from rusting
of the sharp edges present in dented or damaged
containers. Contamination by dirt cannot normally
occur until the drum has been opened.
The dirt present in the dusty atmosphere settles on the
surface of the drum. If these surfaces are not cleaned
properly before opening the drum the product will get
contaminated during dispensing
Product storage at elevated temperatures may result in
deterioration through chemical reactions like oxidation.
 In order to protect from all forms of
contamination and deterioration, the Transformer
oil must be stored properly. Outdoor storage
should be avoided as far as possible. If this is not
possible for short periods, the following
precautions are advised:
• Keep bungs tight
• Lay drums on their sides. Roll the drums so that the
bungs are at 9 and 3 o’ clock position, to ensure that
they are covered by the drum contents, thus
minimizing moisture migration and drying out of the
seals.
• If drums be placed upright, tilt them slightly to
prevent water from collecting around the bungs.
• Before removing the bungs, dry the drum heads
and wipe them clean of any contaminant which
might get into the Transformer oil.
• Spread a tarpaulin over the drums for protection