The production director of an industrial detergent company called us three months ago. His problem: they had just lost a contract with a hotel chain because they couldn't guarantee that all 5-liter containers held exactly 5,000ml ±20ml. Their current filler had variations of ±150ml.
This is not an isolated case. In the chemical sector, precision in dosing is not a technical luxury, it's what differentiates winning or losing clients.
This technical guide will help you understand what you really need when looking for machinery to package chemical products, detergents, industrial gels, or cleaning products. It's what we've learned after designing packaging lines for chemical companies for decades.
A detergent with pH 12 (strong alkaline) attacks carbon steel in weeks. Acids destroy conventional rubber gaskets in days. We've seen packaging lines that after six months of producing acidic cleaners had internal pipes corroded to the point of contaminating the product with rust particles.
The solution is not to use "generic stainless steel." You need 316L stainless steel, which has molybdenum in its alloy specifically to resist acids and chlorides. Gaskets must be EPDM or Viton depending on the product. And electrical components that may contact vapors must be sealed with IP65 rating minimum.
Organic solvents, industrial alcohols, and some hydrocarbons generate flammable vapors. If your product has a flash point below 60°C, you're in ATEX zone (ATmosphères EXplosives) and you need certified machinery.
This means every motor, every sensor, every electrical cable must be certified to work in potentially explosive atmospheres. A simple normal switch can generate a microscopic spark that in an atmosphere with solvent vapors causes a deflagration.
A shower gel maintains constant viscosity at any normal plant temperature. An industrial detergent can go from 5,000 centipoise (cP, the unit measuring liquid's resistance to flow) at 20°C to 800 cP at 35°C. This means your dosing system must compensate for this variability, or you'll have inconsistent fills every time the facility temperature changes.
This is the problem most underestimated by companies coming from other sectors. Detergents are specifically designed to generate foam. When you fill a detergent bottle at high speed from a top lance, you create a liquid cascade that generates instant foam. The bottle fills with foam, not product. You have to stop, wait for the foam to settle, and complete the filling. This turns a 2,000 bottles/hour filler into one that does 600 bottles/hour.
If you produce hydroalcoholic gel, cleaning gel, abrasive creams, or any product with viscosity above 1,000 centipoise (denser than syrup), you need a piston system (also called plunger).
The principle is purely mechanical: a calibrated cylinder with a precision piston sucks the product from the storage tank and expels it into the container. The dosed volume depends only on the piston stroke, not on time or fluid velocity.
For products like cleaning alcohols, liquid ammonia, diluted bleaches, or aqueous disinfectants, the flowmeter system is more efficient.
A sensor measures liquid flow in real time while filling the container. When accumulated volume reaches the programmed value, a solenoid valve cuts the flow. It's fast and has no complex moving parts like the piston.
When filling 25-liter drums, 200 liters, or 1,000-liter IBC containers, direct weighing is the most reliable technology.
The container is placed on an industrial scale (precision load cells). The machine records the empty container weight (tare), begins filling, and stops when weight has increased exactly the programmed amount. This automatically compensates for product density variations due to temperature or composition.
The most common format in professional cleaning products is the 5-liter container.
Linear fillers are ideal for productions of 1,000 to 5,000 units per shift. They work with bottles in a straight line passing through sequential stations: positioning, filling, capping, labeling. They are mechanically simpler than rotary ones and easier to adjust for format changes.
Specification: The capping system must apply controlled tightening torque. A 5L container of alkaline detergent with poorly tightened cap can lose hermeticity, the product evaporates or spills during transport, and the customer returns the entire batch. An over-tightened cap breaks the plastic container neck. You need threading heads with torque control, not simple presses.
25-liter drums are standard in industrial distribution. Cleaning companies, maintenance, food industry—all handle this format because it's the maximum an operator can manipulate manually without mechanical help.
200-liter drums require machinery with automated positioning systems because 200kg can't be moved by hand. Our solution incorporates conveyor rollers that take the empty drum to the filling station, position it exactly under the lance, and then transport it to an accumulation area of full drums ready to cap.
Safety consideration: Filling large drums with chemical products generates vapors. Machinery must include extraction hoods connected to the plant's ventilation system.
The 1,000-liter IBC is the most efficient logistic format for bulk chemical transport.
A full IBC weighs 1,100kg (1,000kg product + 100kg container and pallet). This requires specific machinery:
When we think of single doses, we usually think of cosmetics or pharmacy. But the chemical sector is discovering there are entire markets waiting for this format.
A 200-room hotel uses 60 liters of floor detergent per month. Traditionally they buy a 5L container and their cleaning employees dilute "by eye" in the bucket. Result: Product waste (some pour triple what's necessary), inconsistent cleaning (others pour half), and recurring complaints that "the detergent doesn't clean like before."
The solution: 25ml single doses in water-soluble sachet. One sachet in an 8-liter bucket = perfect dilution always. The employee doesn't touch concentrated product (more safety), there's no waste, and cleaning is consistent.
Another application where single dose is exploding: water treatment. A multi-action chlorine tablet for pools is technically a solid single dose. But liquid treatments (flocculants, pH correctors, algaecides) were traditionally sold in large formats with complicated dosing instructions.
50ml single dose of flocculant for 40m³ pools: the user pours it directly without measuring or calculating. 100ml pH corrector format: same concept. This is opening the home pool market that previously only bought solid products because liquids "were too complicated."
If your product has a flash point below 60°C, you're in ATEX territory. This includes:
ATEX regulations (ATmosphères EXplosives) classify risk zones according to probability of explosive atmosphere formation:
If you package in ATEX zone 1, ALL electrical and electronic machinery must be ATEX certified. This includes:
ATEX systems require periodic inspections by certified bodies. Gaskets, cable glands, and sealing elements must be reviewed annually. Simple deterioration of a gasket can compromise ATEX safety.
Pre-purchase visits: We invite our clients to bring product samples. We package in our facilities while they watch. We adjust parameters, test speeds, verify the result is exactly what they need.
Local technical service: In case of breakdown, our technician can be at your plant as quickly as possible.
Immediate spare parts: Gaskets, valves, sensors—all wear materials we have in stock.
Direct training: We train your operators at your facilities. It's not a PDF manual, it's our technician explaining face-to-face how each component works, how to detect problems, how to do basic maintenance.
Customization: As manufacturers, we can modify a machine to adapt exactly to your product or process.
The Next Step: From Information to DecisionIf you've gotten this far, you probably already know you need to renew your packaging machinery, or you're considering automating processes you currently do manually.
Before contacting suppliers, define these five points:
1. Exact product with specifications
2. Current and future container format
3. Real and projected production volume
4. Available space
5. Applicable regulations
At Olmos Maquinaria we design and manufacture complete packaging lines for the chemical sector from our facilities in Castellar del Vallès (Barcelona).
We work with manufacturers of detergents, cleaning products, disinfectants, cosmetics, and industrial chemicals throughout Spain and worldwide.
If you're considering automating your production or renewing obsolete machinery, we can:
Contact:
We design specific solutions for each client. Because each chemical product is different, and each production line has its particularities.
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