IBC Filling Machine

Top-fill: the fill nozzle is lowered through the 150mm top opening and product fills from the top down. Simple and flexible for most non-volatile chemicals, adhesives, resins and food-grade liquids. Bottom-fill: a dry-break coupler connects to the IBC butterfly valve (DN50 or DN80) and product fills from the bottom up inside a fully sealed loop — no open liquid surface, no vapor release. Bottom-fill is required for volatile solvents (flash point <60°C), aromatic compounds, and any product where operator exposure limits (OEL) require closed systems.

Our IBC filling machines support all standard IBC tote formats: UN31HA1 (composite IBC with HDPE inner vessel in steel cage, 1,000L — the dominant global standard), UN31HB1 (HDPE IBC, 1,000L), 500L intermediate IBC formats, and stainless steel IBCs (types IBC 31A, 31B). Cage dimensions for 1,000L IBCs are standardized at 1,200mm × 1,000mm × 1,160mm. Fill heads and drip trays are sized accordingly.

Fill time for a 1,000L IBC depends on liquid viscosity and pump/gravity flow rate: low-viscosity chemicals and solvents (1–100 cps): 3–5 minutes; medium-viscosity liquids (100–1,000 cps): 5–8 minutes; high-viscosity adhesives and resins (1,000–10,000 cps): 8–15 minutes. At 5 minutes per fill, a single-head IBC filling station produces 12 IBCs/hour (12,000 liters/hour). Most chemical producers require 15–40 IBCs/hour, achievable with 2–4 filling heads on a single conveyor.

Yes. The IBC filling machine PLC supports standard industrial communication protocols: Modbus TCP/IP for ERP/MES integration, OPC-UA for SCADA systems, and digital I/O for older PLC integration. Each fill event records: fill weight, target weight, variance, date/time, operator ID, batch code and product recipe. Data is stored locally (minimum 10,000 fill records) and can be exported to external systems via network or USB. For pharmaceutical or food-grade applications, 21 CFR Part 11 audit trail options are available.