Ensuring Safety in Refrigerated Containers: Maersk Container Industry Reduced Fire Risks with Premix Conductive Concentrates

Background

As a global leader in shipping and logistics, Maersk Container Industry is committed to sustainability and innovation. In alignment with its carbon neutrality goals, the company introduced a new, environmentally friendly refrigerant in its refrigerated containers. While this transition enhanced sustainability, it also introduced new safety risks; specifically, the potential build-up of static electricity in confined, enclosed components such as the exhaust fan.

In refrigerated environments, electrostatic discharge (ESD) events can trigger sparks, which pose serious fire hazards especially near flammable refrigerants. To safeguard equipment and personnel, Maersk Container Industry needed a solution that could neutralize static effectively without compromising mechanical reliability in harsh maritime environments.

Challenge

The core challenge was to prevent electrostatic discharge in the exhaust fan assembly without compromising the mechanical durability required for long-term container performance.

The technical specifications were demanding and included:

• Use of a concentrate-grade material, allowing the customer to adjust surface resistivity (SR) to their specific application needs by dilution.
• Stable conductivity over time with minimal fluctuation under operational stress
• High mechanical strength and toughness, especially under maritime vibration and thermal cycling
• Chemical resistance to exposure from refrigerants and environmental elements

Solution

Premix provided a solution using its PRE-ELEC® conductive polyamide 6 concentrate, a high-performance material engineered for dissipative and structural applications. This concentrate met Maersk’s dual requirements for safety and mechanical resilience:

Key Material Properties:

• Surface resistivity: Can be adjusted to fall within the ESD-safe range by diluting the concentrate to suit specific application requirements
• Mechanical robustness: The final properties depend on the customer's base resin, as the concentrate is designed to be diluted. When properly formulated, the compound can deliver excellent impact resistance, dimensional stability, and abrasion durability suitable for demanding offshore applications.
• Permanent conductivity without the use of migrating antistatic additives — ensuring stable performance even in humid and corrosive maritime environments, unlike conventional antistatics that can be washed away over time.
  
  

"The PRE-ELEC® concentrate delivered stable, permanent conductivity within our target ESD range, even under harsh maritime conditions. This allowed us to meet stringent safety requirements while ensuring mechanical reliability in a critical component of our refrigerated container units."

Tonny Gram, R&D Engineer at Maersk Container Industry/MCI

Results / Benefits

By integrating PRE-ELEC PA1411, Maersk Container Industry achieved:

• Safe static discharge performance inside the exhaust fan assembly
• Reduced risk of fire caused by ESD in refrigerated container units
• Compliance with internal safety and sustainability standards
• Durable mechanical function, enabling the fans to operate reliably through extended shipping cycles in harsh conditions

This collaboration showcases how Premix conductive materials enable safety-driven innovation in demanding industries like maritime logistics.