Should a flexible hose be used for loading ethylene oxide (EO)?

Use it; it is said that Sinopec Zhenhai Refining & Chemical uses it for this purpose, though the details are not clear.

Our unit uses flexible hoses. The experts also requested this.

Let’s make the changes according to the experts’ advice; standard regulations and administrative laws seem not to have any requirements, but the relevant regulatory documents do mention it. Logically, regulatory documents should not be used as a basis for evaluation, but currently people still tend to refer to them by default. **General Administration of Work Safety and Ministry of Industry and Information Technology: Implementation Opinions on Chemical Enterprises’ Compliance with the \"State Council’s Guidelines on Further Strengthening Enterprise Work Safety\" – Anzong Guan San [2010] No. 186. Anzong Guan San [2010] No. 186: 14. Attach great importance to safety management in the storage and transportation phases. Formulate and continuously improve safety management systems for various stages such as the receipt, storage, loading, unloading, and transportation of **chemicals, and enforce strict controls over the storage of products. Based on the **characteristics of the chemicals, appropriate level measurement instruments should be selected to enable dynamic monitoring of the liquid level in storage tanks. Establish an efficient emergency response and rapid fire extinguishing system for the tank farm ； Strengthen the safety management of **chemical pipelines; for those that pass through public areas, it is necessary to improve signage, clarify responsibility for management, and establish and implement a regular inspection system. Effective measures must be taken to inform all units and residents along the route about the dangers associated with **chemical pipelines. Strictly prevent the occupation of **chemical pipelines. Special vehicles used for the road transport of **chemicals must have satellite positioning devices with driving record functions installed and in use by the end of 2011. During the filling process of chemical tankers, the use of metal universal piping filling systems should be promoted as a replacement for filling hoses; the use of hoses for filling liquefied chemicals such as liquid chlorine, liquid ammonia, liquefied petroleum gas, and liquefied natural gas is prohibited.

We also use flexible hoses; they are just a bit more expensive than regular hoses, but we haven’t noticed any other advantages. If the manufacturer of the flexible hoses is of poor quality, leaks are more likely to occur at the bends.