What types of substances can be placed and stored within a plastic drum?
Blue plastic drum – 220 litre open top
The great thing about plastic drums is that they are extremely versatile and can be used for transport or industrial storage within a warehouse.
Typically, these plastic drums are spherical shaped and usually blue in colour. They come in different sizes and capacities. They can be used to store many different materials such as food, dangerous chemicals etc.
Plastic Drum Defined
Plastic drums are spherical barrels that are created using industrial grade plastic. They are usually blue in colour so that they can be quickly identified. They are designed in a way that makes them easy to transport and store materials as well as industrial goods.
They are created from HDPE which means High Density Polyethylene. This material is quite pliable, however, it is still rigid enough to easily handle dangerous chemicals as well as high temperatures.
These plastic drums are made in many different sizes which enables them to handle various industrial needs. They can handle large or small scale jobs. They usually come in a wide range of sizes from 30 litre barrels to significantly larger 220 litre barrels.
The smaller sizes drums come with black side handles which make it easy for people to physically move them. The bigger plastic drums have to be moved with a forklift.
In industrial packaging, there are two main types of drums. These are basically tight head plastic drums or open head plastic drums. A diaphragm pump is a common alternate name for a drum pump.
Open Head Plastic Drums
These type of plastic drums have a lid at the top of the barrel that is easily removable. Due to this lid, it is very easy to remove the contents of the drum or pour new content into the drum.
These type of drums are thoroughly sealed with steel clamps. Alternatively, they can be stored without a lid if necessary.
Tight Head Plastic Drums
These type of drums share many similarities with closed head drums. However, tight head plastic drums differ in that both of their ends are sealed. These type of drums don’t have a removable lid.
In order to empty or fill this type of drum, it needs to be done using a bung or nozzle. This means it is more challenging to empty or fill a tight head barrel. However, the benefit of this is that it is a lot more secure.
What Can Be Stored In Plastic Drums?
These drums can be used for a lot of different industrial materials and goods. They are commonly used to store materials such as:
- Grains
- Liquids
- Chemicals
- Ingredients for food
- Solvents
- Oils and Lubricants
- Pharmaceuticals
- Sand
Due to the high strength, durability and versatility of plastic drums they are widely used for transport as well as storage. These drums are also utilized within an industrial capacity since they come in a wide range of sizes.
These plastic drums are also reusable, however, before they are used, they need to be thoroughly cleaned, especially if different goods need to be stored in them. Cross-contamination is a serious issue that has to be avoided, so, never use a plastic drum that once stored chemicals to store food.
It is possible to prevent contamination by utilizing drum liners. These also come in many sizes and there are specific liners for specific uses. These liners enable materials to be stored within plastic drums in such a way that the materials don’t touch the plastic.
Both hazardous chemicals as well as food can be stored inside of plastic drums. However, you need to ensure that the plastic drum that you intend to use to store chemicals is actually designed to withstand it. Also, if you want to store food in a plastic drum, you need to ensure that it is appropriate for long term food storage.