Guide to Steel Drums

Most steel drums are made of either carbon steel or stainless steel. Stainless steel offers better chemical resistance than carbon steel and is an ideal solution for products requiring drum purity and compatibility of materials, depending on their composition. Due to unique properties, stainless steel drums can outperform carbon steel drums in terms of corrosion resistance, tensile strength and reusability.

Open head drums, also called 1A2 drums, have a fully removable cover secured with a bolt or lever lock ring closure. Open head drums make it easier to work with solids and thicker liquids (oils, absorbents, syrups, glues, etc.) and are typically used in situations where frequent addition or extraction of the contents occurs.

• Open Head Carbon Steel Drums
• Open Head Stainless Steel Drums

Tight head drums, also known as closed head or 1A1 drums, have a secured, non-removable top and are typically used with lower viscosity liquids. Access to a tight head drum typically is via a 2" and 3/4" bung opening in the top of the container.

• Tight Head Carbon Steel Drums
• Tight Head Stainless Steel Drums

Salvage Drums are designed to contain packages of hazardous materials that are damaged, defective, or found leaking. The drums are regulated by the Department of Transportation (DOT) under 49 CFR 173.3 (c). If a company or shipper has a leaking package of hazardous material, sorbents or rags used on a spill or leak, and they wish to ship them across public roads, they must use a Salvage Drum under the restrictions of 173.3 (c).

Open Head Stainless Steel Drums have excellent durability and strength, allowing you to ship and hold materials like solids nad thick liquids. These drums either have a bolt-ring closure or lever lock ring with gasket. These lids are removable , making filling and dispensing of products easy. They are offered in 4 to 85 gallon, with 55 gallon being the most popular.

Reconditioned Steel Drums are available in tight head or open head. These drums can be used as storage or for shipping applications that do not need to be FDA complaint. These reconditioned steel drums are available in 30 gallon, 50 gallon, and 55 gallon sizes. 

Benefits of Steel Drums

There are a variety of benefits for using steel drums, some including: 

• Durability - Steel drums are durable packaging containers that provide protection against physical damage during transit.
• Versatility - Use these steel drums for storing or shipping items throughout a variety of industries, some including chemicals and hazardous waste. These drums are not FDA complaint for food use.
• Safety - To safely ship hazardous materials, contents need to be stored in a compatible UN rated drum. Steel drums are durable and are designed to meet storage and transportation requirements.
• Recyclability - Steel drums can be washed out and turned into reconditioned drums. This process helps reduce waste, conserve resources, and reuse materials.
• Cost-effective - Steel drums have a long shelf life. They are a very good cost-effective storage solution for transporting materials in large volumes that may require heavy-duty materials. They require minimal maintenance, allowing drums to be reused for other purposes. 

Bolt Ring Closure – A bolt ring is a closure ring that holds the cover on to the body of the container by encompassing the cover and the top of the container in a groove. This ring is then tightened by a bolt that pulls the ends of the rings together. A calibrated torque wrench is used to confirm proper closure (to meet UN Rating requirements).

Lever Lock Ring Closure – The lever lock ring holds the cover on to the container with a latch (or toggle) that is pulled from one side to the other and applies torque to the two ring ends in a similar fashion to the bolt ring. No torque wrench is required to confirm proper closure.

There is a large variety of gaskets both in material and profile (shape). Most common gasket materials are EPDM, Neoprene, Teflon, Rubber and Cellulose. All gaskets have different properties that make them more suitable for certain applications. Gaskets also vary in terms of performance, specifically the profile (shape) which affects the UN Rating of the drum. It is important to note that a United Nations certified container must use the tested gasket in order not to invalidate the test certification. There is no hard and fast rule on what gasket / drum combination are compatible, it is however not permissible to change one gasket type for another unless the container has been tested with both.

Steel drums typically have two openings (bung holes) with flanges, 2″ and 3/4″ in diameter, in the top of the container (or cover for open head drums). The flanges are the closure attachments that are permanently inserted into the drum and provide the receiving threads for a plug. Most steel drums have NPT (National Pipe Thread Taper) threaded openings. Unlike straight pipe threading, NPT threaded fittings will pull tight to make a liquid-tight seal.

Once drums are filled, plugs (bungs) are screwed in the flanges using pneumatic or hand operated bung tightener (plug or torque wrench). To secure the contents of the drums against theft and adulteration during shipment, cap-seals are used. These cap-seals sit on top of the flanges and are ‘crimped’ using drum cap-seal crimping tools (also called drum cap sealers). Once cap-seals are crimped, the plugs can be unscrewed only by breaking these cap-seals. Pneumatic and hand-operated cap-seal crimping tools are available. Pneumatic ones are used in production lines for high production.

Cap Seals

Drum Wrenches

Tri-Sure Plugs

Rieke Plugs

Drum liners are typically constructed from FDA approved polyethylene, and are designed to fit in either steel or plastic drums of various sizes. Drum Liners come in a variety of styles including straight sided liners, pleated (accordion style) drum liners, flat bottom drum liners, round bottom drum liners and anti-stat drum liners. Anti-Static Drum Liners help reduce static build up in volatile applications.

Available in multiple widths, drum liners help minimize drum cleaning and replacement (reducing waste) and prevent product contamination. They are used for storing and shipping a variety of materials, such as liquid and raw products, and are available in 15 gallon, 30 gallon and 55 gallon sizes. Liner Mil thicknesses range from 4 mil (Bag Liner) to to 15 mil (Rigid Liner) to 30 mil (Heavy Duty Liner).

Rolling Hoops are the hooped expansions that are located in the body of a drum that act as reinforcement rings to permit easy handling of the filled drums. Most 55 gallon steel drums are built with three rolling hoops (the first hoop is placed 3 inches from the top curl while the other 2 hoops are centered on the drum) and a few are built with only two hoops.

There are also 55 gallon drums constructed without any rolling hoops, called straight-sided drums, which are not UN rated due to strength. Chimes are the bottom or top perimeter of the drum comprised of the edges of the combined thickness of the head and the body.

UN Ratings

Developed as a set of standards, by the United Nations, UN ratings are essential for shipping or storing hazardous materials. The UN Rating is a series of number and letter codes that show what a container is regulated to handle.

They determine this through a series of tests that all containers must undergo if they are to be UN Rated. Current UN Regulations are enforced by the D.O.T. It is up to the filler of the product to determine what UN Rating they need. Learn more in our Guide to UN Ratings.

The standard color for drums is black, but other common colors include white, gray, medium and dark blue, harvest yellow, red, and deep green. Additional colors are available upon request. The different colors enable many customers to keep track of what they have stored in different containers easily without having to open them. Stainless Steel Drums are not painted.

Reconditioned drums are available in a variety of colors. View the full selection of colors, here.