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Pressurized 55 gal drum

J

JimS

Member
I took an old 3 pt mounted sulfur duster that had failed and salvaged the 3 pt frame. I put a 55 gallon drum on it upside down
with a spigot. I fill it and use it to take water to fill distant troughs or water for post mix, etc. The water gravity feeds
out. What I would like to know is if I mounted a barrel upright with a pipe running to the bottom for the spigot and used the
other opening for a small air compressor, like the ones you see for cars, could I generate enough pressure to make the tank empty
quicker than gravity fed?
 
I don't know, but might achieve same result putting larger diameter outlet pipe and no need for added doodads.
 
No.

Most air compressors are designed to charge up relatively high pressures of relatively low volumes.

What you would need is very low pressure, high volume to make the water move faster, but keep the pressure to just a few lbs so as to not blow out the rather weak barrels.

It might be -possible- but I'm gonna guess you won't ever find the right parts in your price range to make a working deal.

Paul
 
I can tell you from personal experience that those barrels can only take very low pressure. Typical tire pressure is about 10X too high!
 
If it"s already mounted upside down, attach a 2 inch pipe and ball valve to the 2 inch bung, and run a pipe from the 3/4 inch bung up to the top for a vent.

If you used a regulator with the compressor I think it would work, but I don"t see the need. I do remember being young, watching the local co-op guy using bursts of air to transfer engine oil from a barrel to the lubester...when the barrel bulged he said the supplier didn"t like getting the barrels back that way.
 
Dad worked for a company that made air compressors and vacuum pumps. We used air to transfer liquids more often than most folks, I imagine.

He saved tons of money buying farm fuel in a 275 gallon tank in the back of the pickup and using air to push it up into gravity tanks. (Not really, but he thought so).

We did use a plastic barrel to transfer 28% N from the co-op home, to mix in our weed sprayer in the vineyard. Was definitely cheaper than buying a suitable pump for that corrosive product.

I agree with the others, largest possible fitting for drain plus an adequate vent should be easier.

I remember the company picnic with Dad in the 70's, the employees had a raffle sheet with times, and they hooked one of their pumps to a steel drum, and started to draw a vacuum on it. The employee with the lucky time closest to when the barrel imploded won the prize ($100, I think). The Owner/CEO was speaking about how well they had done for the year when that thing let loose, what a noise!
 
JMOR is right---also newer drums I am getting are 'throw a way' & a lot thinner. I use em for burn barrels & they don't last as long.
 
Are you using the small bung for your spigot? If so then get a two inch 1/4 turn PVC valve and adapt that up to fit in the large bung. I think it is 3". Put some silicon sealer on the threads snug it up in there and let it set up over night. Good to go should empty plenty fast. On the bottom (your top) get a hole saw and drill a hole that your fill hose will fit in. Get a plastic cap/plug like comes on a new hydraulic hose that fits in to seal against sloshing. As others have said will need to open this for a vent when emptying.
 
I did an experiment once, I filled the barrel full of water so it wouldn't explode, and then pressurized it with water. As I remember at about 15 psi the rolled over flange on the end popped out, and at about 30 psi the ends were getting round like a ball! I did not continue to pressurize till it burst. There are all different kinds of barrels so yours may be different, so I would be very carefull. I used to transfer fuel oil from barrels to a tank in the ground and I would add only about 5 psi to speed things up, it really helped. If you are not real sure of what your doing don't do it, and if you do have a good regulator and gauge, lot's of people get killed with compressed air!
 
Correct me if I'm wrong. 55 gal. drum 24 inches in dia.= 12 inch radius squared is 144 sq inches x 3.1416 = 452 square inches x 5 psi = 2261 psi against drum end.
 
I wouldn't want to use much more than a bicycle pump , which would be fine. I used them to get beer out of kegs with no taps.
 
A guy up northeast of town had a nice round hole patched up in the roof of his shop. He had used a water heater tank to build an air compressor. The bottom blew out and sent the whole thing right through the roof.
 
My father tells the story of a neighbour whom was concocting some home procedure to produce acetylene in a 55 gallon drum....top separated from shell of drum....neighbour died on the spot.
 
Look on the end of your drum. If it is older you will find 18 or 20 numbers. There should be three. Those are the thickness numbers of the drum. Top- body- and bottom. Newer drums are in metric. So a drum marked 1.2 - .9 - 1.5 would be 18-20-16ga. Years ago ANTI BURST drums were 18 for all of the numbers and were pretty heavy. For what you want to do you want a heavy drum. Now you want to use a portable air tank with a regulator on it and set at no higher than 5lbs. As you transfer your liquids you will see the end of 5he drum start to bulge if you are getting tooooo high!!! Go on google and look up "Carycompany" web site . Just oddels of information on all kinds of containers. You can even buy a food grade 55 gal. Drum in stainless steel for $600.oo to make your wine in.
 
I have a 3-point boom sprayer with a 55 gallon metal barrel for the tank. The barrel is coated on the inside to prevent corrosion.

The sprayer is powered by a PTO pump that pressurizes the barrel. When spraying, I would pump up the pressure to 45 lbs. and start spraying.

Barrel never exploded or swelled up.

Just my experience.
 
How long does it take to empty the barrel now?

Those battery operated air compressors don't deliver much volume, check the labels. If your tank has a good air vent I suspect gravity will empty the barrel much faster than a small air compressor can supply air. How is the barrel vented now? If your tank gets vacuum locked, try mounting the barrel horizontally with one opening at the bottom and one at the top as a vent, like a fuel barrel. Can you raise the tank? Each foot of water column adds 1/2 PSI of pressure.
 
I agree with keeping the pressure low. I did a barrel before to dispense kerosene and it takes very little pressure to make it work. I believe I started off with about 30 psi and it was way too much and the sides of the barrel swelled up. I found it was much better just to use gravity.
 
(quoted from post at 12:54:44 02/14/17) I have a 3-point boom sprayer with a 55 gallon metal barrel for the tank. The barrel is coated on the inside to prevent corrosion.

The sprayer is powered by a PTO pump that pressurizes the barrel. When spraying, I would pump up the pressure to 45 lbs. and start spraying.

Barrel never exploded or swelled up.

Just my experience.
Click to expand...
ust be one heavy barrel to withstand 20,000 pounds of force against the ends! :roll:
....and a question: why pressurize the barrel if you have a PTO pump?
 
JMOR- I am sure that I'm more than likely wrong as to what you posted.
That is how it was explained to me when I bought the unit or I
misunderstood the explanation.
 
I used 30 gallon barrels to spray roundup with a weber weeder using hand wands. I made a H for each end and rods to connect them. I set the barrels on an angle so they would empty out and put 30 psi in them. We could spray for a half day easy.
 
You just need to vent the tank. Hose to the big bung, and then a street L, short nipple, a 90, and a stand pipe it will empty pretty quick.
 
I have found that MOST drums will stand 20psi or less but anything more tends to swell the top or bottom. 20lbs would help your water come out faster. Just get a good regulator that you can trust.
 
Just plumb the drum for a 3gpm 12v on demand pump. Rig with a deep cycle battery and be done with it. That will work better than pressurization.

Noah W
 

Yep - I keep my fuel barrel', which uses compressed air for transfer, at 5# or so. 8)
 
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