Steel Drum Closures and Accessories

Steel drum closures and accessories

Con-Tech offers a wide variety of steel drum closures and accessories including drum cap seals, steel drum nuts and bolts, steel drum metal ring accessories, nylon drum plugs, and plastic drum plugs, drum plug gaskets, drum paint caps, and drum cap seal crimping tools. Con-Tech drum cap seals are printable with your own logo, while a complete assortment of open head drum ring nuts and bolts are also available. Likewise, our 55-gallon steel drum bolts, nuts, lugs, and latches offer reliable, cost-effective security for all of your 55-gallon steel drums.

The Importance of Steel Drums

Steel drums are an essential American industry for which buyers carefully assess every detail. Steel drums have the lowest insurance rates for shipping containers since the U.S. Department of Transportation incident rates indicate they are the safest containers. Steel drums, also known as barrels, are circular shipping and storage containers commonly used for wholesale bulk product distribution. Steel drums were first patented in the United States in the early twentieth century and came into wider use in subsequent decades as transportation and manufacturing became more sophisticated.

Steel drums in various sizes and configurations have many practical uses in industry. They also have been used in many other ways including as housing supports, musical instruments, rain barrels and barbeque drums.

Steel drums have either open or closed, welded heads, and are commonly available in the United States in the 55-gallon steel drum size. Closed-head steel drums are used for shipment, and storage liquids like chemicals and petroleum, as they cannot easily be filled with or dispense powdered items, while open head steel drums have more versatility.

Cold-rolled steel sheets are used to fabricate steel drums as the bodies are welded then made into drum bodies. A rolled seam is then made for the drum bottom, or on both the bottom and the top. Steel drums typically have top and bottom chimes or rims, while most steel drums have rolling hoops for strength and rolling, as well as two standardized bung holes of 2 inch and 3/4 inch diameters o the head. Threaded flanges are permanently inserted into the steel drums for use with plugs or bungs which are screwed into the drums once it is filled, in order to make a seal.

Steel drum closures are devices used to seal steel drums in order to protect the contents against air, dirt, liquid and other contaminants during transportation and storage. Steel drum closures also maintain the shelf life of the contents and provide a means of reclosing and reusing the steel drum. Steel drum closures are covered with cap seals to prevent tampering and further protect the contents.

Using the correct drum closures and accessories is critical as the area is strictly regulated. Organizations of manufacturers of reconditioned and new steel, plastic, and fiber drums, as well as intermediate bulk containers, work hard on their North American suppliers to do the same while emphasizing the importance of safety and reliability.

Exclusive Drum Closure Accessory Supplier

Con-Tech is the exclusive steel drum closure and accessory supplier in the Americas for Technocraft Industries (India) Ltd., an ISO 9002 certified worldwide industrial company known for manufacturing excellence, producing Tite-Seal™ plugs and Tite-Seal™ flanges, related steel drum closures and accessories, steel drum cap seals, steel drum plug gaskets and steel drum flange insertion dies. Electroplated and lined Tite-Seal™ drum closures are also available.

Click the RFQ button, email info@con-techinternational.com, or call us at 1-504-523-4785 for more information on how we can help your company.

Did You Know?

Cost-effective, versatile and environmentally-friendly, steel drums are a favored means of secure packaging as they can handle temperature and other environmental extremes without leakage. The 55-gallon container is a descendant of the wooden barrel used as early as the 3rd century AD. In fact, the ancient craft of barrel practiced by coopers making water-tight, wooden vessels held together by nothing more than the hoops that surround them continued into modern times.

FAQ

A Closed Head Drum is a drum in which the top or head of the drum is separate from the body of the drum. Lids of closed head drums are secured with wings.

A Tight Head Drum is a drum in which the top or head of the drum is permanently attached to the body.

Rolling hoops are the ribs at both the top and bottom of a barrel as well as at each third of the barrel’s height.

The 55-gallon steel drum holds an average of 55 gallons or 208 liters of material, though the exact amount varies with the exact composition and design of the barrel.

Typically, a 55-gallon steel drum is 33.5 in/851 mm tall with a standard diameter of 22.5 in/572 mm, though some designs may be narrower and taller.

The particulars of each drum can vary. The industry standard thickness of the steel is between 0.9 and 1.5 mm (20-16 gauge steel) although some steel drums can be made with walls as thin as 0.6 mm (24 gauge).

Steel drum contents may vary from chemicals, food, oil, water and wine, to nuclear waste. Given their structural integrity, steel drum may store or transport bulk liquids, powders and solids, as well as hazardous materials.

The reconditioning thickness for steel drums is the minimum gauge set by federal regulators for reconditioning or recycling of steel drums. As of now, steel drums constructed for re-use (per CFR 173.28) must have minimum wall thicknesses of 0.92 mm or 20 gauge.

Steel drum life is the number of times a steel drum can be reconditioned or recycled. A steel drum may be reconditioned up to six times and maintain its certification depending upon the thickness of the steel and the propriety of its handling and reconditioning.