I would like to store finished BD in a steel drum (rather than HDPE). I have come accross this ad in my local area: http://denver.craigslist.org/for/1212184933.html

The drums are steel and they look good, but I suspect that they may have some type of coding on the inside... in reading other's posts it seems that there is hardly anything out there that will stand up to BioD - should I be concerned?! Should I make sure that I only use bare steel drums (with no coating of any kind) for storage?!

What say ya'll -

THanks,
James

Adding my own update: exchanged emails with the guy selling the drums, this is what he writes:

"I store veggie, gasoline and #2 in these drums, and have for a couple of
years, no problems. They do have an interior coating, but it would seem
to be impervious."

I use the steel drums that my methanol comes in. They are clean and bare steel inside.
I fill to about 2" from the top with warm BD after my dry cycle, then seal the bung.
Vacuum packed!
Canned BD!
I haven't been doing this long enough to see any results, but it seems like a logical method to me.

Bob

The resistance of the drum liners to biodiesel is yes and no. I have two drums that I use, one a settling drum (hot caustic BD goes in directly from reaction) that has been in service for at least4 years now, no problem, and the other is used as a demething drum prior to settling and sending the biodiesel to resin purification; also not problems after almost 2 years. These are both what is called "international food grade" drums and had virgin olive oil in them prior to me getting them.
Some other types of lined drums do not stand up at all to biodiesel and will chip and peel in a short while. A bare steel drum will work fine though as the BD will protect it from rusting.
HTH

If he says he stores diesel #2 in them and gasoline in them, would that offer any kind of assurance about it being resistant to BD or no...

quote:

Originally posted by RAMSKI:
If he says he stores diesel #2 in them and gasoline in them, would that offer any kind of assurance about it being resistant to BD or no...

His experience offers some assurance, but not absolute.

Good luck!

troy

I suppose it depends on the coating but a drum I was using with a tan coating did not hold up to BD. Why don't you want to use poly, works well for me.

quote:

Originally posted by Raften:
Why don't you want to use poly, works well for me.

I've thought about it, it would be nice to see the level of bd in the drum, but I've read some warnings against using poly for BD because of safety concerns in case of accidental fire in the workspace... poly would melt quickly and make things much worse... think I'll look for an un-coated steel drum.

I understand, I store outside so don't worry about fire. A stick with notches every three inches will give you a idea how much fuel is in a steel barrel. Three inches is about five gallons (or was it 10 gallons). I would keep your pump pick up a few inches off the bottom and just dump that last bit in the wash now and then.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Raften,

We use IBC Totes =O Is that bad? heh

Storing biodiesel in plastic IBC totes or 55 gallon drums is fine so long as it is a temporary situation and done on a small scale.

Getting into a habit of using those plastic vessels as part of your processing procedures is a dangerous game.

When something goes wrong, the difference between a bad day and a lost building is the difference between steel and plastic.

thats a very good point. Im going to make it a point to replace these in the coming months. We have some large plastic oil tanks too, if those burnt down we'd all drown 1st

i am new to BD so you guys are saying store the BD in steel 55G drums (ex, pennzoil) is safe but not the HDPE 55G drums.

surely storing dewatered (centrifuged) wvo to make BD is fine right?

I'm not understanding something here: so the conclusion here is that steel and hdpe barrels are both good for storage, but steel is preferred because in case of a fire, hdpe would melt and leak.

But in the event of a fire, wouldnt the fire just consume the BD in a steel drum anyways?

Bob

With steel you have a better chance of getting the fire out before the fuel cooks off. The plastic would melt quick and make your fire much worse.