I am thinking of doing my washing in a 275 gallon IBC, and was wondering how I could go about making a standpipe in these and any other issues and cool ideas you all might have to make this work. I will be processing ~100-150 gallon batches.
Thanks

We use a 275 gallon tote at Denver B100 for washing. It has two drains, one on the side at the bottom and one on the other side a few inches up from the bottom. I don't recall if it came that way, but if not, it's not hard to fit a bulkhead fitting into the side at whatever height you need.

I saw something interesting a couple days ago. It was in an industrial factory, and there were these two totes, the wire cage type, cut open at the top and the sides screwed to the cross members.
I got to thinking that these would make dandy washers, set up with your favorite method washing apparatus installed over the top opening, a type of glorified open top drum, but in 1,000 liter config.
As Old300D said, it could be fitted with a bulkhead fitting up the side a bit to be used as a type of "standpipe" to drain off the BD first before the water. IMO, this design has a lot of potential. I hadn't thought of simply slitting off the top.

That is what I was thinking, definitely potential. I just recently acquired an awesome 200 gallon holding tank and am going to be scaling up considerably so it has to be big, and I can get IBC's for free so I'd like to make it work, well if possible.

Are your "free" IBC's reconditioned or new ? The recon one can still have some nasty residual stuff in them unless thoroughly washed first.
Good price though

Most have just one use and mostly contained soybean oil, or phosphoric acid so not a big deal. Great price!

A note on those IBC totes..

I used to work for a company that got its product in these totes.. They were 270 gallons and contained in an aluminum cage that was bolted to a pallet. Each tote we bought was over $7500...

The bottoms were slightly sloped and the drain was recessed..

They drained very nicely.. I'm not sure if they are all built this way or not but I thought I would stick my 2 cents in..

Unless I am mistaken, the term IBC means, "International Bulk Container", and in that case they would all have to have the same configuration in order to meet international standards.Each type would be the same regardless of country of origin. From my experience there are three diferent types only of IBC's, but the most common is the ones desriobed here, with the wire cage around it and attached to a pallet of either wood or synthetic material.

I think its 'intermediate bulk container' rather than international. However, I have one from Australia and it uses the the same type cam-lock fitting on the drain.

Todd

So you guys are just boaring a whole in the tote, attatching a fitting with a gasket to prevent leaking, and plumbing up a stand pipe? I've got one of those 275gal ones.... Washing is always a bottleneck for me, so i'm considering doing this setup. The cool part is that washing 200 gals of BD takes no less time than washing 20 gals of BD.... just a bit more water and bubbles!

Am i right on the bung w/ gasket?

You are correct "Intermediate bulk container" is the right description and whose dimensions seem to be related to the originating country's standard palette size. My own experience is with N.American standards and they are all the same.

Hi, I'm new on the site. I have been running WVO for about 4 years now.

I'm wondering If anyone knows where to get 275 gal. Totes,Intermediate bulk container around western mass?

You can build a standpipe for a tote I wouldn't cut thru the side. What you do is take the two inch pipe thread to a 2" to 3/4" tee drill the stop ridge for the poly pipe on the straight thru one. for the standpipe on the end install a 90, werever you want your standpipe level install a 3/4" cross, the thru side of your cross extend your 3/4" pipe to the top of the ibc. Take your completed standpipe assy, and some 3/4" to extend thru the front tee. Take that 3/4" glue the end push thru the tee on the front, take the standpipe glue that 90 and attach the two inside the tote. After that has setup pull the 3/4" pipe back a little thru the tee add some glue and push it back to secure the 3/4" to the tee. On the top of the standpipe cut it, and install a cap so you can install the top lid. I will see if I can get pictures of the inside not much headroom to get on top of my totes.

I tried a 275 gallon IBC tote tank for washing, but gave it up. I had a standpipe with a bulkhead fitting in the side of the tank for decanting.
I quit using it because if you left the water in it for a couple of days, what little soap there was in the water would coagulate. I also could not totally drain all the BD and it was hard to seperate the water and the BD when I wanted to clean the tank, which was every other washing. It has too much surface area for the volume.
I have since acquired a cone-bottom poly tank for washing. MUCH easier to seperate the BD and water.

quote:

Originally posted by Wayne S.:
I tried a 275 gallon IBC tote tank for washing, but gave it up. I had a standpipe with a bulkhead fitting in the side of the tank for decanting.
I quit using it because if you left the water in it for a couple of days, what little soap there was in the water would coagulate. I also could not totally drain all the BD and it was hard to seperate the water and the BD when I wanted to clean the tank, which was every other washing. It has too much surface area for the volume.
I have since acquired a cone-bottom poly tank for washing. MUCH easier to seperate the BD and water.

I got a 220 gallon tote because I cannot wash a 120+ gallon batch in anything less. You need 3 or 4 drums for a batch that size -- what a PITA. Got a cheap solution? My tote cost $45, plus another $30-40 for standpipe hardware.