I was blessed enough yesterday to secure a supply of WVO from a local restaurant. The general manager and I had a little discussion and he was very supportive and interested in the idea to use it for home heating use. He hadn’t heard of that application before. During our discussion he mentioned something that, I admit, hadn’t really occurred to me about my 55 gal. Collecting drum “plan” He mentioned the top would need to be able to fasten and unfasten securely in case it tipped over. Upon further consideration, this is a necessary thing. The current grease dumpster is much more stable and unlikely to be dumped by accident while the trash dumpsters are being emptied, etc.
Does anyone have any ideas/pics/plans to cut and weld (unless there’s an easier way) a drum that will meet this “no spill if tipped” criteria. I also need to keep it relatively hassle free for the folks who are dumping the WVO into the container every morning. They are used to just flipping the big square lid off he grease dumpster and gittin er done.
I was just going to fabricate a similar “flip-top” on a 55-gal drum, but now I don’t think this is adequate. My best attempt at “thinking outside the (grease) box” is to attach a very short pipe to the 2” bung on the barrel with a ball valve on top of that. Then some sort of pan they can rest the container on while they pour in the liquid gold. I figured another ball valve on the 3/4” bung to act as a vent. They just open two ball valves, flip the rain lid off the pan and pour. Any thoughts and suggestions?
[a]
I’d think you’d have an easier time welding a plate to the bottom of the drum and bolting it to the ground… even if it isn’t concrete you could drive some rebar pretty far in ground to keep it from tipping. I doubt you’ll achieve a spillover proof lid.[/a]
[a]
I doubt any restauranteur wants a drum nailed to the ground not to mention the inconvenience to you- it will need to be mucked out eventually. At our brewery, we use invert sugar in a couple of our bigger brews to keep the beer from being too heavy. This sugar is liquid and comes in open head 55 gal drums. The lid has a seal and a lever- action clamping ring holds the lid in place. I use these for wvo from our restaurant (the cooks filter the oil for me back into the cubitainers and I collect it like that, let it settle and the harder waxes form and drop, then rack the liquid oil off the top into the drums). I haven’t tipped over a drum of wvo but drums of sugar have gone over a couple of times and they did not spill (the sugar is much more viscous than oil, however- like a heavy syrup). Large bakeries (like department store bakeries) and confectioners use invert sugar in quantities that would require drums. Check it out.[/a]
[a]
The easy way is to have a standard drum with removable cover and clamp. The cover can have a bung and a funnel, or the oil can be poured by removing the cover. A funnel can allow the use of a screen to get rid of the BCB’s (burnt crispy bits), but it will also allow rain water into the drum. Better to have a loose drum cover and then bring the clamp ring to the job when its time to move the drum so it doesn’t get lost. I buy such drums, complete, for $10 each at the local drum recycling company. BTW, a drum funnel is easily constructed out of an old propane 5 gallon cylinder, the top cut off, and a 2” flange welded on the bottom. It will accommodate a 5 gallon plastic bucket which is easily adapted as a large capacity screen by hot melt glue a circular stainless screen into the bottom. These screen are available from McMaster-Carr for less than $7 each.[/a]
[a]
How about a metal band, maybe a stainless steel strap that would tighten to secure it too a fence, wall, etc? Am I the only one that thinks Joe is going to challenged by the kitchen help in going through the effort of undoing the strap and removing the lid on the barrel when they’ve been used to flipping a lid up and just dumping the oil in?[/a]
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