How Are Steel Shipping Drums Made?
- By Cory Levins
- 9 feb 2020
Steel shipping drums are one of the modern world’s greatest shipping innovations. They transport everything from paint to beer to screws, and they do it extremely well. Millions of steel shipping drums move through the world’s warehouses and container ports every day, and over 21 million of them are manufactured per year. How are these amazing containers made? The process is relatively simple, but there are many steps involved in making sure that new steel shipping drums have the integrity that shippers need. In this article, we’ll give you some insight into the process that creates these staples of the shipping industry.
First, the drum’s top and bottom pieces are punched out of a coil of steel by a huge punch press. The pieces are then moved to a turntable and coated with a sealant.
The drum tops are then run through another die press that simultaneously punches out threaded holes for the bung and vent while inserting steel fittings. Now, the top and bottom pieces of the drum are ready.
Next comes the body of the drum. Workers use a machine to cut coiled steel into precisely-sized sheets, which are then curled by rollers into the main body shell.
Each curled sheet has a long seam running down its edge where one end of the sheet meets the other. Next, a resistance welding machine runs a high current through the steel to join the two edges of that seam. This is one of the most important steps for creating a strong, reliable, leakproof drum.
Once the body shell has been welded together, it’s placed in a machine that stretches and pulls on it to create a flanged lip where the top and bottom pieces will attach. Then, the drum is run through a beater, a machine with two rollers that applies extreme pressure to the drum and creates raised hoops on the body of the barrel, which allows it to be rolled.
Now it’s time to combine the drum’s top and bottom with its body. Each drum’s body is paired with a top and bottom via conveyor belts. Rollers combine the pieces into one by pressing the flanged edges of the top and body together, creating a seam known as a chime.
Next, another roller flattens the chime, making it leakproof. The sealant applied in the first step combines with multiple layers of steel to create a sturdy and reliable steel barrel that can transport nearly anything and is a great option for hazardous materials packaging.
Of course, testing is necessary to ensure that a steel drum is structurally sound. After having its chimes sealed, a drum goes through several rounds of quality control testing. Quality control technicians apply an ingenious test to these drums: They put soap on each drum’s seam and then inject pressurized air into the drum to test its retention capability, watching for the formation of bubbles as a sign that a seam isn’t properly sealed. A drum that passes the test is sent on to receive its final treatments.
The drum is now ready to have its finishing touches applied. First, a series of paint guns applies paint to the drum. Steel shipping drums are usually painted black, although it’s not uncommon to see green, blue or other colors.
Next, the conveyor belt feeds each drum into a large, powerful oven that dries its paint and creates a durable finish. Finally, the drum may have an epoxy-phenolic coating applied to its inner surface to grant it resistance to damage from certain chemicals.
Before shipping the drum out, quality control technicians perform some final tests, including testing the drum’s paint thickness to ensure that it can withstand corrosion. Once it’s passed inspection, workers place plugs in the drum’s bung and vent. Now, the steel drum is finally ready to be put to work in shipping the goods that power the modern world!
Air Sea Containers has over 25 years of expertise in supplying our customers with the best in steel shipping drums. We offer both brand-new steel shipping drums and reconditioned steel shipping drums at affordable prices. To learn more about our steel shipping drum offerings, call Air Sea at (866) 596-9448 or contact us online. (And if you’re still curious about how the shipping drum as we know it came to be, make sure to check out our article on the history of the shipping drum!)
Shop Our Collection of Steel Shipping Drums
Part One: Forming the Top and Bottom
First, the drum’s top and bottom pieces are punched out of a coil of steel by a huge punch press. The pieces are then moved to a turntable and coated with a sealant.
The drum tops are then run through another die press that simultaneously punches out threaded holes for the bung and vent while inserting steel fittings. Now, the top and bottom pieces of the drum are ready.
Part Two: Forming the Body
Next comes the body of the drum. Workers use a machine to cut coiled steel into precisely-sized sheets, which are then curled by rollers into the main body shell.
Each curled sheet has a long seam running down its edge where one end of the sheet meets the other. Next, a resistance welding machine runs a high current through the steel to join the two edges of that seam. This is one of the most important steps for creating a strong, reliable, leakproof drum.
Once the body shell has been welded together, it’s placed in a machine that stretches and pulls on it to create a flanged lip where the top and bottom pieces will attach. Then, the drum is run through a beater, a machine with two rollers that applies extreme pressure to the drum and creates raised hoops on the body of the barrel, which allows it to be rolled.
Part Three: Making the Drum
Now it’s time to combine the drum’s top and bottom with its body. Each drum’s body is paired with a top and bottom via conveyor belts. Rollers combine the pieces into one by pressing the flanged edges of the top and body together, creating a seam known as a chime.
Next, another roller flattens the chime, making it leakproof. The sealant applied in the first step combines with multiple layers of steel to create a sturdy and reliable steel barrel that can transport nearly anything and is a great option for hazardous materials packaging.
Of course, testing is necessary to ensure that a steel drum is structurally sound. After having its chimes sealed, a drum goes through several rounds of quality control testing. Quality control technicians apply an ingenious test to these drums: They put soap on each drum’s seam and then inject pressurized air into the drum to test its retention capability, watching for the formation of bubbles as a sign that a seam isn’t properly sealed. A drum that passes the test is sent on to receive its final treatments.
Part Four: Finishing Touches
The drum is now ready to have its finishing touches applied. First, a series of paint guns applies paint to the drum. Steel shipping drums are usually painted black, although it’s not uncommon to see green, blue or other colors.
Next, the conveyor belt feeds each drum into a large, powerful oven that dries its paint and creates a durable finish. Finally, the drum may have an epoxy-phenolic coating applied to its inner surface to grant it resistance to damage from certain chemicals.
Before shipping the drum out, quality control technicians perform some final tests, including testing the drum’s paint thickness to ensure that it can withstand corrosion. Once it’s passed inspection, workers place plugs in the drum’s bung and vent. Now, the steel drum is finally ready to be put to work in shipping the goods that power the modern world!
Air Sea Containers has over 25 years of expertise in supplying our customers with the best in steel shipping drums. We offer both brand-new steel shipping drums and reconditioned steel shipping drums at affordable prices. To learn more about our steel shipping drum offerings, call Air Sea at (866) 596-9448 or contact us online. (And if you’re still curious about how the shipping drum as we know it came to be, make sure to check out our article on the history of the shipping drum!)
Shop Our Collection of Steel Shipping Drums
