55 gallon drum dimensions

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A 55 gallon drum is the most common container used in industries everywhere in the United States and in many other countries. 55 gallon drums are most commonly used to store as well as transport liquids such as industrial oils, solvents, chemicals as well as liquid foods such as tomato juice concentrates, apple juice extracts and so on. Seldom is a fifty five gallon drum used to transport solids such as powders unless the standard opening is not to be used and the drum top is to be opened up and either discarded or re-used. Thus storage and transport of solids such as powders is usually accomplished with an open head drum. It must be noted that many hazardous waste materials are also stored and transported in 55 gallon drums.

Being so commonly seen in industry, one generally wonders about the standardization of 55 gallon drum dimensions. Generally, a fifty five gallon drum has a nominal capacity of 44 British Imperial gallons, 200 liters or 55 U.S. gallons. The diameter is usually 22.5 inches and is 33.5 inches tall. In metric units, these translate to 572 mm in diameter and 850 mm in height. These linear dimensions translate to a volume capacity of 218.4 liters. Generally, these 55 gallon drums are equipped with a standard 2 inch opening ad a three-quarter-inch opening placed diametrically opposite to each other, both with standard NPT. It might be of interest to note that crude oil barrels are based upon a measurement of 42 U.S. gallons which ends up being thirteen gallons short of the standard 55 gallon measure.

Standardization of drum sizes is important because this allows for the fitting of standard liquid extraction devices such as drum pumps and standard blending devices such as mixers, etc to be mounted directly on to the drums as well the use of standardized pallet racking systems for safe storage and retrieval. Reinforcement rings are also provided generally about a third of the way from either end. These also form a nice locating point when using a fork lift with an attachment.