Question: Our shops use heavy lubricants, transmission and hydraulic fluids that are dispensed from drums. When the drums are “empty,” they are crushed and put in the scrap dumpster. This can create oil seepage from the dumpster. Is there a way to more effectively drain the drums before they are crushed and scrapped?
Answer: We may have some options to help depending on how you are emptying the drums.
You can use a drum wedge to securely tilt the drum so the liquid can pool on one side. This allows more liquids to be pumped from the drum and reduces the amount that needs to be drained with an additional removal method.
If you dispense liquids from the drums horizontally using a faucet instead of a pump, a drum siphon can be attached to the faucet to help remove the three to five gallons that can often remain in horizontally-stored drums.
You could also invert the drum onto a spill containment deck, pallet or cart that will capture the remaining liquids, allowing them to be used or recycled. A spill cart takes up very little space and can be rolled out of the way to allow the drum to drain for a few hours or even overnight before it is crushed. Spill containment decks and pallets have heavy-duty grated surfaces that allow drained fluids to accumulate in the sump, which can be collecected for reuse or bulk fluid recycling.
Any of these methods should reduce the amount of seepage when the drums are compacted, which will help make the collection area cleaner and safer in addition to helping you recover the fluids more economically and effectively.
2 Comments
Mike Behnkesays:
05/18/2016 at 11:44 amCheck with the vendor of the lubricants. Many times they will take the drums back for reuse.
Brittanysays:
05/23/2016 at 9:26 amGreat suggestion, Mike!
-Brittany
Leave a Reply