Steel Drums « Maxi News Room

Posts Tagged ‘Steel Drums’

Unsung Heroes of Global Trade

Saturday, September 1st, 2012

A recent article by Tom Vanderbilt in Slate called the wooden pallet “the single most important object in the global economy. He claimed that 80% of U.S commerce is carried on pallets and that wood pallets account for over 46% of U.S. hardwood production.

While the average U. S. consumer may only know wood pallets from their local Sam’s Club, COSTCO, or garden center, as a distributor of industrial packaging, we at Maxi Container, Inc. know just how important are wood pallets. Almost all of our LTL shipments travel on wood pallets. We use wood pallets in our warehouse to help us properly stack the over 20,000 steel, plastic and fiber drums that we keep in stock. We also used old pallets to make our rain barrel stands that we sell at Green Fairs and through our mirainbarrel line of business.

However, after 20+ years in the industrial packaging business, I want to nominate another under recognized and often overlooked Unsung Hero of Global Commerce, the 55 gallon drum. According to industry statistics over 24 million steel drums were reconditioned in the U.S. in 2011. In addition as of 2009 another 21 million new steel drums were manufactured in the U.S. As large as these numbers are, they do not include, Europe or Asia (including the emerging markets of China and India) were millions more steel drums are made and reconditioned.

Acids, adhesives, fuels, foods, hazardous and nonhazardous waste, oils and lubricants, paints and coatings, pesticides, pharmaceuticals and solvents are just some of the many items that are routinely shipped in 55 gallon steel drums. They myriad items shipped in steel drums continues to amaze me. Almost every product I see and use, at some point, was in a steel drum. Apple, orange and other fruit juices, Vanilla Extract, motor oil, gasoline, paint, adhesives, Window Cleaner and cleaners of all types, fragrances, soybean oil, chemicals to numerous to mention, used batteries and ballasts, soap and peanut butter to just name a few. As the pictures show, for every wood pallet, there are 4 steel drums. As I often say, without the 55 gallon steel drum industrialized society would grind to a halt.

Tags: 55 gallon, Barrels, Drums, Industrial Packaging, Steel Drums
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Risks of deep frying a Turkey

Friday, November 4th, 2011

Deep fried turkey is delicious. When done right it is juicy, golden brown, and done much quicker than in the oven. If done wrong, you can sustain serious burns, damage your home and even die. According to data from the USFA, an estimated 2,000 Thanksgiving Day fires in residential buildings occur annually in the United States, resulting in an estimated average of 5 deaths, 25 injuries, and $21 million in property loss each year. The leading cause of all Thanksgiving Day fires in residential buildings is cooking. In addition, these fires occur most frequently in the afternoon hours from noon to 4 p.m. One article states the deep frying alone accounts for an average of 5 deaths, 60 injuries and more than $15 million in property damage can be attributed to deep fryers each year.

You can look at YouTube and see some of the results of people trying to deep fry a turkey and ending up with a fireball instead. Here are a few of my favorites:

Radio Show sets couch on fire.

Montage prepared by the Consumer Warning Network.

There are many many more, just search “deep frying turkey disasters” or something along those lines to get the best results.

Every year at this time people come into our office and want to buy one of our smaller steel drums to build a deep fryer for their turkey. They are shocked when we tell them that none of our drums are appropriate for that use. While we have new food grade drums that make excellent smokers, barbecue grills, wood stoves, we feel that the danger and liability for a home made deep fryer is just too great.

So do yourself, and us, a favor. Soak you turkey in brine, inject it with marinade, cook it on a grill (that’s what I do), put it in a smoker, use different rubs or seasonings. Just do not ruin your Holidays by being one of those 5 deaths or 25 injuries. Enjoy this time with your family and friends. Build a fire in a fireplace, don’t turn your turkey into a fireball.

Tags: Deep Fried Turkey, Drums, Fire, Fire Hazard, Fires, Steel Drums, Thanksgiving, Turkey
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Michigan Charter School Receives Grant – To Build Rocket Heater

Friday, April 1st, 2011

Maxi Container received an inquiry about a new 30-gallon steel drum and when we found out what it would be used for our interest grew. Steve Quinlan, the Director of Institutional Advancement for Advanced Technology Academy in Dearborn explained that a senior class of students taking the course Sustainable Energy II would build the heater. A Rocket Heater, otherwise called a Rocket Stove or Rocket Mass Heater, combines the air-intake with the fuel-feed slot in an opening terminated by the combustion chamber, which connects to a chimney and also a heat exchanger. Simply put, a rocket stove has a fuel magazine but primarily works like a wood burning stove which uses the exhaust to heat a adobe clay housing. They are simple to build and yield high combustion efficiency, all while channeling the heat into a specific (small) area. The design of stove means it uses half as much fuel as an open fire and can also use smaller diameter wood even twigs. The stove is insulated and raised from the floor which reduces the danger of children burning themselves.Some uses for a a rocket heater are:

Cooking (mostly third-world countries)
Space heater
Water heater

Advanced Tech is one of Michigan’s green schools, (see our article about Michigan’s program for schools to earn different stewardship levels for completing green activities here.) and they are also a charter school.

After working out the details we setup a meeting on Monday March 21 at 1:30 PM where I (Joshua Rubin, Creative Director of Maxi) would drop off the drum and take a look at what is going on over at Advanced Tech.

Maxi wants to encourage other schools to contact us with any “green” projects or initiatives. From recycling in the classroom (see our Oprep article) to energy efficient rocket heaters seen here, we love to help schools. If we want to help reduce the next generations carbon footprint, we have to teach them early on to reduce, reuse, recycle, buy recycled products and safely dispose of their hazardous waste.

Thank you Advanced Tech for choosing Maxi, we wish you the best with your rocket heater project. Looking forward to seeing the pictures of the completed heater.