Waste steel drum reuse and safety welding method

Waste steel drum reuse and safety welding method

Yang Wenliang

One of the most important uses of recycling steel drums is the restructuring of steel drums. There are many forms of restructuring, and the following categories are summarized:

1. Make other products from old barrel steel.

The old steel drum is dismantled into three parts by gas cutting, namely the top of the bucket, the bottom of the bucket and the body of the bucket, and the parts that are difficult to use are cut off, and the available parts are cleaned and flattened. The flattening material can be used as a blank sheet for processing other products.

2. Change to a steel drum with a smaller capacity.

Due to bumps in the process of transportation and use, the barrel often has pits and deformations, and the barrel and the bottom of the barrel are also deformed, which is difficult to round. In order to use it to remanufacture new steel drums, one method is to cut the top of the bucket and the bottom of the bucket along the crimping edge, clean the bucket and then re-flange it, plus a new bucket top and bottom of the bucket, and then seal it. The steel drum thus produced is lower in height than the old one and the capacity is smaller. The top of the old barrel can be used to make a smaller diameter steel drum top or other products.

3, a little change can be made into daily necessities.

Put the old steel drum on the roof to use as the storage tank, add the welding water pipe and the outlet pipe, and make it as simple tap water; cut the steel drum from the barrel along the diameter to make the laundry tub; cut the steel drum along the axis It can be used as a trough for livestock. In rural areas, it is used as a bath tub. A large mouth is opened above the barrel, and then a valve is welded to the bottom of the barrel to be used as a tool for pulling water and storing water on the tricycle. Others use it as a water tank for solar water heaters or showers, etc...

The recycling value of used steel drums is very high, but the restructuring process is sometimes complicated and often dangerous. In China, there are often accidents when steel drums are reformed, mainly burning and explosion accidents.

Because the reform of steel drums is generally inseparable from welding and cutting operations, when welding and cutting steel drums, explosion accidents are often caused by residual gasoline and flammable gas in the barrel contacting the welding and cutting flames. Because of the welding and cutting operations on steel drums, measures such as demolition, cleaning, and replacement must be taken to perform welding and cutting operations.

(1) Waste steel drum cleaning welding and cutting method

First, pour the remaining flammable liquid in the barrel, and then pour it into the barrel with a caustic soda (sodium hydroxide) solution for cleaning. The amount of caustic soda is generally 0.5 kg per barrel of gasoline with a capacity of 200 liters. When cleaning, 0.5 kg of caustic soda is used three times. First, fill the steel drum with half of the boiling water, put a third of the caustic soda, block the mouth and shake the bucket for half an hour, then pour the water out, so that it is washed three times. It can be welded and cleaned after washing with water for one or two times. If it is not welded or cut immediately after cleaning, and stored for a period of time, it must be washed again with water for one or two times before welding and cutting. Otherwise, a small amount of gasoline that has not been cleaned will also evaporate flammable vapors, and an explosion will occur because the explosion limit of gasoline is very low (0.76% to 7%).

(2) Waste steel drum replacement welding method

First, pour the residual gasoline in the barrel, fill it with inert gas such as nitrogen, then rinse it with air, replace it two or three times in turn, and then inject it into the inert gas, then you can carry out hot-fire welding. If there is no inert gas, steam can be used instead, but the number of replacements should be increased appropriately.

(3) Waste steel drum adding water welding method

If the gasoline barrel welding point is only higher than the steel drum at the top of the barrel, the gasoline can be drained, rinsed with water for one or two times, and then filled with water to make the container not accumulate flammable vapor. This method is relatively simple, but it has its limitations.

When welding any other parts beside the steel drum, the inside of the steel drum must be cleaned or filled with water. Because welding is performed, not only welding Mars will endanger the safety of the steel drum, but also the steel drum will be charged during welding. Electrical sparks may occur when the wires are connected at power.

If it is repair welding, after the steel drum is welded, it is necessary to check the weld seam with water in time, and if it leaks, it should be repaired immediately. Otherwise, the leak will be discovered after a while, and when it is necessary to repair the weld, it has to be re-cleaned.

It is worth noting that some people use old steel drums as boilers, which is extremely dangerous. There have been many accidents in the country. Steel drums are non-pressure vessels, just ordinary metal packaging, so when recycling old barrels, be careful not to violate the nature of steel drums for restructuring and use.

Although the equipment and energy used for welding and cutting have certain fire hazards, the occurrence of fire and explosion accidents mainly lies not in the equipment and energy itself, but most of them are caused by paralysis in welding and cutting operations. Improper operation, lax system, and weak implementation of safety measures. So the key is to pay attention to and prevent. Prepare for safety before operation. The operation should be carried out in strict accordance with the regulations. After the operation, detailed safety inspection should be carried out.