Had another idea...

[SgtMaj]

Well I picked up a couple of 55gal drums to make a rain barrel out of, but I got an idea from them... they are sealed pretty well, and you know the liquid to fill them weighed so much that there was plenty of pressure in the drums themselves, so you gotta figure they can take some pressure. So my idea was to make a couple of fittings to turn a 55gal drum into an air compressor tank for my air compressor. Anyone ever try something like that?

My air compressor only goes up to 100 psi, so I figure I'm pretty safe with that, since the water to fill the drums weighs about 1000 lbs... I'm pretty sure the drums should be able to handle 100 psi... anyway, still have to see if fittings are available to do that... would be cool to have a tank that big... the tank on the compressor I got is only 1 gal... which gives me all of about 2 seconds worth of compressed air... so 55 gallons of compressed air would be really cool for me. I think I'll try that once I finish this first rain barrel. Especially now that I know where to go for free 55 gal. drums... and will want to pick up another drum anyway for a second smaller rain barrel to water my herb garden with... might as well pick up 2 while I'm there and use the other one for the air compressor.

PS - these are the plastic drums with the screw in caps.

 

[Limited-Time]

Re: Had another idea...

BAD IDEA!!! Attempting to put 100 PSI in a 55 gal drum is a news headline waiting to happen. Don't confuse weight with pressure.

 

[INJUN]

Re: Had another idea...

Hey bubba, watch this . . .

 

[rolmops]

Re: Had another idea...

Well I picked up a couple of 55gal drums to make a rain barrel out of, but I got an idea from them... they are sealed pretty well, and you know the liquid to fill them weighed so much that there was plenty of pressure in the drums themselves, so you gotta figure they can take some pressure. So my idea was to make a couple of fittings to turn a 55gal drum into an air compressor tank for my air compressor. Anyone ever try something like that?

My air compressor only goes up to 100 psi, so I figure I'm pretty safe with that, since the water to fill the drums weighs about 1000 lbs... I'm pretty sure the drums should be able to handle 100 psi... anyway, still have to see if fittings are available to do that... would be cool to have a tank that big... the tank on the compressor I got is only 1 gal... which gives me all of about 2 seconds worth of compressed air... so 55 gallons of compressed air would be really cool for me. I think I'll try that once I finish this first rain barrel. Especially now that I know where to go for free 55 gal. drums... and will want to pick up another drum anyway for a second smaller rain barrel to water my herb garden with... might as well pick up 2 while I'm there and use the other one for the air compressor.

PS - these are the plastic drums with the screw in caps.

Bubba,eh sarge,why don't you pick up a third one and cut it in two so you can have 2 bath tubs

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Had another idea...

231 cubic inces in 1 gallon..... standard air pressure is around 14.696 PSI (that's what we inhale)

231 x 55 gal = 12705 cu inches and each cubic inch at 100 PSI (at almost 7 times the standard atmospheric pressure

What you will have is a BOMB!

In other words..... bad idea.

 

[aspeck]

Re: Had another idea...

Just in case you didn't get the point of LT's, INJUN's, rolmop's, or Bob's posts, Don't do it, Sarg, we want you around a bit longer yet! Too much pressure for a plastic drum.

 

[Limited-Time]

Re: Had another idea...

Some quick numbers for you SgtMaj.................The Diameter of a 55 gal drum is aprox. 23 inches, the surface area of said diameter is around 415 sq. inches. now multiply that by 2 (for the top and bottom) and you have 830 sq inches. Now add 100 Pounds per Square Inch and you have a load of 83,000 pounds, half of which is pushing at the top while the other half pushes at the bottom. Now lets add in the sides of the drum. A 34 inch tall drum with a 23 inch diameter has a wall surface area of around 2456 and 3/4 inches. Adding our 100 PSI we now have a Side load of 245,675 pounds. Thats a lot of load.

 

[bhammer]

Re: Had another idea...

Use them as a water cystern, not a big loud boom. I've been thinking about adding one in my back yard but I'd probably do it out of concrete block.

 

[wildmaninal]

Re: Had another idea...

I've heard of people getting killed from truck and tractor tires blowing up, or being seriously injured by it. I have never heard of any body trying such a project like that .

Can you say BOOM!!!!!!!!
May have the bomb squad or police at your house before you know it.

I hear these drums out back thumping and banging all the time from the heat, some of them are empty some are not most are metal some are plastic. I was told that we need to release the pressure off of them sooner or later before they go boom.

That would be the altimate bang, we use to play with Co2 at work, I have watched my coworkers make little bombs out of a hand full of that, what a boom that makes. Most of the time they would put it in rubber gloves just for giggles.

 

[ilmostro99]

Re: Had another idea...

If you want something really fun to do with them, when I was in the Coast Guard, we had a morale shoot with the .50 cal. machine guns. We were shooting at 55 gal. drums about 1/2 mile away with armor piercing incinerating tracer rounds. The Gunner's Mate didn't tell anybody, including the captain, that he filled one with acetylene. Can you say BOOM! Of course, he had some hell to pay with the captain, but it was great fun for the rest of us.
Erik

 

[SgtMaj]

Re: Had another idea...

So you're saying it's still a good idea... but I should hook it up on July 4th, turn on the compressor, and stand back, WAY back? OK, will-do.

Thanks for pointing out my err though... Will probably still try it, but will take safety precautions now.

 

[Bigprairie1]

Re: Had another idea...

So you're saying it's still a good idea... but I should hook it up on July 4th, turn on the compressor, and stand back, WAY back? OK, will-do.

Thanks for pointing out my err though... Will probably still try it, but will take safety precautions now.

...atta boy. Be sure your wife gets some good footage for us!!...wear something bright for blast off

BP

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Had another idea...

Boy, you guys are sadistic.

 

[dimock44]

Re: Had another idea...

Here's an idea. Bury it 3 feet deep and after the bomb squad arrives tell them you were doing an underground nuke test.

 

[fdmsiv]

Re: Had another idea...

At a local shipyard down here they were testing a newly completed tanker river barge. The barge had to hold 1 psi for some amount of time don't really remember. There was a pressure relief valve that was set at just above 1 psi, the valve was a steel flapper on a pipe sticking out of the deck. They started filling the barge with air and waited and waited and waited until... BOOM!

Someone had put something on top of the flapper valve, the pressure had soared () to 2 or 3 psi and the side of the barge was blown out.

As far as the math is concerned assuming the drum is full of fresh water, water pressure = density x gravity x depth

Total pressure = Water Pressure + Atmospheric Pressure

Density of Fresh water = 62 lb/ft^3
Gravity of Earth = 32 ft/s^2
Depth of 55 gallon drum = 3 ft
Atmospheric Pressure = 14.7 psi

Water Pressure experience by the bottom of the drum = 41.33 psi

Total Pressure experienced by the bottom of the drum = 56 psi

The water pressure is directly related to the depth of the water, so halfway up the drum there is only about 36 psi.

Basically the drum would never come close to experiencing 100 psi under normal operation.

 

[External Combustion]

Re: Had another idea...

Hey Sarge: We used to figure in the industry that a standard steel barrel would take 10 psi all day long and start to come apart at 15. I have personally witnessed some that held xylene that went up to 25, but that was in a fire and we were doing everything it took to stop the fire and let the pressure out. (Permanent deformation and calculations for the pressure estimate). We had cleared the area and were just putting water on them from behind the blast screens. Big booms, lotsa fire for those that did not make it. I'm glad there were only 8 barrels at the beginning of the call. Six did not make it.

The heads of the barrels will let go first, but you won't care. If you want to do this for Fourth of July entertainment (it would be a big boom, lotsa dust) then put it behind a berm and realize that shrapnel will be in the air.

Take care and don't let your widow or lawyer tell us you can no longer post!

 

[Mark42]

Re: Had another idea...

Just be sure you wrap it with a few layers of duct tape first for safety.

 

[Weldor]

Re: Had another idea...

Just be sure you wrap it with a few layers of duct tape first for safety.

Now dats funny

 

[SgtMaj]

Re: Had another idea...

Just be sure you wrap it with a few layers of duct tape first for safety.

Is there anything duct tape can't fix?

 

[Vlad D Impeller]

Re: Had another idea...

A few years ago one of our members, ZmOz, i believe it was, insisted against the opinions of many here, that making an air compressor tank from a gas propane tank was a great idea.
I'm not sure if he succeeded, then again i have'nt seen a post from him in quite some time.