Over-Pressurized Drums: Their Causes and Mitigation

Having to contend with bulging or over-pressurized drums is, unfortunately, a common event for people storing chemicals and chemical wastes. (Figure 1) The Department of Energy alone reported over 120 incidents of bulging drums between 1992 and 1999 (1). Bulging drums can be caused by many different mechanisms, represent a number of significant hazards and can be tricky to mitigate. In this article, we will discuss reasons or mechanisms by which drums can become over-pressurized, recognition of the hazards associated with and mitigation of over-pressurized drums, and methods that can be used to prevent drum over-pressurization from ever occurring. Drum pressurization can represent a significant safety hazard. Unless recognized and properly mitigated, improperly manipulated pressurized drums can result in employee exposure, employee injury, and environmental contamination. Therefore, recognition of when a drum is pressurized and knowledge of pressurized drum mitigation techniques is essential.