While a variety of industrial plants include liquid management, this is no easy task. Simply holding a hefty amount of a liquid, (i.e., anything above 50 pounds) can be a burden for drums and barrels. Although these containers are strong and spacious enough to store vast amounts of fluids, using or extracting fluids from the barrels is a nearly impossible job. Even a small 55-gallon drum weighs over 450 pounds. Something that heavy cannot be tipped easily to remove the liquid it stores. A drum pump is the solution to this problem.

What Is a Drum Pump?

A drum pump is an instrument placed on the upper opening of a drum or barrel, used to remove and transfer the liquid inside. This eliminates the need to pivot or tip a weighty drum to remove the liquid. There are two major types of drum pumps, and their sub types are available in different tube lengths, materials and models.

How Does a Drum Pump Work?

• A drum pump works by fitting into the top opening of a drum by way of its narrow tube, which houses a vertical shaft. The drum pump also consists of a small motor attached to the shaft, which runs on an AC or DC electric motor.
• The motor turns on the drum pump via a switch. When the drum pump is actuated, its pumping mechanism comes from the base of the tube, which sucks out the content. The base of the tube relies on either a small centrifugal pump impeller or a rotor.
• Some drum pumps can be actuated by hand, using a crank. Manual turning can also be done through a piston pump. Drum pumps can be used on an interchangeable basis, though some are more hard-wired into a drum or barrel.

Industries that Use Drum Pumps

Since there are many types of liquids that need to be processed, transferred, transported and handled, drum pumps are not limited to hydro-based industries. In fact, since chemicals, oils and other liquids are heavier and denser than water, these industries are even more reliant on the use of this tool.

For instance, the pharmaceutical industry has grown to a domestic value of $770 billion thanks to drum pumps. These are a few other common industries and spaces that utilize drum pumps:

• Chemical plants.
• Manufacturing plants.
• Food processing plants.
• Processing plants.
• Automotive shops.
• Cleaning jobs.

Types of Drum Pumps

There are two major types of drum pumps: hand-operated drum pumps and electric-operated drum pumps. These types differ in their makeup, use and models.

Hand-operated drum pumps, as their name suggests, are powered by hand, instead of a motor. They are ideal for remote pumping applications and in instances where there’s little to no power available. Here are some more characteristics of this instrument:

• Available in stainless steel, aluminum, plastic, polyacetal, polyphenylene sulfide, PVC, etc.
• Inlet size ranges from ½”- 1-½”
• Offer easy, leak-free, spark-free pumping.
• Have different lever shapes and lever lengths.

Electric-operated drum pumps run on electricity to power the pumping. They resemble the hand pump but use electric power. They are great to use for tasks that involve a higher volume transfer. Here are some more characteristics of this instrument:

• Available in battery and electric-powered models.
• Built with different voltages.
• Generally thicker and heavier devices.
• Have different lever shapes and lever lengths.
• Good for use with large quantities of drum drainage.