205 Litre Drums or an IBC for your Fuel Storage? What is Right for You?
If your business only requires smaller quantities of fuel to be stored on site and you do not want the inconvenience of storing large quantities of fuel. Having your fuel delivered and stored in 205 litre fuel barrels may be better option for you.
Although you could potentially save money by buying larger quantities of fuels, such as gas oil and kerosene. These barrels do ensure that your business has increased flexibility in how and where they are stored if you do not have a premenant storage option on your site.
Another option would be to buy increased amounts of fuel, stored in an IBC (Intermediate Bulk Container) which like the 205 litre drums, are still possible to be moved around site if you have access to a fork-lift truck or similar vehicle for transportation.
205 Litre Drum
If your company uses small quantities of red diesel regularly for plant and machinery or other fuels or lubricants that you need to store on-site. One or more 205 litre barrels are likely to be your preferred option. Especially if you also require the additional flexibility of being able to transport the barrels to be closer to the machineray operating with your fuel source.
If you’re using tight head barrels, these are usually what are supplied, this will mean a pump is a requirement to easily access the drums contents. You can get a variety of pumps with different specifications, but a strong metal pump is the safest option and will last longer, even if being used vigorously on a daily basis.
One more issue to consider is storage. Although having the flexibility to transport these barrels directly to where they’re being used is one reason for their popularity. You should also consider how they are stored after being transported. This is because of the potential fire risk, if you’re storing flammable materials within the barrels.
You can read more about 205 Litre Drums here.
IBC – Intermediate Bulk Container
If your business requires larger volumes of fuels or lubricants, but not enough to consider the additional expense of having a fixed storage tank on-site. An IBC may be a suitable alternative, especially if you require some flexibility in regards to where your fuel is stored, or only require fuel to be stored as a short term solution.
An IBC typically allows you to hold and store up to 1000L of fuel on-site, but alos has the convenience of allowing you to transport the container and its contents, so long as you have a suitable vehicle to move it, such as a fork-lift truck. Another advantage, is that they can also be stacked, one on top of the other which can help with storage if you have limited space. This also allows for the added benefit of gravity feeding the fuel into either smaller Jerry cans or directly into the machine itself.
Which option should you choose
Your choice will largely depend on your own requirements and how you plan to store the fuel or lubricants on your site. If you only have a short-term requirement to store fuel on your site, then either of these options could be a suitable option for you. The choice between the two is merely going to come down to how much fuel you expect to use on a regular basis.
If you expect to, or find that you’re using more than 1000 litres on a regular and require regular fuel deliveries. You may find that you save money by either having multple 205 litre drums on-site, or multiple IBC’s so that you’re able to bulk buy the fuel, saving you money in the long term. If this is a temporary site, you may have no choice but to stick with this option.
But for those who expect to be at the site for an extended period of time, or even permenantly. A larger fixed storage tank could potentially be another option if you for those who expect their fuel consumption to increase in the long run.
You can read more about Fuel Storage Tanks here.
Whatever your needs Ingoe Oils can provide you with the right product and knowledge to keep you business running all year round. For more more help and advice, or to place an order, you can call the team on 0800 917 7493.