The hottest steel barrel vs plastic barrel who wil

Over the past 20 years, the battle between steel barrels and plastic barrels has been going on. Although plastic barrels once replaced part of the steel barrel Market, its position is difficult to shake because of its unique advantages. In the late 1980s, China introduced a large number of foreign plastic barrel production lines, which took away a lot of steel barrel markets in the packaging field of chemical products, making the steel barrel industry feel very crisis. Some steel barrel enterprises closed down, and the market share of some steel barrel enterprises decreased sharply, making it difficult to walk. However, after entering the 1990s, due to the further deepening of opening-up and domestic revitalization, the domestic steel barrel market has gradually expanded, and the markets of steel barrels and plastic barrels have increased. Everyone is in peace until entering the 21st century, there is no sword and sword shadow in the market. But when the calendar turned to 2003, many people in the steel barrel industry felt the threat from plastic barrels, and most of this threat came from abroad, which was a faint sense of crisis. In fact, in the past two years, the domestic steel barrel industry has developed rapidly. By the end of 2003, there were nearly 50 new steel barrel enterprises in China, and the total output of the country exceeded the highest level over the years. Many enterprises with poor benefits have recovered, and the steel barrel industry has ushered in another spring

the development of steel barrel enterprises has developed with the rapid development of China's petroleum and chemical industry and food processing industry. In recent years, the total demand of the steel barrel market has increased steadily. However, the market share of this packaging form is being invaded by plastic barrels. Compared with the steel barrel industry, the plastic barrel industry is still in the stage of gradual growth. However, due to its unique advantages, the plastic bucket is showing a trend of catching up from behind

as a traditional packaging form, the manufacturing process and application standards of steel drums have been relatively mature. It is widely used as a packaging container for petroleum products, food, light industry and chemical products. The application fields of newly developed plastic barrels and steel barrels are basically the same. However, steel barrels are more suitable for the transportation of petroleum products with a capacity of 100 ~ 135000lb, and plastic barrels are more advantageous in the packaging of food, light industry and chemical products with relatively small capacity demand

a high-frequency fatigue testing machine is mainly used to measure the fatigue performance of metal materials and components under tension, compression or tension compression alternating load, and the performance comparison between steel barrel and plastic barrel

the main raw material of steel barrel is steel plate, which is generally required to have a flat surface, low stiffness, small carbon content and uniform thickness. The auxiliary materials required for manufacturing steel drums include oil sealant, gasket, barrel mouth parts, paint, etc. Curling sealant requires good elasticity, large adhesive force, many curing components, good chemical resistance and process performance

the raw materials for manufacturing plastic barrels mainly include polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride and performance modification requirements. For example, due to the long material flow, plastic grades with slightly higher melt index are usually used for injection barrels in addition to higher injection pressure, while the density value of blow molding barrels should be considered, and high molecular weight HDPE with the characteristics of high rigidity, creep resistance, wear resistance and environmental stress cracking resistance should be used

compared with steel, plastic material has the advantages of light weight, waterproof and moisture-proof, but its barrier property, heat resistance and impact resistance are far inferior to steel

compared with steel barrels, the biggest advantage of plastic barrels is that they have various shapes, including doors, engine covers and luggage compartment covers. According to the intention of manufacturers, various containers with novel shapes can be made, which is of special significance to the formation of differentiated packaging among manufacturers

in addition, the tightness of plastic barrels is superior to that of steel barrels, which is also one of the main factors for plastic barrels to attract users' attention. Moreover, the plastic barrel can make a flat barrel wall, which can not only directly print patterns, but also adopt various forms such as self-adhesive labels, which can make the appearance more beautiful

however, plastic barrels also have some shortcomings. First, the surface of plastic barrels is smooth, which is not as safe and stable as steel barrels when stacking and storing. Second, when the temperature of plastic barrels is high, the side bulge of all plastic barrels is more serious

II. Comparison of manufacturing process between steel barrel and plastic barrel

1. Different molding methods

the manufacturing process of steel barrel involves a wide range of technical fields. Generally, the following processes are required: uncoiling and leveling of sheet metal, welding edge treatment, simultaneous welding of barrel body, flanging of barrel body, expansion of barrel body, sealing assembly, forming and pre rolling of barrel bottom cover, surface treatment, internal surface spraying and external surface painting

compared with steel barrels, the barrel forming process of plastic barrels is simpler. It can be manufactured by injection molding process or blow molding process. Like ordinary plastic products, one-time injection molding of the can body can be completed only by plasticizing, injection molding, cooling, solidification and demoulding. The barrel cover is also made by injection molding. There are general covers and closed covers. The elasticity of plastic should be fully considered when designing closed covers. There is also a convenient insert injection molding blow molding method, which can mold the bracelet and the can body at one time. It does not need to use the injection method to form the L-ring. The integral barrel has high sealing performance and high bonding performance between the handle and the barrel body

because the forming process of steel barrel is relatively complex, its production cost is much higher than that of plastic barrel. In addition, the possibility of leakage of steel barrel is greater. In addition to the possible leakage at the barrel mouth, the poor sealing treatment of the barrel body weld and the barrel bottom and top will cause similar problems. Statistics show that the location and proportion of steel barrel leakage are roughly as follows: crimping and weld triangle account for 85%; 10% at the end of the barrel; Barrel body welds account for 5%. Since the plastic barrel is formed at one time, there is no seam in the barrel, which greatly reduces the chance of leakage

2. The surface treatment methods of steel barrels and plastic barrels are different.

as the outer packaging of commodities, the surface treatment of barrels is particularly important. From the perspective of publicity effect, the performance of plastic barrels is better

before printing, the steel barrel shall be subject to bottom treatment. Usually, white paint or colored paint is used to coat the surface of the steel barrel as the background color of the printed text. As for plastic barrels, except for some colorless and transparent plastic barrels, most of them have colors once they are molded because pigments have been added to the plastic masterbatch during injection molding. If you want to publicize specific products, just print directly on the surface of the barrel

because the barrel has a certain volume, it can only be printed on the surface of the barrel by silk printing. Due to different materials. The printing inks used in the two barrels are also different. Steel barrels mainly use two liquid reactive ink, while plastic barrels use more volatile dry ink. The printing performance of the steel barrel is relatively poor. The coating on the surface, or the grease and dust that are not cleaned will affect the adhesion of the ink to the steel barrel, and the edges of words and patterns may be irregular, with burrs and deformities. The plastic material is smooth in texture and easy to remove the dust attached to the surface, which is very convenient for printing. The appearance of the finished plastic bucket is clean, the imprinted edge is smooth, and the lines are clear and uniform, which has the functions of sales and display

III. comparison of application market between steel barrel and plastic barrel

steel barrel has two forms: full open barrel and closed barrel. 200L steel barrel is its mainstream product, and there are also convenience barrels as small as 4L. The capacity of plastic barrels ranges from 5L to 200l, even up to 1 kiloliter. Plastic barrels and steel barrels have common application fields, but also have their own advantages

1. Packaging of petroleum products

at present, although the number of oil pipelines and oil tanks is gradually increasing, steel drums are still the main packaging form of petroleum products, and most of them are 200L closed steel drums

the steel barrel cannot be filled with oil, only% of the capacity. In the process of injection and pouring out, the gas space in the barrel will be reduced or increased accordingly. The special breather valve is set to maintain the pressure balance inside and outside the barrel to prevent the steel barrel from bursting and leakage. In the harsh transportation environment, steel barrels perform better than plastic barrels. For example, its high temperature resistance is good, and it is not easy to deform or even melt in high temperature like plastic barrels. It is estimated that the demand for 200L steel barrels is more than 10million

200l plastic barrels were introduced in China in 1988. At the beginning, merchants questioned whether they could be used as the packaging of petroleum products. Later, plastic barrels also have certain advantages in this regard, such as being able to withstand greater mechanical pressure, low cleaning costs and reusable. Its market demand is increasing. At present, the annual demand for 200L plastic barrels may be more than 1million. In addition, in recent years, a composite medium bulk container (IBC) is popular, commonly known as ton packaging plastic container, with specifications of 820l, 1000L and 1250l, generally with steel frame and tray. Large capacity is its most important feature. This is what steel drums cannot achieve at present

in addition, plastic barrels are also subject to some restrictions in application, such as being unable to hold gasoline, trichloroethylene, benzene, toluene and thinner. They are inflammable and explosive dangerous goods. It is easy to cause static electricity accumulation after impact with non-conductive plastic barrels, resulting in explosion accidents

2. Light industry, chemical products, food packaging

the development of China's light industry and chemical industry has provided a vast market for steel drums, of which small and medium-sized steel drums are the main demand object, with an estimated market capacity of more than 10million. Small steel drums generally use tinplate as raw material for holding paint, coating, lubricating oil, etc; Medium steel drums are used to hold paint, calcium carbide, yellow phosphorus, etc. In particular, 4L rectangular barrels and convenient buckets are popular

the market share of plastic barrels in this field is expanding. Its biggest potential market is the coating industry

the demand for steel drums in the food industry is also further expanding. It is estimated that the annual demand of this part of the market is more than 500000 per year

steel drums used for food packaging are mostly open drums, mainly with 200L or slightly larger capacity. At present, the larger consumption objects are products such as ketchup, applesauce and honey

all kinds of condiments, baking grease, concentrated fruit juice, beans, etc. will use plastic barrels as outer packaging

however, it is better not to use plastic barrels for long-term filling of edible oil. It should not be used for too long to hold wine or aromatic goods