UDS drum lining research
I have been researching possible options for building a UDS. I have acquired two different drums....one is food-grade and has the phenolic epoxy coating that a few of you have commented on as being hard to burn out. I encountered the same problem and gave up. The smoke off of that while I was trying to burn it out seemed to be very toxic. Plus I cannot build a roaring drum fire in my neighborhood.
I also acquired a motor oil drum which is unlined, which seemed scary at first, but after chiseling the top out (much easier than I thought) and power washing it and scrubbing it out a little with some sand paper and steel wool, and re-rinsing, I cannot detect any residue of the oil at all. Although, I do suspect that there maybe a little down in the cracks at the bottom of the drum where the seam is.
So, I thought I better look into the potential hazards, and I looked up the MSDS (material safety data sheet) on various motor oils. This stuff is not that bad for you.......I don't have a link handy, but you can search on google, etc for "motor oil MSDS" and get a few hits. Most of them say that ingestion and inhalation are not a huge problem.......especially in small amounts. Not carcinogenic.
So, I think I will do a couple small burnouts with wood and hot coals directly in the bottom of the barrel, and then wash it out again with some hot water, season it with vegetable oil, and give it a go. I think it is probably safer than a food grade drum, just because there is NO lining at all....just raw steel.
Just my $.02