Drum & IBC Filling Machine Suppliers & Manufacturers
Find drum filling machine and IBC filling equipment manufacturers and suppliers on Towobo. Compare bulk liquid filling stations for 200-litre drums, 1,000-litre IBCs, and large containers used for edible oil, cooking oil, chemical, lubricant, and industrial liquid distribution.
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Browse Drum & IBC Filling Machine Suppliers →Drum and IBC filling applications and configurations
Drum and IBC filling machines fill bulk liquid products into large containers for distribution, storage, or industrial use. The primary container formats are steel drums (typically 200 litres), HDPE drums (60–220 litres), intermediate bulk containers (IBCs, typically 1,000 litres), and large plastic or stainless steel tanks for site storage. Applications include: edible oil and cooking oil drum filling — vegetable oil, palm oil, sunflower oil, and other cooking oils are distributed in 200-litre steel drums or 1,000-litre IBCs to food manufacturers, restaurants, and distributors; chemical drum filling — detergents, solvents, lubricants, paint bases, and industrial chemicals are filled into drums or IBCs for distribution; lubricant filling — motor oils, hydraulic oils, gear oils, and greases filled into drums or IBC totes; industrial liquid filling — water treatment chemicals, agrochemicals, paints and coatings. Filling configurations include: top-fill filling (a fill lance is lowered into the drum or IBC through the open bung or top; product flows in from the top; simple and widely used for non-hazardous, low-fume products); bottom-up fill (for hazardous or fuming products, the fill lance enters through the bottom bung and fills from the bottom up, reducing splashing and vapour generation — required for some chemical products); fill-by-weight (the drum or IBC is placed on a floor scale and the filling is cut off when the target net weight is reached — highly accurate, standard for high-value products and those sold by weight); fill-by-volume (a flow meter or level sensor cuts off fill at a target volume — faster than fill-by-weight for some applications).
Hazardous liquids, ATEX requirements, and sourcing
For filling flammable, explosive, or hazardous liquids (solvents, fuels, certain chemicals), the filling station must comply with ATEX (European) or NEC (US) explosive atmosphere requirements. ATEX-rated equipment uses explosion-proof electrical components, earthing and bonding connections to prevent static discharge, and intrinsically safe controls. Buyers filling hazardous or flammable products must provide their specific product safety data to equipment suppliers and clearly state the ATEX zone classification for the filling area. Do not assume that a standard drum filling station is suitable for flammable liquids. For food-grade edible oil filling, stainless steel product-contact surfaces, food-grade gaskets, and CIP-compatible construction are required. IBC filling stations may include a raised platform or pit to position the IBC at the correct height below a gravity or pump-fed supply system. Automated drum handling systems use pallet conveyors to move empty drums to the fill station and full drums to the capping or weighing station, enabling continuous high-throughput drum filling with minimal manual handling. When sourcing a drum or IBC filling system, specify: product type, viscosity, density, temperature, hazard classification, and any regulatory requirements; target fill accuracy (by weight or volume); drum or IBC dimensions; required fill speed (drums per hour or IBCs per hour); level of automation; and whether integration with downstream capping and pallet handling is required.
Frequently asked questions
How do I fill edible oil into 200-litre drums accurately?
The standard method for accurate drum filling of edible oil is fill-by-weight using a drum on a floor scale with an automatic cutoff valve on the fill pipe. The empty drum is tared on the scale; product flows from the supply tank through a fill valve; when the scale reads the target net weight (e.g., 190kg for a 200-litre drum), the fill valve closes automatically. A pre-stop weight (e.g., 185kg) triggers a flow reduction to a dribble rate for precise cutoff and to prevent overshoot. Fill accuracy of ±0.2–0.5kg per drum is achievable with a good-quality floor scale and fill valve. For very high throughput drum filling, automated drum conveyor lines with sequential fill stations achieve several drums per minute.
What are IBC totes and how are they filled?
An IBC (intermediate bulk container) tote is a reusable industrial-grade container consisting of a rigid HDPE inner bottle held inside a galvanised steel outer cage, sitting on a pallet base — typically 1,000 litres (1 cubic metre) capacity. IBCs are standard in the edible oil, chemical, and food ingredient supply chains for bulk liquid distribution. IBCs are filled through the top opening (a 150mm or 200mm bung with a DN150 or DN200 butterfly valve) using a top-fill lance or gravity fill from an elevated supply. Fill-by-weight using a floor scale is standard. The fill valve on the IBC outlet (a 2-inch or 3-inch ball valve) must be confirmed closed before filling begins.
Can the same filling station fill both drums and IBCs?
Yes. A flexible bulk filling station can accommodate both 200-litre drums and 1,000-litre IBCs by adjusting the fill lance height and the fill valve position, and by re-taring the scale for the container weight. Some stations use quick-change nozzle and lance assemblies to switch between drum and IBC fill modes. For operations that fill both formats regularly, a dual-purpose station with height-adjustable fill arm and programmable recipes per container type is available.
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