Okay, guys- if any of you are doing small jobs at the house and that's where this oil is coming from, you seriously need a correction in terminology. Any oils that have been used but are not beyond recovery for some purpose are to be labeled, "Used Oil." Any oils that have been contaminated beyond recovery (typically with chlorinated brake cleaner, lacquer thinner, etc) are considered, "Waste Oil." If you have Used oil labeled as Waste oil and the EPA shows up because some random Joe got pissed off that you're taking business and he wants you to get in trouble, they're going to require shipping and disposal manifests for your previous Waste oils you've had to dispose. Save yourself some monstrous headache and possibly federal soil sampling that WILL be charged to you… and start working on calling it "Used Oil."
I deal with the "plastic" (poly) and steel drums daily and I'd recommend steel for this job. A 275g tote would be better if you can go through that much oil, but between three vehicles and a regularly rotating project vehicle I still only have about eight gallons of oil in my garage after about 2.5 years of owning my house. I MIGHT have brought five or six to work for our oil guys, but that's still nowhere near what would be needed, so it's hard for me to push for a tote. A proper tote will be poly with a metal frame. I'd avoid anything with a solid metal shell around it because if it cracks somewhere you won't realize it until you've already made a huge mess.
Most UN-rated, industrial, steel drums will have a coating on the inside that will help to prevent water from rusting through the steel. That said, any oil from an automotive application is going to have about 6-7% water in it. That won't affect your burner or other processes, but keep it in mind and don't be deceived that you're "only putting oil" into the drum.
I don't know what it is about the poly drums and oil, but it seemed every time we picked up a poly drum that had oil, it was leaking somewhere. If you go poly, absolutely do not leave it where the sun can be on it. Within two years it will show signs of drying out and can just about explode (exaggeration, but the story still ends in oil on EVERYTHING) if you grab it just right to move it.
Either way, I would very strongly recommend you break down and PAY for a proper UN-rated, industrial, steel drum. Any industrial waste transportation company near you can sell them brand new so you can know it hasn't had any damage or water sitting in it before you got your hands on it. Heritage - Crystal Clean and Safety Kleen are the two biggest national companies I can think of that are still set up small enough to sell to individuals. I'll be fair in stating that I work for Crystal Clean, to be transparent in this discussion.
