Pictures of vertical tank installs?

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huffdawg said:
NYEDGE said:
Here's a picture of the vertical install I have.
The tanks are new 240 gallon air compressor tanks instead of propane, but a similar outcome.
At the bottom of the tanks I do have a connection that I used to connect a drain line to a valve.
When I drained the tanks after filling and heating, it did let out allot of crud.
I will use them maybe semi-annually to flush out any sediment that has accumulated.
As previously mentioned, try and get all pipes between the tanks the same length so that they will charge and discharge at the same rate.
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Are the tanks connected to a primary loop or a series parallel type sytem.

Huff
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The tank feeds are in parallel from the wood boiler so that the tanks charge when there is no load from the house. If a zone calls for heat, the zone gets preference.
From the tanks it feeds into the oil boiler with an additional pump and then out to the existing zone manifold including an indirect DHW tank.
 
NYEDGE said:
Here's a picture of the vertical install I have.
The tanks are new 240 gallon air compressor tanks instead of propane, but a similar outcome.
At the bottom of the tanks I do have a connection that I used to connect a drain line to a valve.
When I drained the tanks after filling and heating, it did let out allot of crud.
I will use them maybe semi-annually to flush out any sediment that has accumulated.
As previously mentioned, try and get all pipes between the tanks the same length so that they will charge and discharge at the same rate.
Click to expand...

I would think that the center tank is going to charge faster than the two on the outside as there is twice as much cross section of pipe going into that tank as the other two, and thus less pressure drop to the middle tank. Generally, 3 tank systems should be piped using the reverse return method or in series.

Let us know how it works out. Good idea using air tanks...

cheers
 
Interesting going back through these posts to document findings (a weekend activity, as I get truly darned close to finishing the design of the milking parlor, milk house, creamery, and equipment shed plus contents).

One thing I mentioned above was strapping the tanks so that during an earthquake they would not fall over. The farm is ~5 miles from the Oregon coast. The Cascadia fault in the ocean off the Pacific Northwest of the US is overdue for a big one - in the neighborhood of what Japan just experienced (9 or so).
 
Here is another couple options. My neighbor welded angle iron to the side of his tank, 3 of them. Laying the angle against the tank provided two good weld points. Then he made adjustable pads for the bottom of the angle iron to level up the tank. Three legs makes for a stable mount.

Also this is how many of the Euro tanks have their top and bottom connections. They enter through the side but install a bent tube to reach the very bottom, and the same on the top.

By doing this on the top it eliminates any thermo-siphoning potential and eliminates the need for a check valve. It makes it easier to insulate a tank if you don't have an external pipe reaching to the bottom center, also.

hr
 

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Ben said:
I live in PA and was able to find tanks that are 42" wide and only 8' long. I plan on using these when I put in my new boiler. I thought I was going to have to go horizontal til I found these shorter tanks.
One question for those who have vertical tanks-what is the minimum number of inches that I need to figure for the T's at the top and bottom. My ceiling is 8'6". I will remove and lower the floor a little if I have to but would rather not do it. Also, is it better to have a return in the very bottom or can I get away with coming in the side as low as I can?
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Ben,

Where did you buy your tanks? I am looking for tanks just like the ones you have.
 
I like the idea of the 8 foot tall tanks. Mine are 10 feet tall, and barely fit between the trusses in my barn when installed on truck tire rims. I have them full now and surrounded with R-30 insulation. So far so good... Truck tire rims were $25 each at a scrap metal place. The tanks were $150 delivered from the people who used to sell me a lot of propane.
 

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I chained the tanks to my tractor bucket and tilted them into place. I had to brace the tire rims to keep them from sliding. There were a lot of straps involved, stabilizing from the trusses and what not until I could get them balanced on the rim. Once they were close to plumb they were easier to tap into place to make finer adjustments. I had a welder put my fittings on. I have fittings on the very top of the tank for boiler supply input. In hindsight I should have put bleeder valves or a 1/8" float valve on the top of those fittings. The boiler return is close to the bottom, but because I had the fittings installed after I uprighted the tanks, I did not have access to the bottoms of the tanks.
 
Boomerj said:
I chained the tanks to my tractor bucket and tilted them into place. I had to brace the tire rims to keep them from sliding. There were a lot of straps involved, stabilizing from the trusses and what not until I could get them balanced on the rim. Once they were close to plumb they were easier to tap into place to make finer adjustments. I had a welder put my fittings on. I have fittings on the very top of the tank for boiler supply input. In hindsight I should have put bleeder valves or a 1/8" float valve on the top of those fittings. The boiler return is close to the bottom, but because I had the fittings installed after I uprighted the tanks, I did not have access to the bottoms of the tanks.
Click to expand...

Looks great!

Rigging is kind of fun, both when the plan works, or when it doesn't and you have to puzzle through another way.

Boiler return is close enough to the bottom to take advantage of darn near all the tank.

It looks like your air separator above the boiler is, or could be made to be, the high point, so I don't see that you would need addition bleeders over at the top of the tanks inside all the insulation.
 
A 4000 gallon tank to serve a Wood Gun E500. Tank is plumbed as a hydraulic separator.
 

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