anyone stacked 1000 gal propane tanks?

I wish I had that storage Garth. I'm going to need to find another tank over summer, Randy

made some progress on the lower tank...

Test fitting the upper tank. Still need to weld fittings to the upper and leak test both tanks, then weld them together.

What material did you use for the cradle brackets? I'm anticipating doing this but with smaller tanks (330gal) - haven't had a chance to talk to my welder guy about it yet. I was thinking it would be easier just to let the tanks sit right on top of one another & weld some straight bracing in, not using a cradle setup. Input on that? Are you connecting (flow-wise) both tanks by welding too, or doing that with pipe & fittings?

Looking good BTW.

Wow looks great! what are you lifting with chain hoists. Thats lots of storage.

Brackets are 1/4" steel plate, I cut them out on my cnc plasma table. the good thing about using cradles is it spreads the load out on the tanks, I feel in my setup atleast where I am putting close to 10,000 lbs of tank and water on top of the lower tank I wanted to spread that load as much as I could. The tanks will be connected by 3 2" manifolds and those 3 manifolds will be connected to my boiler supply, return and load returns.

4000 lb forklift, its hiding on the other side of the tanks. I figure with the new Vigas 80 LC hiding in the corner I should be able to run that much storage pretty good. I will be starting a new thread on the full install once I get to that point. It's been like Christmas every couple days with UPS bringing more supply's...

Great thread. Overall I'd certainly agree with anyone that a better fit and weight distribution mounting system is worth the effort as is maximizing space utiization.

I've been pondering this step in my install also. I plan on two 500 gallon tanks and have entertained thoughts of a cast concrete bed and center support. I'need to get some information on how much the tanks expand, anti-abrasive lining, type of concrete to use, where I need access, etc. but it would seem I'd be increasing the storage mass, reducing the surface-to-air exchange and be giving the tanks and floor an ideally distributed support system.

Another thought would be mounting the tanks conventionally but fabricating glycol tanks (open) within the support framework to act as thermal mass.

How would you insulate to stop heat transfer into the slab?

Concrete. Huh. Now there's an idea. Aside from a chop saw and bubble gumming with an old Lincoln welder we have here, I don't have much skills or tools for metal fabbing - but I can make plywood things to hold concrete until it dries and even mix my own if it wouldn't take a whole lot.

I think that is worth more serious thought.

There are mixes of concrete that have different coefficients of heat, some mixes being touted as effective insulation, others great thermal mass material. It seems to me that a cleverly cut set of forms could cast a mounting system that could also support an insulating shell and component mounting points.

I guess the real question is the benefit to the effort of adding thermal mass as opposed to increasing the thermal store that can be transferred via circulation? With all that space between the circles and the squares that round tanks offer, and as efficient as I'm trying to get, I don't want to cover up an opportunity.

I'm still in the predesign stage so I'm thinking as far out of the box as I can.

This is about as close together as you can get a couple 500 gallon propane tanks. Doesn't look like it but the tanks are up against each other inside the belly band around the middle. Overall height is 78" off the floor when resting on its legs.

Is that a saddle or is it actually open flow between the tanks?

gg

The tanks are hydraulically connected to each other through 3 flame-cut holes (each end and the middle) about 4" X 4" but otherwise are intact under the skirt piece connecting them.

Stacked and in...

Nice, Very Nice!

What did you end up with for height?

gg

floor to top of tanks is 87.5"
Worked out really well. Carpenter is here today to frame walls all around so I can insulate. Hoping to start plumbing next week!

How did you end up connecting the two tanks?

I have considered adding more storage but it would be a chore now that mine is closed in. With 2000 gallons I could go every day with out my wife having to mess with it. Oh well hindsight, would change several things.

gg

You blowing cellulose ? That's what I used for mine and I'm happy with the results. It was a lot cheaper than foam or I probably
would have used that.

Actually that was my next dilemma. I was wondering if anyone had done cellulose, as it would be the easiest way to do it for me..
kinda leaning that way.

going with a 2" manifold on both ends and in the middle, the connecting via a welded pipe coupler ended up being more work than i thought neccacary. I will get some pics once i start plumbing.

It works good. I would get everything operating for a couple of days and make sure there are no leaks. Then when you blow it
dense pack the insulation. Actually push it down with a stick or somthing. It will increase the r- value and wont settle.

You blowing cellulose ? That's what I used for mine and I'm happy with the results. It was a lot cheaper than foam or I probably
would have used that.[/quote]
Actually that was my next dilemma. I was wondering if anyone had done cellulose, as it would be the easiest way to do it for me..
kinda leaning that way.[/quote]

I used loose fill fiberglass (hand placed, not blown) around my Garn. Roughly R40 in the narrowest spaces, otherwise up to 2 feet thick. Worked great. Was readily available, easy to place and cheap.

What the heck you have a Garn and a woodgun, what are they used for?

gg

The Garn heats the shop and the Wood Gun heats our house and DHW.