Can home heating oil tanks be used for storage?

[infinitymike]

I wonder what the pressure rating of a 275 gallon oil tank.
With all of us getting off the grid I would think there are tons of these laying around. ;-)

If they couldn't handle the pressure maybe some stiffeners could be welded to the sides.
The stiffeners could be shaped to the side walls and straight on the outside which could be used to attach plywood walls.
Thus making it a box that can be insulated.

Could you clean it out by lighting a fire in it to burn it out. :cheese:
Probably no fear of explosion. I hope!

Just an outta the box thought.

 

[711mhw]

Thats a definite No No Mike! Plus I don't think that you could ever get one clean enough. How's your set been working for you?

 

[jebatty]

I got 3 for free and then tried them in an open system setup. First effort at storage. Yuck with the oil residue in the tanks, but I went ahead anyway and used a filter to keep the crud out of my boiler and plumbing. Barely worth the effort. Quickly abandoned and bought the 1000 gal LP tank.

The most fun part was getting rid of them. I put all three by the side of the road, put a $25 each on a sign on a post, and waited. Sure enough, they were promptly stolen, which was my intent anyway. Didn't have to haul them away. Put a price on something to make it "valuable."

 

[hobbyheater]

I wonder what the pressure rating of a 275 gallon oil tank.
With all of us getting off the grid I would think there are tons of these laying around. ;-)

If they couldn't handle the pressure maybe some stiffeners could be welded to the sides.
The stiffeners could be shaped to the side walls and straight on the outside which could be used to attach plywood walls.
Thus making it a box that can be insulated.

Could you clean it out by lighting a fire in it to burn it out. :cheese:
Probably no fear of explosion. I hope!

Just an outta the box thought.

I have seen these oil tanks used but only in a unpressurized system.
My own storage tank (1000 gal.) is a steam boiler with its tubes removed. The logging company that I got it from had used it as a diesel tank on a railroad car. In my system, the boiler and storage tank share the same water with heat exchangers for domestic and heat in the storage tank. There is a 40 gallon tank on the floor above that is vented to allow for expansion. After 30 years of use, the oil smell has long since drifted off into space.

 

[Singed Eyebrows]

I wonder what the pressure rating of a 275 gallon oil tank.
With all of us getting off the grid I would think there are tons of these laying around. ;-)

If they couldn't handle the pressure maybe some stiffeners could be welded to the sides.
The stiffeners could be shaped to the side walls and straight on the outside which could be used to attach plywood walls.
Thus making it a box that can be insulated.

Could you clean it out by lighting a fire in it to burn it out. :cheese:
Probably no fear of explosion. I hope!

Just an outta the box thought.

Thats too dangerous Mike. People that build pressure vessels with submerged arc welded seams don't take the responsibility lightly. The heads of a propane tank/pressure vessel are pressed to an exact shape to deal with the stress. There is nothing on an oil tank that is designed for pressure including the thickness of the steel, Randy

 

[infinitymike]

Like I said, it was an outta the box thought. Oh well back to the think tank. No pun intended!