Potassium Permanganate to clean propane storage tank?

[pjf]

Does anyone know of any dangers in using potassium permanganate to clean a propane tank?

It's a 2 hour round-trip to get gallon of 35% hydrogen peroxide - which I'm ok with, but I stumbled upon this document while googling which seems to suggest that PP works better than hydrogen peroxide?

(broken link removed)

 

[salecker]

Hi
I just used a pressure washer to clean the inside of my tanks. I made the rack to hold them upright then i sprayed the inside through the ports till the water was clean.I did a complete flush of my system after i had everything installed,i used all used copper tubing and some used fittings.I did get a biodegradable cleaner that i ran in my system for a few days,and i have a side stream filter in the system.The first filter needed to be changed after about a month,second about 6 months and the filter that is in now has been used for about 5 yrs.I just bought a magnet to install on the filter housing to see if it will clean any metal out of the system.
Whats the thought behind peroxide or the potassium?
Thomas

 

[pjf]

Whats the thought behind peroxide or the potassium?
Thomas

Thanks for the reply.

The idea behind the chemicals is to get rid of the mercaptan(sp)\"propane" smell.

What I'm worried about is a leak in the system that would cause my home to smell like propane for the next century.

My plan was to clean out the tank the best that I can, run it for a year in my workshop, and then clean it again before hooking up my heat exchanger on my (house) furnace.

Am I being overly-cautious?

 

[Fred61]

You'll do just as well with regular household bleach. And it also kills rust.

 

[pjf]

Yeah, but will bleach corrode the tank? That was my original plan... the more googling I do, the more exotic the solution.

Maybe I could leave a few gallons of bleach in the tank all summer - if there is no risk that it will start eating through the tank? My thinking is that a few gallons of bleach (or anything) at full strength will attack the nasty oily stinkafied crud in the bottom of the tank?

 

[Fred61]

Yeah, but will bleach corrode the tank? That was my original plan... the more googling I do, the more exotic the solution.

Maybe I could leave a few gallons of bleach in the tank all summer - if there is no risk that it will start eating through the tank? My thinking is that a few gallons of bleach (or anything) at full strength will attack the nasty oily stinkafied crud in the bottom of the tank?

No. Sounds like bleach is the stuff you need given your description of the interior. Rinse it out first.

 

[airlina]

The guys at Econoburn recommended a product called Odoban (available at home depot or lowes) and a water mix, then roll it around and flush. Did this a few times then used my pressure washer with a 90 degree wand to flush it out good. Worked great to get rid of the stink, just do it away from the house caus the stuff that comes out will smell for a while. I would be leary of bleach .

 

[lotawood]

I rinsed, used ammonia, rinsed, used strong dose of Tide with oxyclean and rinse several times.

It worked OK. There was a little smell when air was bled. Otherwise this closed system doesn't normally smell.

I ran it for a month with straight water. Then drained. Cleaned the Y strainers. Refill with water treatment. No more smell with air bleeds.

I think oxygen starved water has a smell as well.

If you are going to run it for a year, drain and move, I think you will be good with readily available cleaners.

 

[Corey]

You'll do just as well with regular household bleach. And it also kills rust.

This.

Bleach will certainly take care of the smell. It is an oxidizer...just like your peroxide or pot-perm, just much less exotic and easier to deal with - unless you want to fry your skin with high test peroxide, or turn everything purple with pot perm.

It should not take long... mercaptain is easy to oxidize - it's burned up in the gas flame. This is why you don't go running into the street worrying the house is going to explode every time you turn on a stove burner. Only the raw/unburned gas has a smell.

I don't know that bleach will do much for rust. Chlorox certainly does not remove rust stains. Chlorine, oxygen and water are not exactly known as 'rust preventatives' though in a thick steel tank, a few minutes exposure will have no major effect.

 

[Fred61]

Chlorine is not a rust preventative nor a rust remover but as any well driller knows, if you have rust in your water and the source is water level up in the casing, chlorine will kill it. I know that rusty well water isn't always from the casing.

 

[maple1]

I also just did mine with a pressure washer & ordinary water - not even sure I needed to do that, wasn't much dirt come out.

Don't do it until you are ready to plumb it into the system - less time it sits empty after washing the better to avoid rust formation. I wouldn't worry about a stink in the house - should be all sealed up? I do get an odor when I let something out of my system, but I think it is more just a boiler water smell than anything.

One other thing I did, while the tanks were sitting outside empty in my yard waiting for me, was get prevailing winds blowing through them for a couple/few weeks. I duct taped a hose & big funnel into a top port, with the funnel laying over on it's side pointing into the wind. A bottom port open on the other end for the windy air to come out of. Looked kinda weird but I think it helped. I think they lose smell anyway sitting open after awhile, mine didn't seem that bad to start with.

 

[salecker]

Mine had all plugs removed for a couple of months,there wasn't much smell left.Mine were pretty clean before i washed them.Can't remember having any mercapitan smell when i was building the system.The tanks were open in my heated building for a month or so till i had everything plumbed up.

 

[goosegunner]

Precision chemicals that does water testing told be Bleach should not be used to clean steel tanks. He said it could create corrosion in the tank.

 

[pjf]

Appreciate all of the replies.

Here's my plan:

While it sits...
- open all ports and letting the wind do some of the work is a good plan for the next few months. I'll build a small "roof" over the top ports to keep rain from washing stinky guk into my yard. Coincidentally, there's high wind gusts outside as i type this!

before Initial use
- blast the loose stuff with a pressure washer + strong degreaser\detergent.
- Over the coarse of a 2-3 days, I can fill the (250) tank with 4-6 bottles of bleach - rotating the tank periodically so that the bleach soaks over most of the surface. I beleive this process builds pressure so I'll have to keep at least 1 port open.
- install
- flush system\filters after first use
- address as required.

I might do the initial-use prep earlier but I'll have to get creative with some fluid film.


gg, did that guy suggest an alternative to bleach? Sounds like the pro's outweigh the cons?

 

[maple1]

What are the pros of bleach?

 

[pjf]

Bleach...
- oxidizes mercaptans, which is an effective method for getting rid of smells.
- Its easy to get
- it's easy to get rid of
- it's safe

My concerns about bleach were based on leaving it in all summer. Washing something that stinks - with bleach, sounds perfectly reasonable?

I think you're suggestion of using wind to air out the tank is a great first step for those who have time on their side. I'm kicking myself because my tank has been sitting for a year with nothing more than an open valve.

 

[goosegunner]

I can't remember what his alternatives were. You could call him at Wood Boiler Solutions.

(broken link removed)

 

[maple1]

Personally, I just wouldn't worry about the smell aspect.