Could this average out the best of both worlds. Securing it would be a challange but I'm looking for if the concept is right in improving efficiencey and stratification.
? setting storage tank not vertically or horizontally but in between
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I don't think you'd gain much, if anything. Fluid flows at "weird" angles would be hard to determine. How mixing would take place if your tank was at, say, a 45 degree angle would require quite a lot of math. Not to mention that getting a dip-tube to reach the bottom of the tank would be difficult at an odd angle. How would you draw supply from the very top? I think this would be a complete waste of time, in my humble opinion. ha.
If you have the ability to put it vertical, go vertical by all means. Whatever advantage is gained by having a larger bottom suface is easily lost by having a larger top surface.
Given the weight of hundreds of gallons of water, a diagonal tank's mix of forces in a sideways direction as well as a downward direction could make it a real challenge to support it- and to be certain that it _is_ and _remains_ supported correctly.
Full horizontal or full vertical both give you one known direction- the weight is solely underneath.
The possibility of a tank full of 4000+ pounds (8.34 pounds per gallon in a 500 gallon tank) of near boiling water coming "unmoored" and shifting sideways is unsettling at best.
Full horizontal or full vertical both give you one known direction- the weight is solely underneath.
The possibility of a tank full of 4000+ pounds (8.34 pounds per gallon in a 500 gallon tank) of near boiling water coming "unmoored" and shifting sideways is unsettling at best.
My first approach to pressurized propane tank heat storage was a 1000 gallon tank that was 16 ft. long. I had 15 ft. between walls in the basement where I wanted to place it. Putting the tank in at about 25 degrees to horizontal would have wedged it in. I made a crude mockup and tried to get it around the corner and through the door of my basement and knew it just wasn't going to go in. I ended up with the 2 500s the fellow had sitting next to the big one.
Gravity doesn't care about it. It always pulls down. The supports are the things to watch. I wouldn't use the legs that come on the tanks. Welding new appropriately strong and rigid supports to act vertically at the installed angle would be perfectly safe. Might be a real accomplishment to maneuver though. Bolt it to the wall.
You wouldn't be served well by the stock fittings for input and output. You would do best to weld new pipe fittings at the new top and bottom. Not particularly tricky welding either for someone with good equipment and a lot more experience than I have.
It would be just wacky enough to be interesting. I don't see any reason it couldn't be done correctly and safely, but not with the supports and piping that the tanks come with.
Gravity doesn't care about it. It always pulls down. The supports are the things to watch. I wouldn't use the legs that come on the tanks. Welding new appropriately strong and rigid supports to act vertically at the installed angle would be perfectly safe. Might be a real accomplishment to maneuver though. Bolt it to the wall.
You wouldn't be served well by the stock fittings for input and output. You would do best to weld new pipe fittings at the new top and bottom. Not particularly tricky welding either for someone with good equipment and a lot more experience than I have.
It would be just wacky enough to be interesting. I don't see any reason it couldn't be done correctly and safely, but not with the supports and piping that the tanks come with.
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