oil tank failure

john hettinga

i live in northern ontario; just above international falls mn

john hettinga

oil storage tank failure

anyone have an opinion on why so many new tanks are leaking?
is it the tank or the fuel? dte outside tanks seem to be the worst. i'm an oil burner tech. had about 6 tanks fail that are less than 5 years old. being sued by owners insurance for costs to clean up spill. not happy.

Bruce M

DTE tanks

Are you using the double wall models? If not maybe you should.

psd_3

Tank alternatives ...

You may also want to look at the new tanks from Granby like the PROTEC20.

http://www.granbytanks.com/usa/protec20.shtml

scrook_2

leaks occur where?

Where are the leaks: pinhole thru bottom wall of tank? at the welds adjacent to tappings?, at end seam welds? at leg mount welds? at the threaded joints themselves? other?

One brand and/or supply house? several brands/supply houses? (no names of course, to protect the guilt... um, innocent!)

Robert O'Brien

Water,

bacteria and improper installation will wipe out a tank in short order. Make sure tank is properly pitched to valve,use a good additive

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john hettinga

leaks are all at bottom of tank; 6 to 8 inches from the end.
i have heard it is the secretions from the microbes in the fuel. they live at fuel/waterline. the secretions are acidic and eat thru the new steel. the tanks are different brands, all single wall. thanks for the info on the granby protec 20.
will be getting more info on those for sure.

psd_3

Sludge and corrosion ...

A good dose of Fuel Right® EP twice a year would also help.

Fuel Right EP prevents sludge buildup, breaks down old sludge, prevents corrosion of tanks and filter housings, and protects against winter freeze-ups.

http://www.fuelright.com/results.html

Steve Garson_2

John:

What state do you live in?

Steve

EBEBRATT-Ed

Should last a lot longer than 5 years?????????? Electrolysis??????????

tommyoil

Outdoor top feed

Is what I'm guessing you have set up on all of these tanks. We just had one let go after 30 months. Nobody EVER drained the bottom valve during the annual maintenance. The tank was allowed to accumulate over 15 gallons of water and sludge.15 gallons is a bit unusual I'll agree. On average I'll pull out AT MOST a gallon or two ANNUALLY! Imagine what will build up after several years. On top feed tanks we use full 1/2" ball valves for bottom valves and plug them. At maintenance time we unplug them and put on a 1/2" male by garden hose adapter.Attach a short piece of hose and unload accumulated water into a bucket. You'd be surprised at what comes out of a NEW tank after a year.....it ain't pretty. While I am a fan of the Roth, theres NO WAY to get any accumulation out (shy of removing the top fittings and pumping it out). Thats why I lean towards the granby 20+ as stated by others. Use the bottom valve. Thats why its there.

tommyoil

Outdoor top feed

Is what I'm guessing you have set up on all of these tanks. We just had one let go after 30 months. Nobody EVER drained the bottom valve during the annual maintenance. The tank was allowed to accumulate over 15 gallons of water and sludge.15 gallons is a bit unusual I'll agree. On average I'll pull out AT MOST a gallon or two ANNUALLY! Imagine what will build up after several years. On top feed tanks we use full 1/2" ball valves for bottom valves and plug them. At maintenance time we unplug them and put on a 1/2" male by garden hose adapter.Attach a short piece of hose and unload accumulated water into a bucket. You'd be surprised at what comes out of a NEW tank after a year.....it ain't pretty. While I am a fan of the Roth, theres NO WAY to get any accumulation out (shy of removing the top fittings and pumping it out). Thats why I lean towards the granby 20+ as stated by others. Use the bottom valve. Thats why its there.

tommyoil

Sorry guys

Double clicked

Glen

OR -

how 'bout a client that switched oil to gas - but did not take out the fill piping and vent - just the tank. Fuel supplier "topped" her up this fall. Substantial clean up costs were paid.

Bill W@Honeywell

I've posted this before, but here it is again.

Tommy Oil is right. All fuel oil contains some water. After all, it is shipped by barge & tankships, rainwater gets into storage tanks, and so forth. Condensation will occur in partially filled tanks, and water can get in thru fills and vents. Oleophilic algae(a $5 word for oil eaters) grow at the interface between the oil and the water at the bottom of the tank. The wastes of these algae turn the water very acidic and it will rot the bottom out of a steel tank in time. If your tank is contaminated, you will often get blocked filters, and they will be coated with a grey slimy coating, or the sludge will look like thin chocolate pudding. You can use a variety of sludge dispersants and biocides, but these amount to putting a bandaid on a heart attack victim.

Here are some suggestions. Use a double-walled tank. There are several manufacturers that make them, but they are basically a plastic inner tank surrounded by a metal outer tank. They have leak indicators, and are designed to contain the contents of the inner tank if it fails. They are for above ground only, and are usually installed in the basement or in an enclosure outside. The plastic inner tank is inert to oil and acidic water.

Keep the tank as full as possible to minimize condensation. Check with the oil dealer to make sure they are using a biocide as a routine additive, to minimize any contamination. Make certain the fill pipe and vents are not allowing water to get in the tank. Acidic soil and groundwater also can be a problem. I strongly suggest that you abandon any underground steel tank asap. Yes, it's expensive, but an oil leak cleanup if far more so and is generally not covered by insurance. For more info, go to www.OilTechTalk.com or visit NAOHSM's website.

psd_3

Tank failure ... but so quickly?

Bill,

Your points are well taken, there is water in the fuel and there always has been ... but why are we seeing shorter tank life now? Probably coupled with poorer steel quality or with with different fuel chemistry (perhaps even substandard quality)? In any case, old tanks seemed more capable of dealing with this. My old tank went 24yrs and had 2 inches of water/sludge in it went I finally replaced it ... but it wasn't at all near end-of-life. My fuel company would have been perfectly happy to pump out the sludge and put me on a tank protector plan (warantee) because the tank easily met the ultrasound test requirements for minimum thickness. In fact they said that my tank registered better than many new tanks on day 1 ... and all 12 guage steel.

john hettinga

replacement procedure

first question i was asked was if i put the old oil from the tank i replaced into the new tank. i said sure thats what i always do. i pump out down to approx 3 inches; swap tanks & filter the old oil as i pump it into the new tank. the adjuster didn't ask any more about it. is this not standard practice?

psd_3

Reuse of old oil ...

Seems like standard practice to find out where the sludge level is and then to pump the old oil out in to the new tank from above this point. Personally I gave about a 1/4 of a tank of oil away to the guys doing the work in order not to have the "old" oil contaminate my new tank.

At the time I did my swap, Granby's installation literature also stated that old oil should not be transfered to the new tank.

Edward A. (Ed) Carey_3

Also NORA says no

The NORA training classes regarding fuel tanks also state that you should never pump old product into a new tank.

Think about it, if there are any corrosive products in the old tank, how do you differentiate between the good product and the bad product, that should go into the new tank?

It is like giving a person a transfusion of blood that has "just a teeny weenie bit" of POISON in it. Just a very small amount of something bad, can be TOO MUCH.

It does not take much "bad stuff" from your old oil tank into your new one, to help move the process of tank failure along quickly.

Ed Carey

Robert O'Brien

And how will long

does it take for the new tank to develop sludge? Not Very!

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psd_3

Preventing sludge ...

Even with a new tank there are important things to consider to prevent sludge and corrosion.

Use a bottom feed tank as opposed to a side/top feed tank in order to prevent sludge/water from collecting in the reservoir below the feed outlet.

Pitch the tank 1/4" per foot towards the feed outlet. Usually means using legs that are an inch shorter on the feed side. This will force any water/sludge to exit the tank.

Use treated fuel oil, or treat it yourself, or both. Some oil companies treat there oil with HeatForce. I use an 8oz bottle of FuelRight EP twice a season in addition to buying treated oil. This breaks up the contaminants and mixes with the water allowing it to burn off. During seasonal cleanouts my GarBer filter is still registering the same pressure drop as when new and the waste oil from the old filter still looks good (very red with little debris).

joel_19

protect yourself

just sell double wall tanks they aren't that much more it's cheap insurance