Multiple tanks consolidation

Misterplumber

I am bidding a job to consolidate three oil boilers into one central heating plant. The owner would also like to consolidate the three existing oil tanks (they are in decent condition) into one main fuel supply (possibly a two pipe fuel system, haven't decided yet) ,



The existing fill and vent pipes are separate pipes (6 in all) and I was looking to hear opinions on how some of you would pipes the tanks.



Would you leave all 3 existing fills in place, or eliminate 2 fill pipes so that there is only one fill? The bottom connections of the tank would need to be teed together. Would you still have individual filters, or remove the filters to allow free flow between tanks, and then install one main one down stream?



I was thinking to leave the fills and vents, consolidate 3 fuel supplies to allow free flow between tanks and have one main filter downsteam. However I don't like the idea of cross contamination between tanks.

Al Letellier_21

consolidating oil tanks

Most codes are quite specific about the correct way to pipe up three tanks. I would leave the fill and vents and tie the three tanks together with one filter to the burner. Using 3 filters will lead to draining only one or two to the tanks as one filter clogs. Cross contamination should not be an issue as all three tanks get the same oil at the same time so any issues should occur equally. There are always exceptions to the rules, but you should be OK going with your layout.