Cutting up a fuel oil tank

[Bandit1047]

Does anyone know of a safe way to cut up a fuel oil tank? Can you use a toarch or partner saw? Please don't venture a guess, I need advice from an experianced person. Thanks

 

[Fishfiles]

fill it with water to remove all air space and start at the top cutting out sectons

 

[Jeffscarstrucks]

fill it with water to remove all air space and start at the top cutting out sectons

This topic has been covered at length on millerwelds.com on their forum(or discussion board). If you go there and do a search you will find a ton of info...some to scare you as well. There are are some very experienced people in the fab world over there with some good advice. Good Luck, JEFF

 

[skidsteer.ca]

This topic has been covered at length on millerwelds.com on their forum(or discussion board). If you go there and do a search you will find a ton of info...some to scare you as well. There are are some very experienced people in the fab world over there with some good advice. Good Luck, JEFF

So long as there is no fuel oil left it it, there won't be a problem. Diesel fumes are not explosive at room temps. Gas is a whole different deal. But consulting the welding forum gets my vote too.
Ken

 

[Earthwerks Unlimited]

So long as there is no fuel oil left it it, there won't be a problem. Diesel fumes are not explosive at room temps. Gas is a whole different deal. But consulting the welding forum gets my vote too.
Ken

Our family business was removing and installing gas station fule systems. Dad brought home a 10,000 gallon tank once to cut it up. It had about 6" inches of water and rusty gas in it. On top was a 24" manhole. That was a good thing. He didn't put any water in it and started torching it from the top. He got about a foot down and BOOM! It about knocked me over backward as flames like a jet engine blew 5 feet out of the manhole. It kept burning for a while. We eventually had to fill it nearly all the way up and cut it slowly. I think yu could use an abrasive saw providing you don't get very hot embers (not sparks) in the tank. Sparks won't be hot enough to start a fire. I did MIG weld a new fitting for my transfer pump on a steel fuel tank while it had about 5 gallons of diesel in it. The weld spatter did drop into the fuel and made a sizzling sound before it started to smoke out the filler opening--but never caught fire. Gasoline is whole different story. You might want to consider a pneumatic autobody power chisel--buy or rent a good quality one like Matco or Snap-On. A sawzal reciprocating saw with low tooth count blade(s) would work too. And there is very little spark from a blade and it would zing right through it.

 

[Fishfiles]

Our family business was removing and installing gas station fule systems. Dad brought home a 10,000 gallon tank once to cut it up. It had about 6" inches of water and rusty gas in it. On top was a 24" manhole. That was a good thing. He didn't put any water in it and started torching it from the top. He got about a foot down and BOOM! It about knocked me over backward as flames like a jet engine blew 5 feet out of the manhole. It kept burning for a while. We eventually had to fill it nearly all the way up and cut it slowly. I think yu could use an abrasive saw providing you don't get very hot embers (not sparks) in the tank. Sparks won't be hot enough to start a fire. I did MIG weld a new fitting for my transfer pump on a steel fuel tank while it had about 5 gallons of diesel in it. The weld spatter did drop into the fuel and made a sizzling sound before it started to smoke out the filler opening--but never caught fire. Gasoline is whole different story. You might want to consider a pneumatic autobody power chisel--buy or rent a good quality one like Matco or Snap-On. A sawzal reciprocating saw with low tooth count blade(s) would work too. And there is very little spark from a blade and it would zing right through it.

i have seen diesel tanks welded on when fuel , they filled them to the top and welded right thru the leaking crack

 

[jmatt20]

i have seen diesel tanks welded on when fuel , they filled them to the top and welded right thru the leaking crack

i watched a guy go into a hole at a gas station with a cutting torch to remove all of the connecting pipes and i looked at the guy next to me and said thats whacked.... he said what's the problem ...they have a formula somewhere size of tank X so many lbs. of dry ice and viola no o2 no explosion. dry ice = co2, carbon dioxide is a heavy gas ... fills the tank from the bottom up and drives out all of the oxygen so no combustion . the secret is how much dry ice to use...hope this gives you a point to start a search...

 

[Tazza]

i watched a guy go into a hole at a gas station with a cutting torch to remove all of the connecting pipes and i looked at the guy next to me and said thats whacked.... he said what's the problem ...they have a formula somewhere size of tank X so many lbs. of dry ice and viola no o2 no explosion. dry ice = co2, carbon dioxide is a heavy gas ... fills the tank from the bottom up and drives out all of the oxygen so no combustion . the secret is how much dry ice to use...hope this gives you a point to start a search...

Thats pretty smart! Just ensure you don't go down there without breathing gear or you will have a really bad day.....
I always heard for petrol tanks they used car exhaust to displace the oxygen or fill with water. A guy my dad knows was cutting a 44 gallon drum with a cutting torch, it was empty but had residue of something like thinners. It went BOOM, he had the fun of a few nights in hospital. Be really careful! if you are in doubt, talk to someone that knows for sure what they are doing.

 

[Bandit1047]

Thats pretty smart! Just ensure you don't go down there without breathing gear or you will have a really bad day.....
I always heard for petrol tanks they used car exhaust to displace the oxygen or fill with water. A guy my dad knows was cutting a 44 gallon drum with a cutting torch, it was empty but had residue of something like thinners. It went BOOM, he had the fun of a few nights in hospital. Be really careful! if you are in doubt, talk to someone that knows for sure what they are doing.

Thanks for all the ideas. This is a 3500 gallon heating oil tank. It has a 1/4 inch wall thickness and it is totally rusty on the outside. I tried finding the millerwelds blogs with no luck. Can anyone include a link or webb site directly to that tank blog? Thanks again! Joe

 

[skidsteer.ca]

Thanks for all the ideas. This is a 3500 gallon heating oil tank. It has a 1/4 inch wall thickness and it is totally rusty on the outside. I tried finding the millerwelds blogs with no luck. Can anyone include a link or webb site directly to that tank blog? Thanks again! Joe

http://www.millerwelds.com/resources/communities/mboard/
I can remember my father useing exhaust from a pickup to while repairing outboard tanks (35 years ago) It displaces the oxygen with carbon monoxide, no oxygen, not bang.
Diesel can have the same explosion but the fuel mut be at a much higher temp to reach the "flash" point I believe they called it. I should know this from my tdg ticket (trans dangerous goods) but it been awhile.
Ken