Flushing fuel storage tank

[The Dougster]

I have an opportunity to buy (used) a fuel storage tank that formerly contained gasoline.. it still has a couple of gallons of gas and I'm looking for advice on how to flush it so that I can buy and store diesel.... any suggestions? I thank you in advance...

 

[EddieWalker]

If the tank is clean and in good shape, just drain the gasoline and fill it with diesel. The amount of gasoline left on the walls of the tank is so minimal as not be measurable. I regularly use the same five gallon containers for either gasoline or diesel without any effect. I know a guy who repairs tankers that fill up gas stations and they do this all the time. In fact, the tankers who supply the fuel for the gas stations fill the tanks with different fuels several times a day depending on what they need for that delivery.

Another thing about gasoline is that it will evaporate pretty quickly. If you are realy concerned, drain the gasoline and leave the lid off for a day or two.

Gasoline tanks have to be build different then diesel tanks due to the danger of gasoline. It needs to be grounded and the vapors need to be restricted. Once opened up and drained, it's an excellent storage tank for diesel since it's already rated for gasoline.

Eddie

 

[The Dougster]

Thank you Eddie... I suspected as much but wan't to run it by the forum... I haven't seen the tank yet but the fellow suspects it's a 500-gallon tank.. (I'm guessing smaller)... He said that he had the tank and wanted me to make an offer... I popped off and told him $100 and he didn't blink... It's my guess that it's in pretty bad shape... will go have a look at it next weekend... Again, I appreciate your help..

 

[20 20]

When you drain the gas just make sure you take a good look at it. Check it for other condaminates{sp}. Maybe even slosh the gas around if possible to help clean out the tank. Also if the tank has not been full for some time check for rust, that could raise heck with your fuel lines filters etc.

 

[LBrown59]

Thank you Eddie... I suspected as much but wan't to run it by the forum... I haven't seen the tank yet but the fellow suspects it's a 500-gallon tank.. (I'm guessing smaller)... He said that he had the tank and wanted me to make an offer... I popped off and told him $100 and he didn't blink... It's my guess that it's in pretty bad shape... will go have a look at it next weekend... Again, I appreciate your help..

Can you use up 500 gallon of diesel fast enough that it wont go bad or get stale?

 

[The Dougster]

Appreciate the questions.... Yes, I will check the insides of the tank as best I can and will certainly install a filter once I put it in service...
No Sir, I won't use that much diesel, but, as stated, I suspect that it's probably not a 500-gallon tank... won't see it until this weekend but I'm guessing it's a 250-gallon tank at best... regardless, I doubt I will buy more than 100 to 150-gallons... One thing I need to do this week is check with fuel companies and see what their minimum delivery is.....
I figure that if the tank is 500-gallon and is in fairly decent condition, $100 is cheap enough and I'll re-sell it and buy a tank sized more appropriately..

 

[20 20]

Can you use up 500 gallon of diesel fast enough that it wont go bad or get stale?

I long will diesel stay unstale?

 

[The Dougster]

As far as I know, diesel does not have a "shelf life" but always must take other things into consideration... water, trash, etc...

 

[LBrown59]

No Sir, I won't use that much diesel, but, as stated, I suspect that it's probably not a 500-gallon tank... won't see it until this weekend but I'm guessing it's a 250-gallon tank at best... regardless, I doubt I will buy more than 100 to 150-gallons...

One thing I need to do this week is check with fuel companies and see what their minimum delivery is..
..

My fuel supplier has a 150 gallon min Del.
I get around this By having them top off my drum when they are already in my area or going to be driving through my neighborhood.
There is no min gallon or deliver charge required this way.
I can get as little as 25 gallon delivered that way

but I just have them fill this 55 gallon drum when it becomes empty.

 

[atgreene]

That amount of gas will not hurt your diesel at all. You should be adding a little additive anyway every fill-up so that will more than cover it.

I have a 250 and a 300 as well as a 50 for my truck, local co. I use has me on auto, they stop and fill every two weeks. Sometimes 8 gallons, sometimes 250, depends on how busy we are.

Good luck with it.

 

[Wis Bang]

Drain it and check it for scale/rust, flush that out w/ some diesel. Fuel transports are 'bottom' loaded w/ 4" lines. Gasoline is loaded around 1500 GPM 'cept when loading over #2 oil where they require you to 'slow load' for static safety at around 700 GPM.

While we loaded gas over diesel all the time when we picked up Av gas we had to have gasoline as the last product. I'm going back to the mid 70's when there was still leaded gas. We hauled leaded regular/ethyl & un-leaded in the same loads and the receiving stations used to open the top and make sure they got all the product so there wasn't any cross contamination between leaded and decaf.

I did spend one night driving a 20' 'thief' to a driver and helping him pump out the no-lead after he dropped 500 gals of leaded into it. Thankfully he had a tractor w/ a pump

 

[The Dougster]

I do appreciate everyone's input... as stated, I haven't bought the tank yet but probably will dependent on inspection, I haven't talked to the supplier yet as to his minimum delivery but will do that before making the deal final... If it is truly a 500-gallon tank, I will have two options... #1, buy the minimum and deal with it... #2, find a buyer for the tank and hopefully make a profit and then buy a smaller tank... either way I can live with it... Those 5-gallon containers seem to weigh a lot more than they did 20-30 years ago... lol

 

[LBrown59]

I do appreciate everyone's input... as stated, I haven't bought the tank yet but probably will dependent on inspection, I haven't talked to the supplier yet as to his minimum delivery but will do that before making the deal final... If it is truly a 500-gallon tank, I will have two options... #1, buy the minimum and deal with it... #2, find a buyer for the tank and hopefully make a profit and then buy a smaller tank... either way I can live with it... *Those 5-gallon containers seem to weigh a lot more than they did 20-30 years ago... lol

*
*Anything beats the 5 gallon can gig.