Cutting up an old heating oil tank, a big one!

[dobbslc]

The old oil tank probably needs replacing soonish as it's quite rusty and the brick/block piers it sits on are wobbly! It's a bloody big one at 3000 litres so can't be man handled out even if there was room.
Is there a (safe) way to cut it up so I can then scrap it?
I'll need to drain it down from the possibly (probably) seized drain valve but there's still going to be some left in the bottom.
Best solutions please
Tell @Parm he best stay in the pub....

 

[cheb]

Non sparking hammer and chisel. And a strong arm.

 

[waddycall]

Heating oil won’t burn unless it’s vaporized or atomised. If you drop a lit match into kerosene you’d think it was water. The tank will have vapour in it.

 

[Kram]

Id say recip saw, that made easy work of a 19kg propane cylinder although only 3mm thick. The blade wont get too hot so probably as safe as youd get.

If there is any explosive vapour it should first be drained, and rinsed out, or you can fill it with steam.

 

[Parm]

I’d say this. Safest option by far

seriously, it can be done very safely/ if your stuck pm me and I’ll give you some useful info

don’t mess around though. On Friday I prosecuted some folk involved in an accident involving a drum that exploded

 

[Barking Mat]

A big one?

I've been offered a 50,000 or bigger, don't know how big it is?

Stainless lined molasses tank.

Just been discussing, hobbit house dug in to the garden.

Crazy, stupid, idea, mmmm.......

Plus the bloke will pay me to remove it.

 

[julianf]

If you have the fear properly, feed your welding gas down to the bottom and do a (partial) purge.

I watched a friend cut one up in his yard once. If I recall correctly, he used a plasma, it caught light (he was expecting it to) so he waited for it to burn off and then continued.

Obviously if you go this way, make sure there's not 200ltrs in the bottom.



Or...

Drain it, somehow pump air into it for a few hours. In summer trace kerosene will dry off a hot tank fairly quickly. Then you could even fill with water.

I think I've chopped three in the past. I've never had a hint of flame. But YMMV.

 

[Parm]

A big one?

I've been offered a 50,000 or bigger, don't know how big it is?

Stainless lined molasses tank.

Just been discussing, hobbit house dug in to the garden.

Crazy, stupid, idea, mmmm.......

Plus the bloke will pay me to remove it.

Get it removed and to your place

id turn it in to a man cave, for beer cons

 

[dobbslc]

I forgot to ad pictures


The top one shows the electrical overhead supply to my house right over the tank!

 

[Barking Mat]

Get it removed and to your place

id turn it in to a man cave, for beer cons

I'll get some photos tomorrow, I've a feeling it's stainless lined covered in grp? Might just be stainless, but he did say lined...

Bigger than a milk tanker, twice that?

Anyway, nots let hijack this thread any longer...

I'll start a thread called ' daft idea hobbit house thing ' in the brew room in a minute...

 

[indy4x]

Plasma cutter

 

[8ob]

All my scrap bins are old oil tanks, I just drag them into the middle of the yard and take the top off with a gas axe. Yes they do burn for a while but nothing that would be a cause for concern.

Bob

 

[Parm]

All my scrap bins are old oil tanks, I just drag them into the middle of the yard and take the top off with a gas axe. Yes they do burn for a while but nothing that would be a cause for concern.

Bob

Be careful Bob, I’ve got CCTV of what goes wrong.

It never ends good

 

[addjunkie]

Be careful Bob, I’ve got CCTV of what goes wrong.

It never ends good

I concur.

I used to be incharge of doing this kind of thing on a very big scale. No matter how much you purge if there is still oil in it, it still has the potential to produce vapour therefore go bang. Oil floats on water. So if you want it safe, you need both the oil and vapour out. Easiest way is to prime it with water and flush the oil off the top, take it up and down a few times to makes sure you get it all out. If you want belt and braces cut while water filled, or drain with a purge to eliminate the last possible chance of vapour from whats left as residue when draining.

Alternatly, ask a scrap man to take it, and go out!

 

[gaz1]

home made bandsaw for a no spark cut

 

[dobbslc]

Be careful Bob, I’ve got CCTV of what goes wrong.

It never ends good

Parm I assume if it goes tits up it's because the vapour in the tank catches light and as it has only a few very small holes to escape it just explodes
I had that happen with a railway detonator I once tried to light "like a massive gennie" it nearly took my finger off...

 

[gaz1]

long blade

you can do it with pedal power as well

 

[Parm]

Parm I assume if it goes tits up it's because the vapour in the tank catches light and as it has only a few very small holes to escape it just explodes
I had that happen with a railway detonator I once tried to light "like a massive gennie" it nearly took my finger off...

Yep, that’s it

a thimble of fuel in a 200 litre drum is enough to cause a violent explosion

 

[henry Kadzielski]

Good morning gents. I cut up an old defunct diesel tank that had been leaking, so the customer fitted a new unit and had to remove the old. They told me that it was empty, I asked are you sure, they said yes. So, I told them to fill it with water to the top, open all vents at the top and i will cut it up with the plasma. Started at the top and worked my way around, peeling it like a apple. Yes it did produce some smoke with the residue diesel, but it worked perfectly. Cut the steel, about 5mm thick into pieces that I could hold in one hand and dropped them onto the ground. The tank was about 5000 liters and took about three hours. Went better than expected. Customer also supprised how well this worked. I got other jobs as a result of this, 'getting things done'.

 

[hunter27]

Cut the neighbours old oil tank in half years ago with an angle grinder, it was empty and hadn't been used for a couple of years, it did set on fire slightly but nothing to worry about I think it was the sludge in the bottom that lit.