Cut oil tank with torch?

[lj]

I have an old above ground fuel oil tank that I would like to sell for scrap. The junk yard will only take it if it is cut in half. My friend says he can cut it with his acetylene torch. I'm afraid he will blow himself up. He says no, because it is the oil liquid that burns not the fumes. Thanks for your help. LJ

[stranger]

cut it, it won't even burn, fuel oil is very hard to get burning unless it is atomized like going thru the furnace nozzle.. here we have to just burn an eight inch hole in them for the junkie

[Boss Cooker]

Your friend is wrong. If he puts a torch to an oil tank. The oil will heat and become vapor.The heated vapor will burn. The tank could explode. How about cutting it with a saw?

[stranger]

Originally Posted by Boss Cooker

Your friend is wrong. If he puts a torch to an oil tank. The oil will heat and become vapor.The heated vapor will burn. The tank could explode. How about cutting it with a saw?

you don't know what you're talking about, in my lifetime i've cut and welded over two hundred 275 gal tanks into smokers, I've even welded the steel steps on the old R model Macks fuel tanks with them on the truck and with fuel in them.

[prairiedog]

my dad use to work in the at a company that repaired the and he would be inside them welding and never blew up

[Alice In TX/MO]

Obviously, it depends on how clean it is, what's still in it, and how naive the torch operator is.

What kind of fuel was in it?
Has it been cleaned?
How much fuel still remains?
Is it very well ventilated?
Is your life insurance paid up?

[agmantoo]

I know what I am talking about first hand. I have seen a vented tank catch fire and burn to the point the the tank glowed bright red and the area around the tank that was green in grass and plants dried out from the heat and caught fire. If you must cut a tank it needs to first be filled with an inert gas such as nitrogen, the exhaust from a vehicle or with dry ice added to the tank. welding on the outside of a tank that is sealed is not the same as cutting into a tank that previously held flammable fuel.

[jross]

If you have any doubt, use a Sawzall.

[Alice In TX/MO]

My farm raised, Navy helo pilot, survival trained son says:

1. Take cover
2. Get video

[Beeman]

If it doesn't leak sell it. I sold my last one for $75. People will buy them for waste oil storage or for diesel fuel storage for farm tractors. Others will pay less but buy them to make smokers.

[Iddee]

Fill tank with water and cut with saw or burn, either way, no fumes will be produced.

[Alice In TX/MO]

From hubby, a registered petroleum engineer who is VERY safety minded:

Whoever wants to do this is either suicidal or has a death wish. The only safe way to cut the tank would be to fill it with an inert gas or
completely full of water. Even after this, it should be cut with an abrasive saw only.

If the tank will hold pressure, I suggest filling it with
water, then pressure it up with a pressure pump such as from a pressure washer and blow it up with hydraulic pressure with everyone a safe
distance away. Once it is blown up, I would drain it, set it on fire to eliminate all oil residue, then cut it up with the oxyacetylene torch.

[Quint]

I once watched a small diesel tank being welded and brazed and having brackets cut away and reattached. It was the first time I ever witnessed the spectacular phenomenon known as a BLEVE or Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion.

It was also the first time I ever witnessed a full thickness fourth degree burn too.

You don't want some yahoo with a cutting torch splitting a tank of combustible liquids and vapors. You want someone who is intimately familiar with doing exactly this sort of work. dealing with stuff like that is not the time to employ the services of an enthusiastic amateur who's seen one too many episodes of American Chopper and thinks he's now a professional welder/torch operator.

Kinda like me when I seen "The Score" and decided that I had to get my hands on a Thermic Lance. Thank god for nomex.

[celticfalcon]

put some dawn dishwashing liquid in and powerwash it good for about 10 mins.if you have the capabilities of a heated powerwasher,thats better but no differnce as the hot water will just move residue better.drain it and commence to cutting. if needed,drill a couple of extra drain holes in it to help and can be replaced fairly easy.
tom
also drain the tank first.sorry.the commander of my V F W owns gas tank renu here and this is how they start to refurbish any and all tanks.
tom

[fishhead]

Liquids burn. Vapors explode.

Hook a pipe up the exhaust of an engine and fill the tank with fumes first. Then it should be safe but as someone suggested it's probably worth more in usable condition.

[cfabe]

I know a guy who blew one up and got burned really bad. I wouldn't risk it.

[HappyFarmer]

I don't know the correct answer to your question, but I can say those tanks make great rotisseries for pig roasts! There's a guy around here who uses the bottom half for the fire pit, and has a motorized skewer for turning the pig. During the summer he schedules himself on weekends to roast pigs for many, many people.

[stranger]

Originally Posted by cfabe

I know a guy who blew one up and got burned really bad. I wouldn't risk it.

If a tank blew up, it was a gas tank, not a fuel oil tank, pour a qt of heating oil in a pail and try to get it to burn, I'll bet you can't get it to burn.

[Ross]

Diesel won't burn if you drop a match into it. If you warm it to and past it's flash point it will for sure. A torch will get you to that flash point very quickly (250f? I can look it up if you like but its not that high) I'd flush the tank and use a sawzall.

[knight88]

As a firefighter since 1954, NO WAY!!!, you might get lucky BUT sooner or later those fumes will ignite, boom. Even used motor oil can explode when heated to its flash point depending on the oxygen level. Please be careful...