Personal Fuel Station

[biggkidd]

Fuel and storing fuel is or can be an issue for many of us. It's something we all rely on daily and we need a stockpile of it. Many years ago I setup a used home heating oil tank to store gas. That has worked out great allowing me to stock up on fuel for the generator when prices are lowest.







Now I feel we need more fuel storage. I'm debating setting up a personal multi fuel station for gas, diesel and possibly kerosene. I have several more of the used tanks in the 260-275 gallon range. All the pieces & parts to hook everything up including pumps, filters, hoses and such can get pretty expensive though.







There is the option to mount the tank(s) high and simply use gravity as my existing tank was done. But every kind of fuel I know of stores better with more stabile and consistent temperatures. Plus the very large bonus of out of sight out of mind. So I am leaning toward putting any additional tanks I may setup in the ground. This adds the need of a pump or pumps. If I could use one pump for all types of fuel that would be more economical but I'm not sure that's possible.







Anyway I was wondering what you all do for fuel storage?

[papaof2]

My current fuel storage is 2.5 gallon (kerosene) and 5 gallon (gasoline, diesel) containers. About 20 gallons each of gas and kero, 5 gallons of diesel (for testing a parking/RV heater). The containers are mostly on shelves in the shed with the yard equipment (mowers, blower, generators). If we were further out, I might have space for some serious tanks :-(

I have a 12 volt dispenser pump that was given to me by someone older who was downsizing to enter an assisted living facility (he also gave me a 150 gallon water tank ;-) I think the pump has "diesel" in the paperwork but that would also be acceptable for kero. Gasoline is a different animal (easy flamability) so I'd have to read the docs very carefully before using it for that. I have a number of small pumps that *might* be OK for kero and diesel but they would need some serious grounding and anti-static measures before using them for gasoline - the movement of gasoline through a plastic hose can generate enough static electricity to create a spark. Whether that spark starts a fire or triggers an explosion is very dependent on the temperature - if it's cold enough, the gasoline will produce very little vapor so there's less chance of having enough vapor to ignite. "cold enough" is something for you to research...

While underground is possibly the best storage from temperature concerns, it's easier to set up drip/leak catchers for above ground tanks. An old-looking building (re-cycled wood from multiple sources - often free when someone rebuilds a deck, used metal roofing, etc) with solar powered fans to limit the interior temperature in warm weather would allow placing the tanks high enough for gravity dispensing and also allow having simple drip/leak catchers.

Had we not had kids in school when my wife's grandfather died some years ago, we could have bought the "residential" acres of that property (across the road from barn and the fields). The place was "in the middle of nowhere", had two wells (one with electric pump, the other with a crank-up "bucket"), septic tank, outhouse, several outbuildings, a half acre or more of garden and good exposure for solar power. Not having an extra $$$$$, we didn't get it :-(

[biggkidd]

Yeah we are on 36 acres and about half of it needs regrowth of trees cleaned off for farming. Which in turn means we use and need a good bit of fuel. Late last year I bought an old Cat D4D and we have a small 4x4 diesel tractor we use a lot. So I'd like to have enough fuel storage to keep a minimum of a years worth at a time. Plus gas for the mowers saws etc.. I already have a good transfer tank with a gas rated pump we've been using for years. It has aluminum gears so no danger of spark. It was a bit pricey but that's life.

Drips and leaks are about the only thing slowing me from putting the tanks in ground.

I have kept gas up to 3 years with Stabil marine 360 in the above ground tank. Recently I bought some pri-d and dosed what diesel we have on hand now. Which is just the transfer tank full (100 gal) and full tanks on all the equipment including the deuce and a half our third and last diesel that's currently in use. I do have a couple other diesel engines sitting around too though.

So you can probably understand why I'd like to have more fuel on hand...

[papaof2]

Nice thing about Northern Tool devices is that they have the manuals online. The pump I have has the following:
The pump is compatible with the following fluids:
• Diesel, Kerosene, Mineral spirits
Do not use the pump with the following fluids:
• Gasoline, Water, Sulfuric acid, Naphtha, Methanol, Methyl Ethyl ketone (MEK), Acetone, Ammonia, Benzene, Bleach, Chlorine.

My memory did prove correct ;-) I think that tells me the hoses and/or the pump rotor(s) are mostly rubber or a non-durable synthetic material, as aluminun gearing and the right hoses aren't affected by those things.

I've kept generic Stabil-treated gas 2 years in a closed container - not intentionally but some "help" got the containers (all labeled with the date filled) out of sequence so the oldest container was in the "newest" position. No problems with that gas even when mixed to make 2 cycle fuel.
A historical note about diesel: they opened steel barrels of diesel from WWII 60 years later and the diesel was OK. I think that says that keeping air away is the best "preservative" you can have. That was 1940's diesel with appreciably more sulfur than current diesel so the sulfur content might or might not have made a difference.

Sounds like 500 or 1000 gallon tanks might be looking good to you ;-)

[biggkidd]

Been doing a lot of research today and other than the fact that IBC totes are perfectly safe for storing any petroleum distillate. I didn't really learn anything. I did however confirm a few things.

Dark Cool below 70F and above freezing consistent temperatures are best for storing fuel so in ground or earth banked sounds like the best way. Still not sure which way I'm going to go.

Papa I see where nitrogen is often used to displace air in fuel storage tanks. So it sounds like O2 is the real problem. I think I will just use the old home heating oil tanks I have in hand. Although switching to IBC totes and keeping the tanks (metal) for projects might be a better idea.

[papaof2]

Use what you have and when/if you find a deal on some totes you can try a few and see if you like them. If craigslist.org is active near you, there should be IBC totes available. There's someone in Atlanta who posts about free totes that held a non-toxic mulch colorant every month or so. If the only cost is time and fuel to get the tanks, it's a reasonable investment ;-) Two of the 250/275 gallon tanks should fit in the bed of most pickups - possibly turned with the valve up to get a smaller footprint.

Remember that they sell oxygen absorbers to keep Mylar-bagged foods fresh longer. Given time, everything oxidizes if exposed to oxygen.

Remember Nitro-Pak? They used notrogen to replace the oxygen in the foods they packaged.

[biggkidd]

Now that sounds like my motto Use what ya have!

[biggkidd]

Ordered a diesel pump from ebay this morning.  It's a portable unit with all the hoses etc. Hopefully it isn't a piece of junk. It was cheaper than just trying to buy a filter, hose and nozzle. For the time being I'm going to set a tank beside the hay shed. That will likely change later once more ground is opened up.


www.ebay.com/itm/384471648326