Converting Oil Tank to Kerosene Question
 

I found a person who has a 250 gallon oil tank in good shape for $35. I was wondering if was possible to convert it to a kerosene tank. I was thinking I could put some kerosene in it, swish it around and dump out the kerosene then add brand new. Would this work or is there some other stuff I could add that would clean out the oil?

Thanks.

Re: Converting Oil Tank to Kerosene Question
 

What kind of oil was in it? If it's fuel oil, well, that's basically the same thing. So yes. It's ok. You really don't even need to clean

If it was something like motor oil, that's not a big deal either.

Now if it was used for "Used" motor oil it needs a good cleaning to get the slug type crap out of the tank.

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Re: Converting Oil Tank to Kerosene Question
 

These tanks make good woodburners too.

Re: Converting Oil Tank to Kerosene Question
 

It was used for home heating oil.

Tallships: Yes, he was advertising that they would make good woodburners. I was thinking about getting two. One for kero and the other for burning wood.

Thanks for the responses.

Re: Converting Oil Tank to Kerosene Question
 

Home heating oil = Kerosene...just not as clean.....Kero will be fine in that tank as is.

Even if it was reasonably clean motor oil....adding kero will make it roughly heating oil....it will clean itself!

Re: Converting Oil Tank to Kerosene Question
 

Depending on how old the tank is, there could be a considerable amount of sludge and other crap in the bottom of the tank. Do what you can to clean it out before you add any expensive fresh kero.

Re: Converting Oil Tank to Kerosene Question
 

I would clean it out with gas or fuel.

Our local welder repairs tanks for the farm co-op. He loads the tank in the back of his truck, puts soap and hot water in it and drives around with the tank in the back of his truck to slosh the water/soap around inside.

This way all fuel and vapors are gone prior to welding on the tank. But maybe you don't need it this clean.:confused_ma:

Re: Converting Oil Tank to Kerosene Question
 

#1 heating oil IS kerosene.....K1 kerosene is just a cleaner version of #1 heating oil.

#2 heating oil is diesel fuel....just slightly heavier than kerosene. You could simply empty the tank and refill with kerosene with no noticeable effect on a tank that large.

But, being a used tank, I would pour a couple gallons of kero in it, slosh it around and drain it, because the used tank could have slime, sludge, rust from the inside, etc in it. Most of these tanks are vented, and water can condense, depending on dew point, on the inside if the tank isn't kept full, and rust the inside walls. SO if you have a large plug on the bottom somewhere, I'd flush the tank to be safe.

Re: Converting Oil Tank to Kerosene Question
 

Thanks again for the great advice.

Re: Converting Oil Tank to Kerosene Question
 

On a related note, what does everybody suggest for a fuel stabilizer for kerosene? Is Sta-bil suitable for kero?

Re: Converting Oil Tank to Kerosene Question
 

Stabil is junk IMO.

Pri is real industrial quality fuel stabilizer.

Use PRI-D (diesel) for kerosene

Re: Converting Oil Tank to Kerosene Question
 

But unless you plan to burn kerosene in some kind of engine, which you can do in diesels on a limited basis ( it doesn't have the lubricity of diesel, and may harm an engine over time, but many diesel users mix kero/diesel in winter because it lessens the tendency of diesel to gel at low temps ), then adding a preservative is probably a waste of money.

IF you have a bunch of kerosene to burn in a diesel, I'd probably dump a quart of motor oil in every 55gal drum along with a double dose of PRI-D before I ran it thru a diesel engine.

Kerosene will burn fine in a heater or oil lamp without preservative. I have a couple sealed drums of K-1 that are 8-9years old, and they will stay in those drums until the lights go out.....then get used for our Kero lamps. Also have 20-30 5 gallon cans I bought at Home Depot about the same time when they put that overpriced stuff that sold 'on the shelf' for 25 bucks/can ( I saw it for 45 out there the other day ) on closeout one spring for 4.94/can.....they had a whole stack of the cans by the contractor sales end of the store, and I bought the whole stack.....less than buck/gallon is my kinda price !

Almost reminds me of walking down to the country store when I was a kid and pumping a gallon can out of the square tank with a hand pump they used to have outside....then taking it back to Grandma's house for use in the old round black kero heater in her bathroom ( only heat in there ) so it was toasty warm when you took your bath. 15 cents a gallon....oh yeah, bring back a gallon of milk in the other hand.....75 cents for that......

Re: Converting Oil Tank to Kerosene Question
 

I store fuel long term and have used Kero that was older than 15 years old...never a problem.

I have stored gasoline for up to several....3 years.....without and stabilizer....still no problem.

The key...in fact the only way to store gasoline this ling and have it keep .....is to do it in a well sealed container. I use steel drums and steel tanks.....fill them as full as reasonably possible leaving room for some expansion.....and put the caps on tight with good rubber seals....

If you keep the "lighter ends" .....volitile distilates from evaporating....the gasoline will keep a long time. Kero is fairly low volitility so there is not much left to evaporate.

I would imagine gasoline in a good quality plastic can all sealed up would also last a long time....but i find it difficult to seal plastic cans very well......unless the also have rubber seals.

Re: Converting Oil Tank to Kerosene Question
 

I'd be concerned about 2 things with storing gasoline in a plastic container:

- Evaporation of the "lighter ends" of the distillate THROUGH the walls of the container. I've seen this happen with MEK stored in a plastic bottle.

- The normal HDPE (high density polyethylene) gasoline "cans" are pretty permeable to oxygen. Oxygen + fuel over the long term results in bad things (varnish, sludge,...). I think that even the military Scepter cans are only supposed to be good for storing fuel for 6 months (something I read online, so it MUST be correct...right?).

That's why I store my gas in steel mil-surplus jerrycans. Too bad our benevolent govt just outlawed the sale of these things without spillproof/childproof nozzles "for the children."

Re: Converting Oil Tank to Kerosene Question
 

I think you may be correct on the plastic fuel containers....I have stored kero in a few long term without issue....and even gasoling for up to a year or a little bit more....but i also use steel....mostly in drums and rotote them as much as possible.

Also, plastic worries me a bit in warm weather....they get fairly pressurized like a baloon....and i work about fracture at seams......i feel a lot better about storage in a steel drum. Remember, this is not the same as storing in a steel gas tank....that is open to atmosphere....even the steel drum gets quite pressurized.

Re: Converting Oil Tank to Kerosene Question
 

I am thinking of getting a tank to store off-road diesel for a tractor and generator. Does anyone know if there will be any problems burning this in an oil boiler too?

Also, would burning #2 heating oil in a diesel engine cause any problems? Thanks.

Re: Converting Oil Tank to Kerosene Question
 

Good thread. Have a friend who just tore a house down. I get the 275 gal oil tank from it if I want. Am thinking of putting in my back yard, for heating house w/ kerosene. Also, the f350 I usally drive has a 7.3 turbo in it. Same guy said it can run on kerosene, just will run hotter. He said he use to mix with diesal up north, so trucks would run better in winter. Keeping all that in mind, what about Jet A fuel, if when I get set up and am about to fill tank. 275 gal is alot of $, so 1$ cheaper per gal, will make a big differance. Anyone burn Jet A? Kero here is $3.99 a gal. Does it get cheaper in the summer? This is all plans for getting ready for next winter. Started burning a kerosene heater about a month ago and am amazed at the amount of heat it puts off after it gets going for a few hours.

Re: Converting Oil Tank to Kerosene Question
 

#2 heating oil and diesel fuel are the same thing.

JetA is kerosene, but has some additives for corrosive inhibitors, de-icing, etc. I would imagine it would burn fine in a kerosene appliance, but I don't know if I'd want to breath the fumes from an unvented heater....there might be things in there you don't want.

JetB is a lighter fuel with naptha added for cold weather use.

Re: Converting Oil Tank to Kerosene Question
 

A few years ago, some jet turbine fuel got contaiminated here in Louisiana (used in helicopters in the oil fields offshore) and I was given the 500 gallon tote to dispose of the contentents. I have a diesel cummings engine (Yeah, its a Dodge) and i ran it thru. Mixed half and half with Diesel and put in Marvel Mystery Oil for top cyclinder lubrication along with conditioner after draining the water off the bottom of the tote (less than a quart but rejected for offshore helicopter use).

I ran to Colorado and Wyo using (4) 55 gallon drums in the truck and mixing fuel in, cheap trip, no problems.